Gary Fong's The Puffer Pop Up Flash Diffuser

I found the "Gary Fong's The Puffer Pop Up Flash Diffuser" on eBay at
http://cgi.ebay.com …294%3A30#ebayph​otohosting

Do you think this will work on my new Canon PowerShot SX1IS
Seems like it would be a useful thing to have to soften the flash a bit

I would suggest you leave it on eBay.

So, the best thing to use is a hot shoe flash on top and get a diffuser made to
fit the flash I'm using?

Your built-in flash is weak at best. The puffer will further cut that power.

I would go for a 430EX which will allow you to swivel and tilt the head for bounced flash. It will also allow a more realistic modifier.

Check out www.abetterbouncecard.​com or the Demb Flipit.

My preference is a camera rotating flash bracket and a Lumiquest ProMax System.

Great idea. I might can make one of those myself
with materials down at the hobby store.

Dude... save the $25 and put it towards the $80 to get the Sunpak RD2000 which will let you bounce flash and give you MUCH better results than a piece of plastic infront of the built-in flash.

Even the $35 Vivitar DF22C would be superior. It doesn't swivel but at least it bounces.

I was kinda thinking I could do the same with some
materials from the hobby store for cheap, just to
experiment with "bouncing light" to see how it
effects images

As far as flashes go...I'm probably going to get the one from
Digital Concepts for $48 at http://cgi.ebay.com …99026046#ebayph​otohosting

It seems to be decent for me, just starting out and all.

I need to wait though to see if they sell a diffuser for this unit.

As someone once said, "There's a sucker born every minute." And Gary Fong has managed to exploit that statement to the fullest.

The pop-up flash is the most useless piece of camera engineering to come down the road in many years and Fong's diffuser just makes a marginal device worse. Save your money for a good shoe-mount flash.

Rockrz wrote in post #8220426
I was kinda thinking I could do the same with some
materials from the hobby store for cheap, just to
experiment with "bouncing light" to see how it
effects images

As far as flashes go...I'm probably going to get the one from
Digital Concepts for $48 at http://cgi.ebay.com …99026046#ebayph​otohosting

It seems to be decent for me, just starting out and all.

I need to wait though to see if they sell a diffuser for this unit.

I don't know about your camera..but you do know that this flash is "dumb", correct? There are no ttl/ettl functions. It will flash at whatever brightness you set on the back of the flash.

ootsk wrote in post #8221150
I don't know about your camera..but you do know that this flash is "dumb", correct? There are no ttl/ettl functions. It will flash at whatever brightness you set on the back of the flash.

Considering I don't know anything about my camera yet and I'm just
now learning a few things beyond "point and shoot", at least this flash
will be a step up from the pop up flash that the camera has once I get
a diffuser on it.

I've got alot to learn yet about my camera's many, many different settings
for taking pictures before getting into advanced flash operations.

Like right now...I didn't know it could be manually controlled, which is
good news to me! I figure I probably need to start off with manual
controls and work up from there.

Plus, I need to save my money after spending a few hundred to get
the camera. Don't worry, I'm hearing you guys. I'm also hearing that
it's important for me to learn general photography concepts too before
blowing alot more money.

Manually setting flash power is considered "advanced flash operations" . ETTL basically automates the flash exposure for you, and requires much less fiddling around.

I'm still a beginner myself, but from what I understand, the quickest and easiest way to soften light is by bouncing it (creating a larger apparent light source). Picking up a flash that at least lets you point it at the ceiling will do wonders for your indoor shots.

yanr wrote in post #8223681
ETTL basically automates the flash exposure for you, and requires much less fiddling around.

So, by using the Canon hotshoe flash...it will automatically know
how strong to make the flash based on the conditions at the
moment the picture is being taken?

This is the typical example given by most places of how the flash exposure is independent of the ambient light exposure.

I took the following three shots in M mode, at f/5.0 and the shutter speeds indicated and with a 430EX II mounted on the hotshoe in ETTL mode. As you can see the exposure of the subject (the bear) is very consistent between the three shots even though the ambient exposure changed. This is the ETTL at work; had I put the flash in manual mode, I would have had to change the flash output in order to maintain the same exposure on the subject.

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My problem is that I haven't a clue yet about shutter speed adjustments, or any
other adjustments to the camera that may be needed, when they may be needed,
or even how to make them.

So far, I'm amazed at how good my pics are looking with the built in flash
and default factory camera settings. I probably need to get over having to
spend $250 for a Canon flash!