Ebay Mini Softboxes - Thoughts?

[Bidz]

Such as these:

Found here:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Flash-Lig...Accessories&hash=item3f0a76994b#ht_4807wt_952

Has anyone had any experience, and, are they awful?

Liam

 

[LongLensPhotography]

I would suggest bouncing of the ceiling. The problem with them is that they would interfere with the IR 'red window'. They would soften direct flash, which should arguably is only good for fill in.

 

[HoppyUK]

Compared to direct flash, they soften the light a lot because they're obviously much bigger, provided you're fairly close. The larger the light source, the softer the shadows - bearing in mind that size is relative to distance, so when distance is increased, as for a large group, the softening is much less.

There are lots of them about, and apart from size the main difference is how well they fit and how convenient to use. That one is very close to the lens axis, so you might look at the Lumiquest versions which work differently with the flash pointing up which raises the height. Something like this LQ Big Bounce http://www.lumiquest.com/store/products/LumiQuest-Big-Bounce.html

BTW, the IR window does nothing when the flash is on camera - it's only for receiving remote master signals. The AF assist light would get blocked though.

 

[ecniv]

I had the lumiquest and the flash qhen fired into the eys produces a line and it dissappears a lot quicker than direct flash. Also nice n soft light. I thought they were 15-20ukp worth a try?