Opteka Pop-Up Flash Diffuser

[dandaluzphotography]

Hi Guys,

I just picked this up for my XSI's pop-up flash. Has anyone used it? Is it any good?

Opteka Soft Pop-Up SLR Flash Diffuser for Canon EOS, Nikon, Olympus, & Pentax On-Camera Flashes with White, Blue (Cooling), & Orange (Warming) Screens | Canon EOS 30D Opteka Soft Pop-Up SLR Flash Diffuser for Canon EOS, Nikon, Olympus, & Pentax On-Ca

Thanks,
Danny

 

[Overread]

The way to understand how this works is to understand the basics of diffussing flash light. At its most basic you get softer light the larger the direct light source onto the subject itself is. With things like umbrellas and softboxes you can see how this works - both increase the size of the light source either by reflecting the light (umbrella) or directly (softbox) and with the light being larger it is thus softer on the subject.

The idea of the omnibounce is to spread the light from the flash head outward - combining this with an indoor area this means that the light bounces around the room - the walls then becoming the light source onto the subject and not just the flash head itself. As a result. the light is softer. The omnibounce is however often used for direct flash where it is mostly only reducing the power output of the flash rather than actually softening the light itself (because the omnibounce is clearly not increasing the size of the direct light from the flash.

 

[KmH]

Or more succinctly put, the gizmo is pretty much useless.

 

[dandaluzphotography]

You know what? This actually works pretty well. Instead of having that awful washed out look, it lessened the intensity of the flash on the subject and produced a decent result.

Thanks for the explanation overread.

Danny

 

[KmH]

You can do that by turning the flash power down, putting some tissue paper, or part of a white plastic bag, in front of the flash.

 

[dandaluzphotography]

i could do that, but this looks better and it's easier to set up.

thanks