Flash Head Zoom Strobist question?
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Marvin d martian
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simple answer is yes, I tend to zoom to aprox 35mm in a brolly and a bit wider in a soft box, you don't want a hot spot in the centre that you will get at 105mm, experiment and find out what works best for you.
Mart
Mart
specialman
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The wider/bigger you can make the flash 'appear' in the first place the better in my book.
JasonRS
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It depends on what you're doing with it.
In a softbox or brolly, you want a good spread of light, so you set it as wide as it will go.
If you're trying to get a narrow beam of hard light to get a more focussed spot e.g. firing through a snoot or grid, then zoom it as far as it'll go and you'll constrain the beam more.
So, really, there's no one setting to use, just remember that wide is softer than zoom, although both are hard unless you're using modifiers.
In a softbox or brolly, you want a good spread of light, so you set it as wide as it will go.
If you're trying to get a narrow beam of hard light to get a more focussed spot e.g. firing through a snoot or grid, then zoom it as far as it'll go and you'll constrain the beam more.
So, really, there's no one setting to use, just remember that wide is softer than zoom, although both are hard unless you're using modifiers.
HoppyUK
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If you're firing into a softbox, you want the beam to be as wide as possible, to get it to reflect off the sides and bounce about inside as much as possible for maxium diffusion. I think you get a diffusion cap with an SB900 don't you, like a Stofen? Use that. Or at least flip down the wide panel.
With a brolly, you need to match the angle of the flash to the size of the umbrella - too narrow and you'll not make most use of the whole umbrella surface, too wide and you'll waste light spilling around the sides. As a guide, setting it to 50mm will give you 46 degrees angle of light (in theory, it's actually very approximate) so just guessing maybe 35mm (65 degrees) wouldn't be too far off. Depends on the size of the brolly and how far along the shaft you position it.
With a brolly, you need to match the angle of the flash to the size of the umbrella - too narrow and you'll not make most use of the whole umbrella surface, too wide and you'll waste light spilling around the sides. As a guide, setting it to 50mm will give you 46 degrees angle of light (in theory, it's actually very approximate) so just guessing maybe 35mm (65 degrees) wouldn't be too far off. Depends on the size of the brolly and how far along the shaft you position it.
Jayst84
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I find it makes very little if any difference when using modest sized umbrellas, be it bounce or shoot-through. Never used a softbox with hotshoe flashes though.
I wouldn't use the Stofen-like diffuser as it's just going to take more power away from you, on top of the softbox or whatever already taking some away.
I wouldn't use the Stofen-like diffuser as it's just going to take more power away from you, on top of the softbox or whatever already taking some away.
HoppyUK
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Stofens don't take away much light at all - they just diffuse it and spread it over such a wide area that a lot of it often gets wasted. That's where the reduction in output comes from.
But inside a softbox, where all the light is collected and reflected out of the front, the reduction in total light output is really very small - no different to using a second diffusion panel inside.
And softboxes themselves don't lose much light either - how can they, it's got nowhere to go except out of the front. There is negligible absorbsion. Of course, they do diffuse the light and spread it out, but that's how they create the softening effect.
