Gary Fong Light-Sphere

jockwav

jockwav

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Anyone got or used one?.
I have been looking at them for months,so i have eventually ordered one today.
Not a great deal of money if it is rubbish,but looking at a lot of you tube stuff on it,i think worth a try.:)
 
There are some forums where anyone with a Fong is derided, then lined up and shot! When you know something about how light works, and how accessories like the Light Sphere work, Fong's marketing can be seen as short on objectivity and rich in snake oil, and there are other attachments that work at least as well, or better (eg Lumiquest, or DIY jobs that cost nothing) but in the right situation the LS is at least effective - if not miraculous.

IMHO, Fongs are just expensive and cumbersome for what they do :)
 
Thank you Richard,as i said worth a play with.:)
 
jockwav said:
Thank you Richard,as i said worth a play with.:)
Click to expand...

The key thing is that all these diffuser type attachments don't do much diffusing in themselves - they simply spread light around so that it bounces off surrounding areas, principally the ceiling and that is where 95% of the diffusion takes place. The ceiling then becomes your much larger light source, creating much softer shadows. Using these things outdoors for example and you will get very little if any benefit, and almost all of the precious light will just be blasted into space. You can get much the same result indoors just by bouncing the flash upwards to the ceiling and using the little pull-out hilite panel to add a dash of direct fill-in light.

The other thing is dropping the shutter speed to control ambient light exposure and bring up the background brightness. Makes a big difference. Fong's ads use that trick in the before-and-after illustrations, but fail to mention what's actually happening.
 
Great explanation,thanks again.:)
 
I bought the Flashbender which IMO is much more versatile.
 
I also have the flashbender,just like to play with these things.:)
 
You can buy mine, it's currently a pen holder.

I have no idea what I was thinking when I bought it :(
 
Phil V said:
You can buy mine, it's currently a pen holder.

I have no idea what I was thinking when I bought it :(
Click to expand...

I'll have that off you Phil, if you put it up in the classifieds. Let me know :)
 
HoppyUK said:
I'll have that off you Phil, if you put it up in the classifieds. Let me know :)
Click to expand...
A weird experiment?
It's one of the early ones, not the later collapsible. I'll dig it out
 
Phil V said:
A weird experiment?
It's one of the early ones, not the later collapsible. I'll dig it out
Click to expand...

Haha, something like that ;) Just another widget to add to my collection. I've used one briefly, but never actually owned one, and since I recommend them from time to time perhaps I'd better take a closer look. I think they're handy and quite versatile, if you know what's what.

One thing tho, if it works okay I'd like the option to add the softbox attachment. Is that available for your version?

I've got a kids b'day party this weekend and been ordered to perform camera duties. Might come in useful, though I've also got a Round Flash thingy arriving hopefully today that I was planning to use in a multi-flash set up.

Cheers.
 
HoppyUK said:
Haha, something like that ;) Just another widget to add to my collection. I've used one briefly, but never actually owned one, and since I recommend them from time to time perhaps I'd better take a closer look. I think they're handy and quite versatile, if you know what's what.

One thing tho, if it works okay I'd like the option to add the softbox attachment. Is that available for your version?

I've got a kids b'day party this weekend and been ordered to perform camera duties. Might come in useful, though I've also got a Round Flash thingy arriving hopefully today that I was planning to use in a multi-flash set up.

Cheers.
Click to expand...
Mine doesn't have the softbox option, is your round flash thing a pop up copy of the whatjamacallit? I bought one at TPS and used it at my nieces birthday, I used it on a VAL stick to get it in close.
 
Phil V said:
Mine doesn't have the softbox option, is your round flash thing a pop up copy of the whatjamacallit? I bought one at TPS and used it at my nieces birthday, I used it on a VAL stick to get it in close.
Click to expand...

Okay, thanks Phil. I'll pass on the FlashBender then. Cheers for digging it out though :)

Yes, the RoundFlash is a copy off Amazon. The original version is too expensive for what is basically a trial. I'm also planning to use it close, with a couple of other guns around the room to lift the background. I've also got a RoundFlash Dish that works really well on a flash bracket, super little device actually and very light, so the copy of the whatjamacallit will be another option :thumbs:
 
what a great explanation Richard, thank you
HoppyUK said:
The key thing is that all these diffuser type attachments don't do much diffusing in themselves - they simply spread light around so that it bounces off surrounding areas, principally the ceiling and that is where 95% of the diffusion takes place. The ceiling then becomes your much larger light source, creating much softer shadows. Using these things outdoors for example and you will get very little if any benefit, and almost all of the precious light will just be blasted into space. You can get much the same result indoors just by bouncing the flash upwards to the ceiling and using the little pull-out hilite panel to add a dash of direct fill-in light.

The other thing is dropping the shutter speed to control ambient light exposure and bring up the background brightness. Makes a big difference. Fong's ads use that trick in the before-and-after illustrations, but fail to mention what's actually happening.
Click to expand...
 
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