I have heard nothing but wondrous things about these products and I want to buy them all but do I need to? I read myself into circles about these products and I thought I'd float on over here for a little enlightenment!
( I sometimes shoot dance shots in a dance studio; sometimes cover events like at banquets, award dinners) not wedding stuff; sometimes need a general purpose flash when I am not shooting in the studio.
QUESTIONS:
Clear, Cloud or half cloud?
What does anyone find different about these products?
The amber dome and warming flash shots.
cloud or half cloud?
If you had to buy one???????
__________________ Vincent Penoso
White Balance so easy, even our 5 year old can do it.- Melissa Strickland
Buzz, you find them too bulky, But you've never used it? the GF system has accessories that eliminate any kind of gerry rigging but thanks foryour input.
cheers
Has anyone used this system?
__________________ Vincent Penoso
White Balance so easy, even our 5 year old can do it.- Melissa Strickland
I haven't used them and won't - too bulky and I can tell that just by looking at the photos of them.
I did view a utube of a guy who made his own from a very soft white foam plastic. Strange but a few days later I saw the same foam plastic in a hardware store for $2. so I actually bought a piece and tried it - heck, what's $2. compared to a hundred. Yup, spent 10 minutes making it and it worked - never used it though. I have never thought of my reputation as something to worry about until my wife saw it and told me it looked really amateur.
It's pretty easy to understand why other photographers refer to the reflectors as 'rubbermaid bowls'.
A simple piece of soft white foam, or white paper will do the same thing. Heck, why don't you cut out a chinette plate and try it.
White Balance so easy, even our 5 year old can do it.- Melissa Strickland
I've used the Fongospheres. They work pretty well.
I bought a few of the original version (when there was only one kind) and my wife and I used them at weddings with a good bit of success. However, they robbed quite a bit of power. You had to be a certain optimal distance to get the best effect (shorter than the normal range of your flash, obviously).
If I wanted more power (i.e. the dance floor) we fell back on our old trusty 80-20 (lumiquest). Not as nice (in terms of softness of the light), but they rob less power. My experience with the stofen has been less than positive, so no additional comments on that device.
I just recently purchased the latest gf cloud version, and it seems to rob a little less power, but is basically the same thing I used for weddings with a universal strap. The strap will probably help keep it from falling off and rolling down the aisle as the older design was prone to do. As far as the half cloud and clear (reportage version) they seem primarily designed to rob a little less power out the sides of the device with the down side being they don't diffuse as much.
Overall, my view is that bouncing (as Doug is suggesting) is great under ideal conditions (e.g. you have somewhat low neutral colored ceilings and neutral colored walls). However, this is not always the case. This is where a diffuser device needs to provide its own "ceiling" to bounce off of.
With the top piece in place, the Cloud transmits right around 50% of the flash light back down into the bowl and out the sides to be diffused. It allows the other 50% (approx.) to exit toward the ceiling for bouncing. If you remove the top piece the vast majority of the light is sent straight to the ceiling. The problem with all of these devices that I have ever used, is that there is often not a suitable bounce surface anywhere in sight (e.g. large Catholic cathedral with 40 ft vaulted ceilings and walls and ceilings with some sort of noticeable color cast).
In summary, I do recommend the use of a professionally made and designed diffuser. For bouncing, I would recommend Peter Greggs betterbouncecard, and for diffusion, at this time, my suggestion would be to go with the Cloud version of the Lightsphere.
__________________ Drew Strickland
Faith, Hope and Love and the greatest of these is...
White Balance so easy, even our 5 year old can do it.- Melissa Strickland
I'm constantly pulling my flash in and out of bags and belt pouches. There's no way I'd be able do that with the Fong diffuser, it's just too big. I've been using the Sto-fens for years, and now Nikon includes them on their flashes, and they work fine for what I do.
I've used the Fongospheres. They work pretty well.
I bought a few of the original version (when there was only one kind) and my wife and I used them at weddings with a good bit of success. However, they robbed quite a bit of power. You had to be a certain optimal distance to get the best effect (shorter than the normal range of your flash, obviously).
If I wanted more power (i.e. the dance floor) we fell back on our old trusty 80-20 (lumiquest). Not as nice (in terms of softness of the light), but they rob less power. My experience with the stofen has been less than positive, so no additional comments on that device.
I just recently purchased the latest gf cloud version, and it seems to rob a little less power, but is basically the same thing I used for weddings with a universal strap. The strap will probably help keep it from falling off and rolling down the aisle as the older design was prone to do. As far as the half cloud and clear (reportage version) they seem primarily designed to rob a little less power out the sides of the device with the down side being they don't diffuse as much.
Overall, my view is that bouncing (as Doug is suggesting) is great under ideal conditions (e.g. you have somewhat low neutral colored ceilings and neutral colored walls). However, this is not always the case. This is where a diffuser device needs to provide its own "ceiling" to bounce off of.
With the top piece in place, the Cloud transmits right around 50% of the flash light back down into the bowl and out the sides to be diffused. It allows the other 50% (approx.) to exit toward the ceiling for bouncing. If you remove the top piece the vast majority of the light is sent straight to the ceiling. The problem with all of these devices that I have ever used, is that there is often not a suitable bounce surface anywhere in sight (e.g. large Catholic cathedral with 40 ft vaulted ceilings and walls and ceilings with some sort of noticeable color cast).
In summary, I do recommend the use of a professionally made and designed diffuser. For bouncing, I would recommend Peter Greggs betterbouncecard, and for diffusion, at this time, my suggestion would be to go with the Cloud version of the Lightsphere.
DREW thank you for your objective,practical and thoughtful response. I am looking for a commercial product such as GFLS; I sawit in use the other week and had to investigate. You are right ,youcan't go to a photoshoot like macgiver trying to rig some contraption on your brownie! LOL! i wouldn't gone to this trouble if I was so concerned about money for yet another gadget in my bag. Thanks again.....for the comparisons!
__________________ Vincent Penoso
White Balance so easy, even our 5 year old can do it.- Melissa Strickland
GARY FONG Lightsphere: clear, cloud 1/2 cloud 
Linear Mode
