Rogue Flashbender or Gary Fong collapsible light sphere? Take a guess which is which

gonzogolf wrote in post #17737061
Fong has a number of misleading claims in his promotional materials, but its been repeatedly proven here how ineffective they are if you dont have adjacent bounce surfaces. Step outside and test the two again. The rogue wont be great as its still a small modifier but it will beat the fong. Its physics, size equals softness with all other things being equal and the fong doesnt make the light source larger absent the bounce. And if you have good bounce surfaces you dont need the fong.

^

It is not the product that I have fault with (other than the great amount of money that the naive are being relieved, in the belief it works so well), it is the deceptive comparisons Fong has used on his website, when anyone with understanding knows that simply the addition of one Fong Lightsphere CANNOT accomplish the visible differences in the photos!...like changes to shutter speed (only a slower shutter or aperture change would brighten the candle!!!), to accomplish the change like in this comparison

I'm glad you saw this thread Wilt. I hate being the lone voice in the wilderness.

The lightshpere and other products like it are pretty much useless 90% of the time. The other 10% of the time they work really well as change holders. Pick up Neil Van Neikerks "On Camera Flash for Wedding Photographers" book. It makes understanding the fundamentals of bounce flash quite easy, and you'll quickly see that if you have a surface to bounce your light off of, you don't need any sort of Tupperware on your speedlight. Learn to bounce the flash effectively while balancing it with ambient light. It's really quite simple once you get the hang of it. The directional light from bounced flash looks much better than the on axis light from the re-purposed food storage containers.

Well, here is one of the shots I strobed it with the flashbender, on a light stand, and facing directly at the sofa. The distance is about 6ft to 7ft. Flash output was 1/2 or 1/4. More than likely at 1/2 because I tried to keep the exposure from the widows getting blown out. ISO 500 (could have used 800 or 1000). F7.1. I was in the office. On my right and in front of me are windows. Only on my left side there was a wall. But the wall was blocked by a large file cabinet and the wall was filled with plaques. The only bounced light source I was getting was from the ceiling. The rest was from the flashbender.

There were shadows on the wall behind their heads but I blended them into the background.

Sorry but using a flash Bender on a light stand is almost as silly as using a fong. When you can get a 24 or 28 inch softbox for $20 there isnt any reason to use the flashbender.

Hehehehe...I could only use what I have at the moment. It got the job done. Currently, looking to see if I could setup a Godox system with a 28" softbox....if my budget permits it...

TooManyShots wrote in post #17737187
Hehehehe...I could only use what I have at the moment. It got the job done. Currently, looking to see if I could setup a Godox system with a 28" softbox....if my budget permits it...

I understand that. Ive seen too many posts here where users try to justify flashbenders on stands. Their logic never holds up but they are convinced its the perfect tool.

Is far from perfect. Certainly good enough for shooting indoor events when you have to run around and covering shots.

TooManyShots wrote in post #17737197
Is far from perfect. Certainly good enough for shooting indoor events when you have to run around and covering shots.

On camera yes, but if you are going to the trouble to add a stand the flashblender is a needless compromise.

gonzogolf wrote in post #17737198
On camera yes, but if you are going to the trouble to add a stand the flashblender is a needless compromise.

Not exactly....because the flash is off camera. Two, is a lot easier to move around with a flashbender on a light stand than a 24" softbox on it. What do you want to do if you want off camera flash that would allow you to move around very easily...while getting as much as light diffusion that you can get? Another option is shooting with one hand with the camera and the other holding the flash with the flashbender. That something I did with my last gig.

gonzogolf wrote in post #17737198
On camera yes, but if you are going to the trouble to add a stand the flashblender is a needless compromise.

Also, a softbox would not illuminate the background and is only directional. If you are going to use a softbox, it is almost certain that you need a second light to expose the background.

It is no harder to move a small softboxes on a stand than it is a flashbender. If you are going off Camera, make it count. The flashbender on a stand doesn't do anything for the background you can't do with a soft box. You are trying too hard to come up with reasons to use the wrong gear.

gonzogolf wrote in post #17737228
It is no harder to move a small softboxes on a stand than it is a flashbender. If you are going off Camera, make it count. The flashbender on a stand doesn't do anything for the background you can't do with a soft box. You are trying too hard to come up with reasons to use the wrong gear.

No, it does. The ceiling bounce would allow the light to fill the background. A softbox won't because the light is front directional. Seriously, if you know a way to use a single softbox that would allow you to fill the background with enough light while exposing the subject, I would love to know how. With a single softbox, you get the light fall off. That's good if you want to mute the background. What if you are doing some editorial shoot and not aftering a muted background? How would a single softbox illuminate both the background and the subject? Have the subjects being close to the background...but the light fall off would only be as large as the size of the softbox. With a ceiling bounce, the light source is much larger...

the flash bender is infinitely more useful because it can be bent and twisted to meet your needs. Have you read up on the black foamie thing? it is often desirable to point the flash slightly toward the subject but still want zero direct light from the flash head to fall on the subject, this is a simple task with some kind of BFT or the flash bender.

edit: i'm talking about flash bender vs fong, not softbox.

I just use the top of a white Styrofoam togo box as a bounce card. works awesome.