Flash Diffusers worth buying?

[ssschen]

Hi

I am thinking of pulling a trigger on an external flash for my Canon 400D soon. Whilst researching on the subject, I noticed there are a lot of different flash diffusers out there on the market. Omnibounce diffuser, Stofen, Gary Fong diffuser, "normal" flash diffuser, soft flash diffuser to name a few. Frankly speaking, it is all a bit too confusing for me.

I will be using the flash mostly indoor to take pictures of my kids. I saw a sample of a couple of photos being shown on an ebay diffuser, one with the soft diffuser and one without. Needless to say, the one with the soft diffuser gives the portrait of the kid a soft look which looks pleasing to my untrained eyes.

What do you guys think? Are they a waste of time? Appreciate your valueable opinions on this subject in anticipation. Thanks.

[Steffen]

I think you have to come clear about what you want to achive. As far as I can see, the term "diffuser" is used as meaning either "spreader" or "softener" or both.

A spreader simply gives your strobe light more coverage, makes it more wide-angle. Examples of that are the grated plastic caps that usually come with flashes. They don't make the light any softer, because they're not much bigger than the flash head. To get softer light you'd have to get closer to the subject, which, given the small size of the flash head is probably futile (unless you're doing macro).

Keep in mind, though, that by increasing the spread you may invite reflections from nearby surfaces that can improve the lighting (or ruin it).

Softeners increase the surface area of the light source (e.g. Stofens, light boxes). They can spread or bundle light, but this has nothing to do with their softening function. The softness (lack of harsh shadows) of a light source is a function of its relative size, as seen from the subject. Hence, a small but close light source may give as soft an ilumination as a larger source far away.

So, depending on whether you want to soften the strobe light, or increase its angular coverage you have to pick your device.

Cheers
Steffen.

[Pa]

i'll add to what steffen has said,with the nikon sb600 the strength of the flash can be dialed up or down,helping with softer images,i assume the cannon flash does something similar.

i have one of the soft types.


cheers pa

[Vodka]

If it's indoors, I'll try to find something to bounce the light off. With a low, white ceiling, I get the best results bouncing above and slightly behind me. I find that a Stofen omnibounce throws too much light forward even when the flash is pointed at an angle upwards.

I now only use the omnibounce to diffuse the flash light when there's nothing to bounce off (e.g. outdoors using the flash as fill). Funny that it is called an omni-"bounce".

Ben

[Bugeyes]

before you spend your readies on Gary Fong's plastic fantastic, try making your own bounce card....


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNCmuExlHvM

[Matt. K]

ANYTHING that softens and diffuses the light from your flashgun will enhance portraits.

[macka]

ANYTHING that softens and diffuses the light from your flashgun will enhance portraits.

Pat made a diffuser by cutting a hole out of the bottom of a circular IKEA tupperware container (leaving the lid on the top), then affixing some kind of cardboard contraption with gaffa tape to the bottom where the hole is, which allows him to slip it on and off the SB-600 flash. It works pretty well.