Forgot Password
Pentax Camera Forums Home
 

Reply
Show Printable Version Search this Thread
01-17-2013, 09:30 PM   #1
Veteran Member
reivax's Avatar

Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: California
Posts: 826
Best Method For Diffusing Flash

I'm going to be shooting an event (for fun, no pay) inside a gym (it's a school event).

I plan on using my flash (Metz 50) but I'd really like to avoid using direct light since it might be too harsh. Since it's a gym, I can't bounce the light off of the ceiling, so I was hoping I could get some advice from all of you. I could probably shoot with no flash, but I'm hoping to get better IQ by using a lower ISO.

Has anyone used anything that has produced great results? I was thinking about getting one of these:
Amazon.com: Sto-Fen Omni-Bounce for the Metz 48 AF-1 & 58 AF-1 Series Flashes: Camera & Photo
or possibly even one of these:
Amazon.com: Opteka SB-1 Mini Universal Studio Soft Box Flash Diffuser for Canon EOS, Nikon, Olympus, Pentax, Sony, Sigma and Other External Flash Units: Camera & Photo

Does anyone have any experience with them? Are there any other options?

I would be walking around a lot, so I wouldn't be able to set up stands and umbrellas. Thanks in advance.

01-17-2013, 09:41 PM   #2
Closed Account




Join Date: Jun 2012
Posts: 227
I put a Morris Softbox ( great flash bracket) on my tripod with a Cowboy Studio PT-04 wireless trigger and carry it around. Use it with kids out doors. Highly portable
01-17-2013, 11:25 PM   #3
Senior Member




Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Botosani
Photos: Gallery | Albums
Posts: 285
Similar to those you selected i found on e-bay, from....China. I ordered few of those, and i think total amount was 5$. Downside - i have to wait about one month to get those. But i used some in-house made from white thick paper and rubber band, it worked great.

Just google "homemade diffuser template for flash" under "images" and you will have a lot of ideas easy to made in few minutes at home. I also have one of those "dome" type diffusers, but is not comfortable to move around with that on top of your flash.
01-18-2013, 12:11 AM   #4
Pentaxian
calsan's Avatar

Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Perth, Australia
Photos: Gallery
Posts: 1,543
Sto-fen with the flash angled at 45 or 60 degrees works well enough for my humble purposes.
Metz also make similar bounce diffusers for their flashes:
Diffuser and reflector umbrellas: Metz

I like these diffusers as the flash still fits in it's bag with the sto-fen attached, so there's no need to leave it behind.

01-18-2013, 01:21 AM   #5
Veteran Member
Anvh's Avatar

Join Date: Sep 2011
Posts: 4,616
Sto-fen or any omni-bounce won't work because the light needs to bounce like the name suggest.

You need to increase your light surface... but if you're flashing from far away you need a really big modifier to make it appear soft.
01-18-2013, 01:44 AM   #6
Pentaxian




Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Oregon
Photos: Albums
Posts: 1,435
The Stofen won't do much for you in a gym. It will do little more than lose light. You need either a big diffuser or a bounce card. Diffusers usually lose less light, but are harder to use on camera.

This one would be better if it fits: http://www.amazon.com/Fotodiox-Softbox-Sunpack-Olympus-Panasonica/dp/B003Y30334/ref=pd_cp_p_0

Last edited by civiletti; 01-18-2013 at 01:47 AM. Reason: add info
01-19-2013, 10:51 AM   #7
Veteran Member




Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Brighton, United Kingdom
Photos: Gallery
Posts: 311
Strobist: On Assignment: Prep Basketball

Strobist: On Assignment: Big Gym, Little Lights

Should help. Difficult assignment though, could do with a more powerful flash. My metz 58 is quite good with high ceilings. If you can get close.




I have a lumnia ounce which I've used with some success for when I don't have a bounce surface.

01-19-2013, 11:37 AM   #8
Veteran Member
reivax's Avatar

Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: California
Posts: 826
Original Poster
QuoteOriginally posted by Pheo Quote


I have a lumnia ounce which I've used with some success for when I don't have a bounce surface.
That's a pretty cool photo. I went out and did some test shots. The pictures look fine without flash, but I know that extra light would make a big difference. Thanks for the links, I'll keep looking. A Metz 58 is a little out of my price range right now. All of the recommendations everyone was making did lead me into one of those 10 hour internet scavenger hunts that led me to one of these: Amazon.com: LumiQuest ProMax System LQ-105: Camera & Photo. I'm not sure if it will help me for this particular assignment, but it seems like it could be very useful in other situations. I plan on trying it and will report back with the results.
01-19-2013, 01:16 PM   #9
Veteran Member




Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Brighton, United Kingdom
Photos: Gallery
Posts: 311
QuoteOriginally posted by reivax Quote
That's a pretty cool photo. I went out and did some test shots. The pictures look fine without flash, but I know that extra light would make a big difference. Thanks for the links, I'll keep looking. A Metz 58 is a little out of my price range right now. All of the recommendations everyone was making did lead me into one of those 10 hour internet scavenger hunts that led me to one of these: Amazon.com: LumiQuest ProMax System LQ-105: Camera & Photo. I'm not sure if it will help me for this particular assignment, but it seems like it could be very useful in other situations. I plan on trying it and will report back with the results.
You may find if you up the ISO your flash is fine :-) I've spent far too much in e last three months so I know the feeling!

I have the "bounce" part of that (iPhone keyboard mangled lumnibounce!) - works well for when you don't have a convenient ceiling. Just be aware the softness of the light directly correlates to the size of the light source... So the lumnibounce won't help much if you are trying to throw a long distance. But having said that, it might be better than nothing, if you are in a bind!

