Advice on a diffuser for a Canon Speedlite, please?....

[RedRobin]

I have recently bought a secondhand Canon Speedlite 430EX II (with stand but without Manual or box) and would be mostly using it mounted on my Canon 7D Mark II and only occasionally off-camera on its stand.

Indoors, I would not be in a studio, I would mostly bounce flash light off a ceiling or wall. I would want to soften shadows.

Outdoors, I might occasionally use it direct when natural light is very poor. On Canon, would P-mode be the best and easiest way to flash and natural light?

I don't want a home-made diffuser as they are invariably too fragile to carry around - I want something I can easily keep in an outdoor jacket pocket and only get out when needed. I don't carry a camera bag when outdoors.

Thanks for any advice,
Robin

 

[troutfisher]

See if you can find a lumiquest softbox( http://store.lumiquest.com/lumiquest-softbox/) they are for sale on Amazon , it fixes to the flashead with velcro and does a reasonable job for what it is.

"Outdoors, I might occasionally use it direct when natural light is very poor. On Canon, would P-mode be the best and easiest way to flash and natural light? "

Personally no.I would put the camera on manual, ignore the internal meter reading ( providing it reads underexposed) just set the shutter below sync speed , aperture to suite and the flash on ETTL and chimp.
If there is too much light and you need fill flash then try HSS with ETTL

 

[HoppyUK]

Lumiquest QuikBounce is the best single flash accessory IMHO http://store.lumiquest.com/lumiquest-quik-bounce/ Or try a Rogue FlashBender. I also like the Black Foamie Thing, that costs nothing http://neilvn.com/tangents/about/black-foamie-thing/

 

[RedRobin]

See if you can find a lumiquest softbox( http://store.lumiquest.com/lumiquest-softbox/) they are for sale on Amazon , it fixes to the flashead with velcro and does a reasonable job for what it is.

"Outdoors, I might occasionally use it direct when natural light is very poor. On Canon, would P-mode be the best and easiest way to flash and natural light? "

Personally no.I would put the camera on manual, ignore the internal meter reading ( providing it reads underexposed) just set the shutter below sync speed , aperture to suite and the flash on ETTL and chimp.
If there is too much light and you need fill flash then try HSS with ETTL

....Thanks Chris - That's very helpful

Lumiquest QuikBounce is the best single flash accessory IMHO http://store.lumiquest.com/lumiquest-quik-bounce/ Or try a Rogue FlashBender. I also like the Black Foamie Thing, that costs nothing http://neilvn.com/tangents/about/black-foamie-thing/

....Thanks Richard I'm impressed by how Lumiquest explain their products.

That black-foamie-thing isn't quite as Heath Robinson as I first thought and I always have plenty of black hair bands (I have worn a ponytail for years).

I'm not sure about the Rogue FlashBender - It is obviously very flexible but I prefer not to be fiddling about making adjustments. My subjects move!

 

[HoppyUK]

....Thanks Chris - That's very helpful



....Thanks Richard I'm impressed by how Lumiquest explain their products.

That black-foamie-thing isn't quite as Heath Robinson as I first thought and I always have plenty of black hair bands (I have worn a ponytail for years).

I'm not sure about the Rogue FlashBender - It is obviously very flexible but I prefer not to be fiddling about making adjustments. My subjects move!

In a market with leanings towards snake-oil, Lumiquest vids are refreshingly straight Bear in mind that with all these accessories though, the result is 90% dependent on the situation, particularly the ceiling and walls. Most 'diffusers' don't diffuse much, if at all, but simply redirect the light to a nearby surface where the tiny flash light source effectively becomes a very much larger one. That's where the diffusion takes place, but outdoors, with no nearby surfaces to bounce off, they do bugga-all. Or mostly anyways, though the Lumiquest QB and other widgets that also make the actual light source bigger, do have a useful softening effect at closer distances - say couples and small groups.

I like the LQ Quik Bounce because it's easy, fast, predictable, effective, versatile, efficient, works for horizontal or vertical framing, and folds away flat. Tip: zoom the flash head to get more light from higher ceilings. Flash Benders are also good, and good for learning, but you have to keep an eye on your angles. The accessory softbox attachments also work well, or as well as anything that small can do.

The BFT is brilliant, in the right hands and the right situation, ie a nearby wall/ceiling. Neil Van N is a master of making flash look like daylight. I use a black foam drinks insulator as my BFT - fits a treat, £3 from Amazon, just chop the bottom off and shape the top Here http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/...mini_detail?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A262H7XMFYHO5T

As for the best flash mode to use, there isn't one, though I will say that with Canon Av, it's dead easy to balance flash and ambient exposure levels. Bear in mind that you can use the camera in manual and the flash on auto-TTL, or vice versa.

Edit: have you tried a simple bounce card? Similar to the little pull-out hilite panel that Canon thoughtfully chose to leave off the 430EXii. That can work alarmingly well (same principle as most expensive accessories) and costs nothing, eg white business card, plus rubber band or BluTack.