Light modifiers for flash

[tecboy]

There a lot of different light modifiers for flash on the market. Some are huge and some are weird designs. I have sto-fen omni bounce, and it work very well in a room. I also have lumiquest soft box, and mini soft box. These kinda reduce the light few stops, and it is good for close subject. Just curious, what do you have and how are these hold up?

 

[Blyphoto]

I just bought a Rogue FlashBender for about $40 and I really like it. It's cool because there are moveable rods that can give you different lighting styles. You can bend it around to make the light fall off where you want. I typically just bend the top down a bit so my flash bounces off of it or if I need a more narrow beam of light, I like to roll the sides in so it's like a small stripbox. I recommend trying one. Cheap and easy to use!

 

[tirediron]

Rogue products, Lastolite's Ezybox system, Cameron beauty dish, miscellaneous grids, snoots, and diffusers... The Lastolite and Rogue products are the best, the Cameron's good, and the others, decent.

 

[Big Mike]

I have a box full of various flash accessories. Although, I'm proud to say that I haven't spent $50 on a G.F. Lightshere.

The one that I use more often than the others, is the Demb Flip-It Pro. If only because it's easily adjustable and flips out of the way when not needed.

It's a pet peeve of mine, but the biggest issue with these things (flash accessories in general)...is that so very many 'photographers' use them in the wrong situations. For example, how many times have you seen someone using an Omni-bounce or Lightsphere outside?
I see it all the time and in that situation, those things are utterly useless for improving the light...and besides that, they use way more flash power, thus lengthening recharge times and reducing battery life.