stofen - washout

[Arty]

Thought these were meant to soften the light from a flash? Messing with it tonight, I've found the total opposite. Admitedly, only testing on 'auto'. camera 300D. Flash Sigma EF-500 DG. Set at 60 degrees. E-TTL mode. Resulting images have the highlights blown away. As bad as pointing the 'normal' flash direct at the subject from about 4 feet! The normal flash head at 60 degrees produces much better stuff. More natural. Looks like 15 quid wasted to me. (There's a 'wide' panel option on the Sigma anyways) Anyone wanna buy a 'bit of plastic'? ;)

[KevC]

Sto-fen Omni-bounce is meant to diffuse light when bounced from ceilings and walls. How high was the ceiling? It's worked well for me...

[markubig]

Arty, are you using the omnibounce in a direct flash position? It's supposed to be used at a 45-degree tilt. The omnibounce spreads the light at a wider angle out of the flash in order to bounce off of more wall/ceiling.

Also, regarding the blown highlights, that has nothing to do with the omnibounce. Was your overall subject dark? 'cause this is how I understood how the 300D exposes in auto mode. the 300D uses evaluative metering as a standard and usually exposes for the darkness of the subject. If you meter on more neutral colors (subject's face) and press AE Lock (* button), the 300D will switch to partial metering on that neutral subject.

Can someone correct me if I'm wrong with any of this?

[neil_r]

Well I guess the other 500,000 of us who don't have a problem must be using it wrong then :confused:


N

[tommykjensen]

I have a question.

It is soon time for the local carnival here in Copenhagen and I was wondering of the omnibounce will be of benefit when shooting portraits outside, in daylight maybe even sunshine?

[tim]

I've done a few tests, outside I prefer straight flash to the stofen straight on - straight on it has a strange color cast. The stofen at 45 degrees is pretty good too. I can't explain those results, but I can reproduce them.

The stofen's great inside. It lets some light go directly from the flash to the face, so there are no harsh shadows. More light bounces off the roof and walls, so you get a picture that looks more natural - we're used to having people illuminated from above because that's where the sun is.

The LSII is another good option, it works kinda like the Omnibounce, but it increases the size of the light source. Bigger light source = less blown out highlights - like with a lighting umbrella on a smaller scale. I recommend anyone using a flash get a lighting book, I read a studio lighting book I got from the library and it was invaluable.

[Todd Jacobsen]

Thought these were meant to soften the light from a flash? Messing with it tonight, I've found the total opposite. Admitedly, only testing on 'auto'. camera 300D. Flash Sigma EF-500 DG. Set at 60 degrees. E-TTL mode. Resulting images have the highlights blown away. As bad as pointing the 'normal' flash direct at the subject from about 4 feet! The normal flash head at 60 degrees produces much better stuff. More natural. Looks like 15 quid wasted to me. (There's a 'wide' panel option on the Sigma anyways) Anyone wanna buy a 'bit of plastic'? ;)


The flash & camera do not know the stofen is there, nor can the stofen 'produce' light. If you achieved blowouts with the stofen, you should achieve 1-stop more of blowouts without the stofen attached.

[Arty]

The flash & camera do not know the stofen is there, nor can the stofen 'produce' light. If you achieved blowouts with the stofen, you should achieve 1-stop more of blowouts without the stofen attached.
As I said Todd - I got the exact opposite. What I think is happening, is the room is too small. Ceiling about 8feet, side to side only around 10feet. Too much 'bounce' coming off them with the Stofen, plus it sends some flash directly at the subject too. That's why the normal bounce mode produced better results. (With less harsh shadows I might also add)

Well I guess the other 500,000 of us who don't have a problem must be using it wrong then :confused: N
:D :D :D Possibly....... :cool:

Thanks all for taking the time to reply.