What's the best flash umbrella?

dawssvt

I just bought a Canon 580EXII flash, so I am looking to purchase an umbrella to mount my old 430EX on. What do you guys suggest I get?

I am looking for something to help me with shooting indoor portraits. Thanks for your help!

cmason

dawssvt wrote:

I just bought a Canon 580EXII flash, so I am looking to purchase an umbrella to mount my old 430EX on. What do you guys suggest I get?

I am looking for something to help me with shooting indoor portraits. Thanks for your help!

I have the Westcott 43" convertibles, and they work very well. I like the size of the 43, as the 32" are too small IMHO, and the 45" are too big (to carry around folded). I added an 8ft Impact stand and a clamp, and was in business for $75 total.


http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/501164-REG/Westcott_2011_43_White_Umbrella_Collapsible.html


Now if you think the 32" will be fine, Impact sells a two umbrella kit, with stands and clamps for an incredible $98. Hard to beat that either. These are extremely portable, but the bigger the modifier, the more smooth and even your light will be. There is a point where your 430 will be lost in an big umbrella, but these smaller sizes are perfect. Now go look for a used 420EX..

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/425220-REG/Impact_DFUMK_Digital_Flash_Umbrella_Mount.html#accessories

ziggy53

dawssvt wrote:

I just bought a Canon 580EXII flash, so I am looking to purchase an umbrella to mount my old 430EX on. What do you guys suggest I get?

I am looking for something to help me with shooting indoor portraits. Thanks for your help!

I prefer a convertible white umbrella, shoot-thru with a reflective silver/black cover. Sizes from 40" through 60" (larger for tall ceilings.) The Adorama brand has worked fine for the smaller size and I have a Photoflex 60" that is likewise fine (although the Photoflex cover is not silver lined so not as efficient in reflective use.)

I also suggest you look at a Softlighter II, possibly the 60". I have been considering that for portable use instead of a softbox. I suggest the 8mm shaft design as some of the shaft can be removed, allowing closer proximity to the subject (except I believe the shaft is fixed on the 60" version).

aj986s

I've got a Canon 30D, and will shortly have 2 Canon flash units (a 43x in hand, and a 58x on the way). I want to take some family group pictures on Christmas, and want to try a multi-flash setup for the first time.

I understand that the 2 Canon flashes will work together via TTL metering. My question is whether I can add my old Vivitar 283 to the mix, using my old wireless slave trigger. Will the TTL metering automatically deal with the light coming from the slave triggered 283? Could I use the 283 as a sidelight? Or is it only potentialy suitable for backlighting?

Also, looking at the pair of 32" umbrellas kit at B&H for $99. Are these a waste of money?
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=cart_accessories&A=details&Q=&sku=425220&is=REG

Art Scott

Brolly Boxes
I find anyting under 40" to small in umbrellas......I like my Paul Buff BROLLY BOXES......they work great as a shoot thru and just under $40 each they are a great bargin also..............

Blurmore

aj986s wrote:

I've got a Canon 30D, and will shortly have 2 Canon flash units (a 43x in hand, and a 58x on the way). I want to take some family group pictures on Christmas, and want to try a multi-flash setup for the first time.

I understand that the 2 Canon flashes will work together via TTL metering. My question is whether I can add my old Vivitar 283 to the mix, using my old wireless slave trigger. Will the TTL metering automatically deal with the light coming from the slave triggered 283? Could I use the 283 as a sidelight? Or is it only potentialy suitable for backlighting?

Also, looking at the pair of 32" umbrellas kit at B&H for $99. Are these a waste of money?
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=cart_accessories&A=details&Q=&sku=425220&is=REG

The E-TTL will NOT adjust for the light coming from the 283. Best bet is to meter the 283 independently on manual or use the thyristor to set an appropriate range for the ISO and aperture you are using. Make sure you are triggering the 283 with a radio slave or cord because if you use a peanut or reactive slave it will most likely fire on the preflash from your speed light. Depending on the size of the group you are lighting and what you are recharing the 283 with I might use the 283 as a key and the speed light as a fill. If you are charging the 283 with AA's forget about what I'm going to say, but a 283 in a brolly box on full power will give you f5.6 @ 400 iso at about 7 feet, you'll be hard pressed to get that kind of light out of the 430ex in any kind of modifier. I'd suggest smaller ish umbrellas for smaller light sources. I use one unbrella a cheap 30 or so inch white shoot thru in a couple of different configurations. I use it with a sunpak 622 diffusion head as a shoot thru, as a bounce umbrella with a regular head, and as a bounce with my alien bee with standard reflector.

