The PUffer?

k2butter

Has anyone tried this?

http://www.amazon.com/Gary-Fong-Puffer-Pop-up-Diffuser/dp/B000VHVE9S

For 20 bucks I thought I would give it a try just to hold me over until I can buy a better external flash... yea? nay?

Shane422

I have a freind that bought it and he was plesently surprised by the improvement it has when using the on camera flash.

Art Scott

I would emphatically say NAY....as i believe you could hit any craft store and get a small piece of silk or even cotton ( got a wore tee shirt) and make one just as useful and for a lort less bucks...on a pop up flash a pure white kleenex wouold work.....I have used kleenex on my vivatar 285hv in a pinch..........

mr peas

Nay. I suggest for you to wait for the ca$h to roll in and buy yourself a good ol' 550ex or 580ex, then grab yourself a Joe Demb diffuser (http://www.dembflashproducts.com/flipit/). You can achieve similar results on your normal flash by using some type of used alcohol bottle cut up or like Art said, use a small sheet of kleenex and rubber band it around the flash. When doing that however, be careful with placing the tissue over the flash too closely, several consecutive flashes could heat up the glass/plastic in front of the flash and can burn the kleenex. Doubt a fire will go off, but it would make the kleenex get stuck to your standard flash, I've had it do it to mine, not a big deal, but I learned to give the kleenex a little more room instead of just right next to it.

ian408

Try making a diffuser out of tissue. Alternatively, you could make one
out of a sheet of paper and a rubber band (bounce flash). Another
alternative DIY is to use a ping pong ball.

Icebear

Get it
C'mon, it's only $20.00. The trouble with tissue, or most other "just drape it over the pop-up" solutions is that they aren't really affixed to the camera. the Fong thing affixes to the hot shoe, so doesn't slide off as you move around. It's also neutral in color so won't mess with your color balance. Nor will it slip down and interfere with your focus assist light.

k2butter

Kind of what I was thinking, it was only 20 bucks... but ya know what I did, I found online where someone used an old white film case, not white but transparent, I cut a hole in the side leaving the cap on, and then slid it right over the pop up, the results are great!!! I am really happy with it... I think I will play around with this for a while... I took some shots this morning of my daughter, the flash white spots are gone! YEAH!

The thing I do like about the gary fong one though is that it stays attached, even if my flash is down, so I may end up getting that... I don't do any kind of pro shooting, just family stuff, so sometimes I am not really setting things up, just capturing the moment, and with the GF thing, I can always have it on and ready!

k2butter

This is what i did... I found this suggestion on line, but can't find where... so I am not the clever one!

This is on my old camera...





After downloading the pictures, they are better, but I may work with the diffuser a bit.... or may end up with the GF...

These would look a bit better edited... this is straight from the camera..

W/Out Deffuser...


With... while the glare is not gone, it is a bit better, I think if I turn down the flash a bit it may help... not sure why she has a green tint to her hair, it is either an adjustment that needs to be made, or left over from swiming in a pool all summer!!!

ian408

Way to go! Maybe a bit of tweaking is all you need. But you've found an
alternative that's pretty innovative.

Nice going!

mr peas

$20 bucks? Thats gas money for the week.

Great idea with the old white film canister though. When you use that, make sure you 'turn up' the flash settings in the camera to give the flash more output to compensate for the diffuser. People tend to forget that the camera doesnt know that there's something attached to it so you have to manually configure it to give the flash more 'oomph' to make the pictures less underexposed (if that makes any sense).

k2butter

mr peas wrote:

$20 bucks? Thats gas money for the week.

Great idea with the old white film canister though. When you use that, make sure you 'turn up' the flash settings in the camera to give the flash more output to compensate for the diffuser. People tend to forget that the camera doesnt know that there's something attached to it so you have to manually configure it to give the flash more 'oomph' to make the pictures less underexposed (if that makes any sense).

Thanks for the tip! I will be playing with this a lot more, I actually had it turned down in the picture above, but when I tweeked it in lightroom, I really liked the results... as I head into winter, I am soooo excited about photos this year, one, I have a better camera than I did last year, two, I now have a way to fix the flash issues I have had in the past... (we spend a lot of time inside during the winter)- I don't like cold weather...

yoyostock

Interesting...at first I was thinking it would be a waste as well, especially given the other creative options. But, you know...it's only $20...lots of other ways I can cut $20 here and there. Plus, it actually looks pretty stable on there. If it does what it purports to do, then hey...I think I might pick me up one. And even if the tissue or film container method work just as well, I dunno if I want to be walking around with some wobbly film cannister or piece of Kleenex dangling around the camera.

k2butter

After using my film container for a week, I am not overly happy with it, it is too inconsistent on what I get back, probably the fraction of an inch too close to the flash or too far away, but there is no real way to make sure it is in the same position every time... I think I will be buying the puffer for 20bucks!