Got my new Sto-Fen, any tips?

After a little searching to find one in stock I now have one for my 430EX.

The instructions (not that you need instructions) says

"do not use in the normal straight ahead position except in TTL mode"

What is all that about?


How do you use yours?

There's really no point of shooting straight ahead with the Sto-Fen. All it does is suck light (and drain your batteries )

I use the Sto-Fen for bounce!

It's called an Omnibounce for a reason. Do a bunch of test shots and see for yourself

Not that it applies to any of the EX series flashes but what that means is that if you are going to be using the Stofen on a thyristor controlled flash, when the flash head is in a straight ahead position, the flash sensor will be able to see the light coming directly from the Stofen and severely underexpose the shot.

Exactly correct. Leo. I have a 580EX and never had a problem while testing (playing) with the Stofen straight ahead. A friend of mine, with a Metz, had all kinds of problems....until he aimed the head up ("bounce").

John

I've shot with the omni bounce on my 430EX straight ahead for fill flash outdoors, worked fine.

While you can do that, outside it will not be much different than direct flash. Actually, it probably looks better due to light loss, which you could just as accomplish with negative FEC. Don't get me wrong, I love the Stofen, but it needs walls, better 8-9' ceilings to do it's work.

Outside, I would suggest something like a Lumiquest Pocket Bounce or, for a larger surface, the Midi Bounce....or you can DIY such as this: http://super.nova.org/​DPR/DIY01/

Something else that works well is something like this: http://www.aljacobs.co​m/product_tests.htm I have made some of my own from the side of a heavy white plastic 3-ring binder (just heavy duty plastic) and used velcro to attach as needed to the flash head....I made 2 sizes....big & bigger...didn't need a small card as the 580EX has one built in.

John

Thanks guys . now I understand more about what the gun is doing "straight on"

Going to play and see what I get.

That's good, this is the sort of thing I wanted to hear, cant wait to try mine now with some people

ALL of the "tupperware" diffusers are depending on local surfaces to bounce the light from the flash to do what they are advertised to do. Without surfaces like a nearby ceiling or wall(s) to bounce the light off of, all the diffuser is doing is wasting a lot of the light from the flash and presenting a slightly larger source (though insignificantly larger relative to the subject several feet away) to illuminate the subject.

A single advantage of the diffusers mounted to a flash which is pointed up is that it gets the light source higher above the lens than pointing the flash at the subject. This is good for things like red-eye and for making shadows fall lower on backgrounds.

I have been told this many times. I tested it out at one point. I use my sto fen EVERY time I use fill flash now. In my experience it looks a lot better compared to a bare flash turned down.

I use a 550ex but I imagine the principal is the same. If someone could show me how to get the same results without the sto fen I would be happy to learn it. So far it's my favorite diffuser for head on shots. I really don't like it when I bounce flash off of the walls or ceiling.

If the weather permits and I have someone willing to stand around for me I will put up some comparison shots this Sunday.