The other thing to get your head around quickly is how aperture / shutter speed affect flash vs ambient. pTTL is ok but you aren't likely to achieve anything too creative with it.
01-19-2013, 11:10 PM   #10
Veteran Member




Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Hong Kong
Posts: 1,352
Rogue FlashBender?

ExpoImagin ROGUERELG Rogue Flashbender Large Reflector ROGUERELG
01-21-2013, 07:00 AM   #11
Veteran Member




Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Iowa
Photos: Albums
Posts: 2,275
I normally use stands & umbrellas, but a mini-softbox like the Opteka SB-1 is ok for an on-flash solution. What works better is the DIY beauty dish I made from a 12" white plastic bowl and a $2 convex plastic mirror from the Wal-Mart auto department. It's kinda like this: DIY Beauty Dish at aaron tan

I'm sure if you experiment with a few things, you'll hit upon the thing that works for you. Good luck! - Bobbo :-)
01-22-2013, 06:52 AM   #12
Veteran Member
GeneV's Avatar

Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Albuquerque NM
Photos: Albums
Posts: 9,830
I just received a Graslon diffuser to use in situations like that. The Youtube tests (including one by another mfr) looked good, but I haven't had the time to really test it out.

You can definitely take photos in a well-lit gym without flash, especially with the performance of modern DSLRs at higher ISO. However, you won't get the crispness and frozen action of that shot above. It is really just a question of the effect you want. If the gym has a balcony, it can also be a good place to mount a flash.
01-23-2013, 11:07 PM   #13
Site Supporter
Site Supporter
maxfield_photo's Avatar

Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Cincinnati, OH
Posts: 1,216
QuoteOriginally posted by reivax Quote
That's a pretty cool photo. I went out and did some test shots. The pictures look fine without flash, but I know that extra light would make a big difference. Thanks for the links, I'll keep looking. A Metz 58 is a little out of my price range right now. All of the recommendations everyone was making did lead me into one of those 10 hour internet scavenger hunts that led me to one of these: Amazon.com: LumiQuest ProMax System LQ-105: Camera & Photo. I'm not sure if it will help me for this particular assignment, but it seems like it could be very useful in other situations. I plan on trying it and will report back with the results.
I own the Lumiquest Big Bounce and it's fantastic in the right situation. Now it does eat up about 3 stops of light, and that's a lot, but used up close the light is wonderfully soft. I put it on my Metz 45CL-4 or "The Roman Candle" as I like to call it. For my Metz 58, I like to use the Lumiquest LTp Softbox which only costs me a stop and a half.

If you're in a big gym though, and there is a white wall near you, they're usually painted with a semi-gloss, and might make an efficient reflector. You can actually keep the flash on the hotshoe, just turn the reflector around so that you're firing it back over your head. Depending on how the room is arranged though, that may be too distracting to others.
01-24-2013, 07:43 PM   #14
Veteran Member
reivax's Avatar

Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: California
Posts: 826
Original Poster
Well, I finally received this: Amazon.com: LumiQuest ProMax System LQ-105: Camera & Photo. It does seem to work pretty well. I haven't had a chance to try it out anywhere other than my home so I guess the only cool thing I've noticed is that it removes some of the shadows that bouncing the light off the ceiling creates. One review I read referred to the shadows as "raccoon eyes". That in itself makes it worth the money. Now I can't wait to test it out in a ceiling-less environment to see how well it works there.

Here's a rather dumb question. A review states that using the Lumiquest ProMax System causes a loss of about 1 1/2 stops of light. Should I be compensating for this manually on my flash? Or does my flash somehow know to do it by itself? I use a Metz 50 flash. Thanks.
01-24-2013, 09:44 PM   #15
Site Supporter
Site Supporter
maxfield_photo's Avatar

Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Cincinnati, OH
Posts: 1,216
If you are using manual flash, you will need to compensate for the light loss, but it's not as hard as it sounds. Think of it this way, if you were using bare bulb flash, and you found the right power setting, and then attached the softbox, without changing any settings, your subject would suddenly be underexposed by a stop and a half. But in practice, you will have the softbox on your speedlight from the get-go, so you will take the light loss into your calculations from the start, it won't seem like you're compensating, rather that the max output of your flash has dropped. If you're not at max power though it doesn't matter.

If you shoot pTTL or Auto mode on your flash it's the same story, the camera will base it's exposure decisions on the modified flash, that's what TTL is about.
Reply

Bookmarks
  • Submit Thread to Facebook Facebook
  • Submit Thread to Twitter Twitter
  • Submit Thread to Digg Digg
Tags - Make this thread easier to find by adding keywords to it!
af-1, amazon.com, camera, event, flash, gym, light, lighting, metz, photo, photo studio, strobist
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Ideas on diffusing the onboard flash of the Q? Tonto Pentax Q 28 05-19-2013 11:46 AM
Best method to assure optimum sharpness from K-5 and Limited lenses? stevelink Photographic Technique 36 08-27-2011 09:08 PM
Bouncing/diffusing on-camera flash (with sample images) hamidlmt Flashes, Lighting, and Studio 9 11-14-2008 02:25 AM
best method for p.p noise reduction/removal simonr23 Digital Processing, Software, and Printing 6 10-26-2008 02:04 PM
Clean behind focusing screen - best method? ksignorini Pentax DSLR Discussion 18 05-14-2008 10:57 AM



All times are GMT -7. The time now is 04:39 AM. | See also: NikonForums.com, CanonForums.com part of our network of photo forums!
  • Red (Default)
  • Green
  • Gray
  • Dark
  • Dark Yellow
  • Dark Blue
  • Old Red
  • Old Green
  • Old Gray
  • Dial-Up Style
Hello! It's great to see you back on the forum! Have you considered joining the community?
register
Creating a FREE ACCOUNT takes under a minute, removes ads, and lets you post! [Dismiss]
Top