TP: Diffusers for flash units

After seeing a friend using this, I bought the Joe Demb Jumbo diffuser last week. I absolutely love it, and have quickly retired all of my other diffusers. I had been using a Stofen Omnibounce, an older Lumiquest Bounce Reflector, some pop-up diffuser that mounts over the lens, and some others, and I never had as much satisfaction with my shots, as I've gotten in a few days with the Demb.

As for the build quality, I found it very good. It looks to me like it will last a very long time. Plus, it offers a lot more flexibility with your shots. If you follow the suggestions for set-up, that the website provides (also included with your purchase), you can see how much you can do with this product. Mounting and unmounting the diffuser from your flash is very simple, and it produces great results IMO.

I have been called upon to shoot photos of our church congregation for a new directory, and I found the diffuser to be indispensable.

Some examples below:

I thought this (as an example) turned out very well.
KM7D with KM28-75 @ 50mm, 1/100th @ f8



I am also including a couple shots of the backdrops (slightly beyond the focused DOF), to show the even lighting that the diffuser produced.
Note that these are two different backdrops, and not different exposures of one.





All in all, I've been thrilled with the product so far.



Edited by jpink - 05 March 2008 at 18:57

RCBlack2 wrote: Does anyone have a suggestion regarding a diffuser for the pop-up flash on the a100? Lumiquest makes one but Gary Fong's isn't for the Sony and that from Stofen doesn't work for Sony/Minolta.

I was able to modify a LumiQuest Soft Screen to fit on my A700 by using velcro to attach the Soft Screen's universal hot shoe tab to the top of an extra Minolta hot shoe cover. The same thing would work on the A100.

I should emphasize that I only use this set up in emergency situations, as I normally use either a 5600HS(D) or a F42AM external flash with a LumiQuest ProMax bounce diffuser attached.

Interesting reading folks! While I have never even seen a Gary Fong lightsphere, I received the link below in one of Gary Friedman's newsletters. I still occasionally use the good old "A4 paper" diffuser (attached with an elastic band)

Friedman's Personal Experience -
Gary Fong's Lightsphere II Flash Diffuser

LTTay wrote: I recently purchased the Demb Flash Diffuser, and love it. I've stopped my quest at DIY flash diffusers, because the DFD works great. I should've purchased it a long time ago, but can't explain why I didn't. Check it out...Here P/S - I don't get paid by Joe Demb for promoting this. I just think it works and it saves people time since it is available for purchase, rather than trying to go DIY route.

I can see how the Demb Flip-It would work in taking flash photos in a typical room with 8-9 ft. white ceilings. But does the Flip-It (with or without the diffuser) work effectively with high or dark ceilings, such as one might encounter in a hall, restaurant or church? Also, does it do any good outdoors when trying to use fill-flash? On first glance, it doesn't seem that the Flip-It would work very well in either of these circumstances, but maybe there is something I am overlooking. The web site doesn't appear to address either of these issues.

i use a knock off gary fong whale tail, think it's great - it takes away alot of the technical hassle from getting the most of your flashgun and makes it a lot more idiot proof for a newbie like myself.

I've just bought the Universal Magician Flash Diffuser from Amazon (L17-99 incl delivery), arriving in 3 days or so. Will try it out and post later.

I think it may be the same one as godsakes posted in June.

Probably most of you have heard of the Orbis ring flash on sale for around L150, well I think I've found an improvement on the Orbis for around L28 it's called the O Flash and I purchased it on E Bay over the weekend and it arrived today all the way from Hong Kong. The big advantage over the Orbis is that the O Flash fits onto the flash gun while the flash gun is fitted to the camera, rather than having to hold flash and the Orbis in one hand while holding the camera in the other. I've taken around twenty shots of family and pets, the light seems very uniform with no harsh lighting at all. I am really impressed. just go to E Bay and type in the search Macro O Flash Ring but be carefull there are five different sizes. just E mail them your flash/camera combination and they will tell you which you require. My combination I gave was A700 with a 5600hs Flash gun and the model I required was the F165. I think it's a bargain at L28.00

Pongo