[pai]

http://www.eastgear.com/catalog/product_...cts_id=336

wonder how this would compare to an omni-bounce

[shuttertalk]

Looks interesting! Never having used a softbox though, I'll leave it for the pros to comment

[Toad]

Maybe I'm an idiot - but I have never got my diffuser cap to work properly - always underexposed. Not sure I would invest in another.

[Rufus]

I regularly use an omnibounce. Thing is, that it should be a bounce at 45 degrees, creating a light split from soft bounce and soft direct. People dont seem to understand this, and use it as a direct diffuser. It isnt.

[slejhamer]

Calling that a softbox is misleading. It is a bounce diffuser like the omnibounce in that it directs light in several directions. Bounced light of course is softer than direct light, but you don't use a softbox to bounce!

As Rufus correctly states, these should not be used as direct diffusers; at best they will simply cut a stop or two of light. At worst, they will give an effect that is no different from direct flash.

For a softbox (and also an umbrella or brolly box) to function most effectively, it should be fairly large and close to the subject. By bouncing and diffusing flash you are making it larger, but you're not getting it closer to the subject so it's only a partial solution - though sometimes the only option.

But for my purposes, a simple white bounce card attached to the flash with a rubber band works just as well as an omnibounce or (I would assume) an orionbounce.

This 8-part video workshop explains proper use of softboxes, bounce flash with omnibounces and larger lumiquest varieties, etc.: CLICK HERE

[adam]

Interesting! I might try that out...! S$15, does that include GST?

I'll have a look at the video now

then learn something and maybe it'll help me decide what I really need! hur hur hur

thanks

[adam]

Thanks slejhamer!
I'm watching the videos now!!!!!
Very good

[pai]

great link to the video workshop, thanks!

i thought the orion thingy was interesting because i hadn't seen something like that before. i'm not sure it'd stay white for very long though

the elastic at the base means it'll work on different flashes, and it's maybe half the price of an omnibounce. nowhere near as cheap as a card and rubber band of course...

i'm a total newbie as far as flash photography is concerned. do you use the card the same way and in the same situations as an omni (at 45 degrees)? and when/how do you decide to use pttl or manual?

[Petographer]

Perfect thread for me to read this-morning as I'm headed off to the Abbotsford Tradex for the Dog Fanciers show. The last time I shot at such an event, I needed such a flash diffuser.

[slejhamer]

do you use the card the same way and in the same situations as an omni (at 45 degrees)? and when/how do you decide to use pttl or manual?

I tend to use 60 degrees most often, but it depends on how far I am from the subject. If I'm closer I'll bounce straight up rather than over someone's head; this will avoid putting shadows over the eyes. Just imagine the ceiling and walls as a giant umbrella into which you are shooting; if the light source (the giant umbrella) is directly overhead then it will light the hair not the eyes. All the bounce card does is redirect some of the flash back at the subject.

This site should tell you everything you need to know:
http://www.toddwalker.net/pro90/flashtest/

And on this site (same guy!) you can compare shots taken with various Lumiquest attachments, an omnibounce, and simple bounced flash (click each image to get the sample shot):
http://www.toddwalker.net/e20/flashtest/

With flash I'll typically set the camera to manual exposure but use E-TTL on the flash, and this works pretty well when bouncing. Sometimes I'll need to add some FEC though. If I'm being lazy I'll put the camera in P mode and let it do its own thing.

[Toad]

Good links, Mitch.

[slejhamer]

Good links, Mitch.

Thanks Toad. I really had to dig through my "favorites" to find 'em! Gave me an opportunity to purge quite of few of them.

[pai]

hmm... another weird flash thingy

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controll...239&is=REG

[slejhamer]

Not as weird as the Strobo Sock

[adam]

The photoflex pillow makes me want to sleep...
maybe because it's late, and it's the day before my exam!!!!
ASDhkadkjahsdjkahsda! I better go~~~

[shuttertalk]

Great links Mitch - the comparison are really cool for illustrating the effect of bounce and diffusion...

[pai]

ok, so lemme get this straight. in very crude/simple terms:

for indoor events like wedding dinners/receptions, use an omni-bounce/bounce-card with the flash at 60 degrees.

if there's no whitish surface to bounce off, or the ceiling is too high, use the flash pointed forward with the omni-bounce?

[shuttertalk]

Sounds good to me...

Now there's this whole other area of off-camera flashes...