Flash Diffuser / Reflector Question

KZ Images

Hi. I am new to the forum and appreciate all the advice I have read. Just read several old diffuser threads that were helpfulhttp://www.dgrin.com/images/smilies/clap.gif but still a bit perplexed http://www.dgrin.com/images/smilies/headscratch.gif.

I use a Nikon 600 SB 600 and do mostly family and children portraits, indoor (no studio) and outdoor and some small events.

I have used the Fong Lightsphere and have gotten great results using the dome diffuser or bouncing off the ceiling without the dome (which pops on and off pretty easily). However, at an indoor nighttime event recently the molded plastic clip which holds the lightsphere onto the flash broke as I was setting up to shoot the event. After a moment of panic, http://www.dgrin.com/images/smilies/bncry.gifI asked the bartender for some masking tape which she thankfully had and voila, I taped it to my flash and go through the night.

However, the reason it broke is it had been shoved tightly into my camera bag so many times it finally cracked. Thus, the point is I am now looking for a more compact or packable accessory that I can use as a diffuser to get that nice catch light in the eye and use outside as fill flash as well as inside when have no low ceilings or white walls to bounce off of.

I also have been a little frustrated by how much light the lightsphere diffuser "eats up" forcing me to open up or ramp up the ISO more than I'd like. I also cruise through flash batteries when using it.
So, I'd love to switch to a diffuser that doesnt lose as much light, something more translucent.

Ideally I'd also like one that has the diffuser option that can come on and off so I have quick flexibility on the go. Yes, I want it all!http://www.dgrin.com/images/smilies/mwink.gif

After reading the forum threads and doing a little research on line, I think I am interested in either the Lumiquest "ultra soft" or the stofen "omni bounce" but am also curious to know more about the Demby product that might have diffuser attachment. I havent read much on this forum about the ultrasoft, but it appears to be a decent reflector with the flap that velcros over the flash to act as a diffuser. I assume I could simply pull back that diffuser part and hold it back to then have basically a "pocket bouncer" when the diffuser isnt needed. But honestly , most of the time I want the diffuser.

Any one have any thoughts on this? http://www.dgrin.com/images/smilies/ne_nau.gif

ziggy53

Kimberly, welcome to the Digital Grin.

I greatly prefer the following 2 DIY light modifiers for my own flash units:

http://www.fototime.com/inv/908195739C4C0D3

http://abetterbouncecard.com/

Another pretty good commercial variation on the "bounce card" is:

http://www.dembflashproducts.com/flipit/

I use all of these but the one I prefer for outdoors, unless I am shooting fill flash and in that case I will use direct flash, is the "scoop" device in the first link. It works very well indoors when the ceiling is too high to help or if the ceiling and/or walls are dark or colored.

KZ Images

ziggy53 wrote:

Kimberly, welcome to the Digital Grin.

I greatly prefer the following 2 DIY light modifiers for my own flash units:

http://www.fototime.com/inv/908195739C4C0D3

http://abetterbouncecard.com/

Another pretty good commercial variation on the "bounce card" is:

http://www.dembflashproducts.com/flipit/

I use all of these but the one I prefer for outdoors, unless I am shooting fill flash and in that case I will use direct flash, is the "scoop" device in the first link. It works very well indoors when the ceiling is too high to help or if the ceiling and/or walls are dark or colored.

Thanks Ziggy! Now if you could just teach me how to use these emoticons properly in my posts I'd be all set!

Art Scott

You can as Ziggy suggests make your own or as I perfer (i make enuff other stuff and work on my own vehicles enuff to satisfy my diy urges:D) .....I prefer the Lumiquest light modifiers......currently I use their mid size softbox (original softbox)....but they also have many scoops and such.....my reason for Lumiquest is their resilence to wear out.....been using my softbox for 20+ years....and I like their rubberized velcro band for attaching to any flash head....also finally and pretty much most importantly it folds flat and doesn't take up huge amounts of room light anything from gary fong (iused a copy of lightsphere and did not like it for several reasons, but the room it took up is just not worthwhile.

LUMIQUEST SOFTBOX
look around and see all the different modifiers and I am sure you can find one (maybe more) to fit your needs .........I know I will purchase one of the bounce modifiers soon....I just do not like my light heading off to who knows where when the flash fires and that is one reason I use the softbox ......it is straight forward but it is softened......

