Flash bouncers and diffusers

[vfilby]

Hello,

I have seen a lot of add-ons for flashes. I have seen the lumiquest pocket bouncer recommended many times, I have also seen small soft boxes that clip on. I currently own a stofen which I think is somewhat less than useless.

As far as the bounce kits and the clip on softboxes go, how do you like them (for those that own them)? Which type would you prefer etc.

Thanks in advance,

Vince

[snibbetsj]

I have both the pocket bouncer and mini-softbox. I use both and think they're very good. The bouncer covers more area than the softbox but I think IMHO that the softbox diffuses the light more.

Jeff

[vfilby]

I will likely end up buildign my own softbox or boucer. I image the bouncer will be easy to build, I could probably just use a white card. The softbox will be more fun though.

So if you have any suggestions or features you like, let me know.

[DaveG]

I will likely end up buildign my own softbox or boucer. I image the bouncer will be easy to build, I could probably just use a white card. The softbox will be more fun though.

So if you have any suggestions or features you like, let me know.

Self adhesive velcro and some white corrigated plastic cardboard (an election sign works great!) and I have all the fill cards that I'll ever need. I like the Velcro because it'll always be there and I don't have to find an elastic band or some such to hold on a jury rigged white card. The corregated plastic cardboard is very rigid and very light so I have some smallish cards for regular location stuff and bigger cards that will actually soften the light.

This method is very cheap and at least as good as the Lumiquest. And when I lose the cards (and I do, sigh ...) they cost nothing to replace.

I like the Stofen for bounce too, if I'm using it in the right room. There MUST be low white ceilings and pastel coloured walls so it has something to bounce off of. In a large room it's useless for bouncing.

However in big rooms with no chance of bouncing I found that it was very effective to use my Stofen as a super wide angle diffuser when I used a Nikon & a 20mm lens. With the arrival of my 10-22 I suspect I may have to go back to it since the wide angle diffuser built into the 550EX won't cover at 10mm. I get NO bounce effect in a room like that with the Sofen, and the light output is very much reduced. But from my experience with the 94 degrees of a Nikon 20mm lens, it'll cover and I can't think of anything else that can.

[edsarkiss]

i like the lumiquest 80-20 quite a lot. durable, and easy to put on and remove from the flash with the velcro strips.

i made a removable (with velcro dots) "out-sert" out of a manilla file folder for the cases where there isn't a ceiling to bounce off of. it basically sits on the bouncer and covers the holes where the light would usually escape out the top to be reflected off the ceiling/wall.

spreads out the light really nicely, and the cream-colored folder material warms up the flash's light a bit.

[nat869]

I love my lumiquest softbox. With the removable velcro strap, the system is easy to take on and off. Pics I have taken with it come out very nice.