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Littlebike
20th of October 2003 (Mon), 21:45
Has anybody used one of these before:

http://www.naturephotographers.net/gs/gsbb-1.jpg

It can be found here: http://www.naturephotographers.net/gs/gsbb.html

I am wondering if it really works or if there are any reviews out there for it. Seems like it would be useful for Football games or any event were telephotos are used.

Sorry if it seems like i ask a lot of stupid questions, I am just a sponge for information.
CyberDyneSystems
20th of October 2003 (Mon), 22:56
I have seen images taken where it was used, birds in flight taken with a 600mm f/4!!! You KNOW they were far away!

//I have been eyeing this myself,... would go well with my 500mm f/4.5 :)

But,. I don't even have a flash yet :)
slau
20th of October 2003 (Mon), 23:14
I have been using the Better Beamer with my 420Ex and my Canon 300f4 IS (with or without the 1.4X TC) or Sigma 50-500. I have to be careful adjusting the position of the BB. Otherwise, I can see light fall off as the BB (model FX-1B) does not fit the 420Ex very nicely. Recently, I put a piece of card as 'spacer' to make the FX-1B fit better and I have been getting good results.

Remember that the BB is only recommended to be used with lens longer than 300mm. Also, the simple instruction suggests to set the flash to 50mm and that may be my problem with the 420 too as the 420 does not have Manual Zoom setting like the 550Ex.

BTW, I just ordered a BB for my 550Ex and will see if it has a better fit than my 420. When the BB works, it is very nice. Beside you got a longer reach with your flash, your flash recycles a lot faster too as there is 'less waste' of flash.

You can find a bit more information in Arthur Morris's site:
http://www.birdsasart.com/faq_flash.html
Littlebike
21st of October 2003 (Tue), 07:42
slau wrote:Remember that the BB is only recommended to be used with lens longer than 300mm.

I am wondeing if the 1.6x factor would negate the 300mm rule?
Belmondo
21st of October 2003 (Tue), 08:00
Just guessing here, but if you're using this device on a 10D or Drebel, then the minimum focal length to use it on would be closer to 200mm. Since it's all about field of view, 200mm on a 10D is equal to just slightly over 300mm on a full-frame camera.
Littlebike
21st of October 2003 (Tue), 18:57
Exactly my thought. I think I am going to have to buy one of these bad boys just to check it out, but that is going to have to wait a little while, as i need to buy a few filters.
Phil Hall
22nd of October 2003 (Wed), 02:02
check out this site for using the BB in bird photography.


http://www.dlcphotography.net/

I think you may need an Alien Bee or Norman flash system for football fields. These systems are used extensively in horse arenas.