Especially when I use modifiers ...... I shoot in manual mode on camera and use a flash incident (sekonic L-558) to measure my light at my subject.

KZ Images

Art Scott wrote:

You can as Ziggy suggests make your own or as I perfer (i make enuff other stuff and work on my own vehicles enuff to satisfy my diy urges:D) .....I prefer the Lumiquest light modifiers......currently I use their mid size softbox (original softbox)....but they also have many scoops and such.....my reason for Lumiquest is their resilence to wear out.....been using my softbox for 20+ years....and I like their rubberized velcro band for attaching to any flash head....also finally and pretty much most importantly it folds flat and doesn't take up huge amounts of room light anything from gary fong (iused a copy of lightsphere and did not like it for several reasons, but the room it took up is just not worthwhile.

LUMIQUEST SOFTBOX
look around and see all the different modifiers and I am sure you can find one (maybe more) to fit your needs .........I know I will purchase one of the bounce modifiers soon....I just do not like my light heading off to who knows where when the flash fires and that is one reason I use the softbox ......it is straight forward but it is softened......

Art,
Thanks for your advice. Since you like Lumiquest, are you familiar with Lumiquest's "ultrasoft" ? It seems to mount with flash pointing up instead of forward and then has a frosted diffuser cover that pulls down further softens the light (so it claims) http://www.lumiquest.com/products/ultrasoft.htm
The softbox, on the otherhand, is used when shooting with flash aimed forward . Wondering pros and cons of each . I havent read any body else on this forum mention the ultrasoft, so maybe that means something ? The softbox has been mentioned a few times. Just wondered if you had thoughts on that in particular. Thanks for helping!
KZ

Art Scott

KZ Images wrote:

Art,
Thanks for your advice. Since you like Lumiquest, are you familiar with Lumiquest's "ultrasoft" ? It seems to mount with flash pointing up instead of forward and then has a frosted diffuser cover that pulls down further softens the light (so it claims) http://www.lumiquest.com/products/ultrasoft.htm
The softbox, on the otherhand, is used when shooting with flash aimed forward . Wondering pros and cons of each . I havent read any body else on this forum mention the ultrasoft, so maybe that means something ? The softbox has been mentioned a few times. Just wondered if you had thoughts on that in particular. Thanks for helping!
KZ

Personally I like the softbox as it only loses 1.5 to 2 stops of light and that is what I base my use on....also the strongest position for a flash is in its standard forward position.....snapped a few with the head pointed up and now that i have rf triggers for my flash units I do not rely on flash slave triggers , so my flash heads will not even be rotated to bounce flash any where.......if I ned less light I re-position the subject and keep my flash coming from the front......
I am looking at the BIG BOUNCE but there again I do not like having my flash raised up.....but it is better than raised and rotated to me...............I edited my other post to reflect that i shoot in manual camera mode and with an incident flash meter (sekonic L-558) when using any modifier........normally I leave my flash in auto mode to save batteries.....

Scott_Quier

Like Ziggy, I'm a fan of the BBC and the lightscoop. However, I've also seen others acheive some pretty good acheived by simply slipping a small bubble-wrap bag onto the flash and letting it stand some 6 - 8 inches above the flash head. It seems to do a pretty good job of directly replacing the GF LS.

divamum

Quickie DIY solutioin (very quick for me, since I already had the materials in-house!)

http://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-Gary-Fong-Lightsphere/

I've been pleased by the results of mine so far.

Scott_Quier

divamum wrote:

Quickie DIY solutioin (very quick for me, since I already had the materials in-house!)

http://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-Gary-Fong-Lightsphere/

I've been pleased by the results of mine so far.

That's EXACTLY what I was referring to. I knew I had seen it, but couldn't remember where.

divamum

Scott_Quier wrote:

That's EXACTLY what I was referring to. I knew I had seen it, but couldn't remember where.