Cygnus Studios

Art Scott wrote:

I like my Paul Buff BROLLY BOXES......they work great as a shoot thru and just under $40 each they are a great bargin also..............

Zanotti

aj986s wrote:

I've got a Canon 30D, and will shortly have 2 Canon flash units (a 43x in hand, and a 58x on the way). I want to take some family group pictures on Christmas, and want to try a multi-flash setup for the first time.

I understand that the 2 Canon flashes will work together via TTL metering. My question is whether I can add my old Vivitar 283 to the mix, using my old wireless slave trigger. Will the TTL metering automatically deal with the light coming from the slave triggered 283? Could I use the 283 as a sidelight? Or is it only potentialy suitable for backlighting?

Also, looking at the pair of 32" umbrellas kit at B&H for $99. Are these a waste of money?
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=cart_accessories&A=details&Q=&sku=425220&is=REG

I have exactly this kit from B&H (and same camera and flashes with the Canon IR remote trigger, ST-E2) and have been pleased with the sturdyness of the stands and the umbrella's. I would hate to take them out in the wind, but for my personal, basement studio they work great.







I get shots like these:

Zanotti

Small Group Shots:










PS: I know about the cut off hands, but I still like the photo. Maybe I'll have to back in there and tone it down a notch......






Z

Nikolai

My two cents...

I have worked with plain umbrellas (silver, reflective only), brollyboxes (shoot-through only) and convertible Westcotts.

The latter provide the worst light quality in any application. They "eat" a lot of light when reflecting and spill a ton both when both reflecting and shooting through. The only reasoning I could find for not throwing them away is that a) sometimes you're really limited by how much stuff you can pack and b) they make for great props in pipup-type shoots:-)





Both silver umbrellas and brollyboxes are much better in that respect (less losses, less spill).

Needless to say, softboxes provide a much better light quality, but they are also far more expensive...:-(

Art Scott

Zanotti wrote:

PS: I know about the cut off hands, but I still like the photo.
Z

Cut off heads has been the rage for quite some time....I have seen mag covers with heads chopped dang near the eyebrows and knowing the personality to have a really good head of hair....I asked my self why....of course self never answers and when self does start answering I probably won't be on here for long...

For portraits I also like working with my gold reflective umbrella........I really like the warmth it ads...but it eats up light also....................

BTW...very nice shots

dawssvt

Thanks for all the help, guys. Can you explain to me what a softbox is? Is it like an umbrella where I would use my 430EX as the light source? Could someone point me in the right direction to a decent, but not super expensive softbox?

Nikolai

dawssvt wrote:

Thanks for all the help, guys. Can you explain to me what a softbox is? Is it like an umbrella where I would use my 430EX as the light source? Could someone point me in the right direction to a decent, but not super expensive softbox?

Softboxes: pictures, wikipedia
The issue with softboxes is their mounting. They usually require some sturdy base, which can only be found on so called "studio" lights. While it is also possible to mount some of them on the lightstand itself (examples in pictures), it's a bit (or shall I say, a lot:-) cumbersome.
The benefit of the softbox is a *much* better light control, especially since you can use grids ("eggcrates").

ziggy53

In addition to what Nik said, a softbox emulates window light. Positioned close to the subject the light is very soft and wraps around the subject better than any other light modifier (that I am aware of anyway.)

A softbox in front of the subject can also yield a rectangular catch light in the eyes of the subject, which many (but not all) people find pleasing.

dawssvt

Alright, thanks. What is a decent size for a softbox?

pathfinder

It varies, anywhere from 12 inches by 12 inches, to 4 x 8 feet. Most are 2 x 3 feet, and are sometimes ganged together to get 2 x 6 feet strip lights.

Larger softboxes can be used further away from the subject - small ones are used very close, just out of the camera's viewfinder sometimes. It is not the size of the light that counts but the apparent size of the light that dictates how soft a light source is. The sun is a very large source, but effectively a point source here on earth. A strobe light head is a very small source, but for some macro work is a very large effective source.

Scott Kelby's blog talks about the Lastolite EZYbox which is 24 inches by 24 inches. Just about as large as you can conveniently carry about.

I think this one, a Lastolite hot shoe EZYBOX 15 in by 15 in looks very interesting for $156.95.

I use a 24 x 26 inch sofbox in my studio, and a 16 x 20 in in the field at times.

Another way to get soft light is to bounce it off a reflector like a California Micro Mini with a flash. Check Bert Stefanis video using the Micro Mini. You can also use a Micro-Mini underneath the frame to help lighten up the face lit from above with a softbox like this