It's actually Ikea shelf-liner - bubble wrap would probably work tooo, but the shelf-liner is much more substantial and slightly frosted; I suspect it probably offers a tad more diffusion. For me it was a no-brainer to try it since I already had the Ikea prouct in my house... to line shelves! :giggle

I also used it in an emergency over my popup flash - I didn't have my external with me and lighting forced me to use the built-in one to get the shot at all. I suddenly remembered I had the diffuser in my bag (since it packs flat it just lives in there), held it in front of the popup flash as I shot and it made a very noticeable difference, so I consider it a useful and easy-to-carry addition to the kit.

angevin1

KZ Images wrote:

but am also curious to know more about the Demby product that might have diffuser attachment. I havent read much on this forum about the ultrasoft, but it appears to be a decent reflector with the flap that velcros over the flash to act as a diffuser. I assume I could simply pull back that diffuser part and hold it back to then have basically a "pocket bouncer" when the diffuser isnt needed. But honestly , most of the time I want the diffuser.

Any one have any thoughts on this? http://www.dgrin.com/images/smilies/ne_nau.gif

I use a Demby. Where I find them useful is using as fill in a daylight situation, and most times do not use the diffuser, though I have it attached via the velcro, just not in the line of fire. But the diffuser does work and I would use it if I was doing a headshot or three-quarter shot.

I admit to being curious what situations are requiring you to ramp up the ISO based on the flash? And what camera are you using?

cheers,

KZ Images

angevin1 wrote:

I use a Demby. Where I find them useful is using as fill in a daylight situation, and most times do not use the diffuser, though I have it attached via the velcro, just not in the line of fire. But the diffuser does work and I would use it if I was doing a headshot or three-quarter shot.

I admit to being curious what situations are requiring you to ramp up the ISO based on the flash? And what camera are you using?

cheers,

Thanks for sharing your experience with the Demby.

I am using a Nikon D300 , and when using my Fong LS with diffuser to soften the light get that nice catch light in the eyes, I lose a lot of light from the flash especially when I am shooting from several feet away ..thus forcing me to compensate by increasing the ISO. The D 300 does a great job at high ISOs so the quality of the output hasnt really been compromised.

I think what I really need is some faster glass! I am still using my one lens -- the AF S DX R Zoom NIKKOR 18-200 mm f/3.5-5.6. This leads to a whole different topic. This lens is a great single lens as its pretty versatile and works well on the fly when I am chasing kids around doing what I primarily do ...on location lifestyle photography for families. But I'd love to know your opinion and anyone else out there's opinion, on a good fast portrait lens .

Thanks!!
KZ

time2smile

85mm f1.8

time2smile

As the diffuser goes i use a tide clear bottle top, with a round piece of foam. It fits the SB600 perfectly.

angevin1

KZ Images wrote:

Thanks for sharing your experience with the Demby.

I am using a Nikon D300 , and when using my Fong LS with diffuser to soften the light get that nice catch light in the eyes, I lose a lot of light from the flash especially when I am shooting from several feet away ..thus forcing me to compensate by increasing the ISO. The D 300 does a great job at high ISOs so the quality of the output hasnt really been compromised.

I think what I really need is some faster glass! I am still using my one lens -- the AF S DX R Zoom NIKKOR 18-200 mm f/3.5-5.6. This leads to a whole different topic. This lens is a great single lens as its pretty versatile and works well on the fly when I am chasing kids around doing what I primarily do ...on location lifestyle photography for families. But I'd love to know your opinion and anyone else out there's opinion, on a good fast portrait lens .

Thanks!!
KZ

I have a D300 too, and considering what you mentioned about chasing kids around to get the photos and such, why not look at your EXIF data and find an average focal length you use and then see if you can convert that into a lens desire. When I bought the 85mm that another poster mentioned, while very nice, it also was too long on the D300 for my taste and needs. Even though I own several of the older heavy Nikon f2.8 glass, I still think the "kit" 18-70 3.5f-5.6 is about the best indoor, chase 'em around kinda lens.

enjoy

photogreen

diffuser, diffusers, diffusers....
So many of them out there... I spent significant time researching the subject and trying out various solutions. I try to rate them using multiple criterions. Here is my best flash diffuser list. I keep working on it and will add more ratings, reviews and tests.

I have almost whole line of LumiQuest products (some of them are not reviewed there yet).

Also, I agree that Demb Flash Diffuser is a great versatile tool.

PRESSlite Vertex is a new age gadget Many people get scared by it though, and it, indeed, requires more time to master.

If you have specific questions about specific diffusers I'll be happy to answer (besides the ones listed in the rating review I have LumiQuest ProMax System, LumiQuest Big Bounce and LumiQuest Softbox at the moment)