Home made flash diffuser costing 49p

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Colin
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I was having a real Blue Peter moment last night making my own flash diffusers. It was inspired by the Better Bounce Card and to make it I got my self off to Hobbycraft in search of my materials. I was thinking of using thick paper but in the end I opted for a product called Fab Foam which is about 2mm thick and comes in A4 and A3 sheets, the A4 being 49p.

Once at home it was a reasonably simple matter to cut it to shape and fix to the flash head with a strip of velcro.

Here it is attached to my SB-600, when in use you can have it either facing forward or backwards, by using it backwards you will get a spread of light plus retain a catchlight.

0712_Diffuser.jpg


My unwilling subject, this is just a quick grab shot to see if my device worked and you can see how it has produced an almost shadowless image:

0712_Diffuser_008.jpg


A lot cheaper and easier to fit in the bag than the GF Lightsphere. :D
 
Does it not depend on the properties of the material you use... as to whether it absorbs lots of the light or bounces it? Id have thought foam would absorb it... but the photo of your lad looks good.

Does this mean putting a much more powerul output on the flash as lots will be lost in the extra distance of the bounce and the foam?? ie, not using ETTL
 
I did a similar thing but cut out using this shape:
219657.jpg


I have a band of soft velcro around the strobe and have the other velcro (hooked) on the tails of the bounce/diffuser. Actually looks like a purchased item.
 
Excellent, and beat my 70p softbox by 21p :)
 
Janice said:
Does it not depend on the properties of the material you use... as to whether it absorbs lots of the light or bounces it? Id have thought foam would absorb it... but the photo of your lad looks good.

Does this mean putting a much more powerul output on the flash as lots will be lost in the extra distance of the bounce and the foam?? ie, not using ETTL
Click to expand...

The foam is very dense Janice, it's almost like a thick piece of pliable paper and it won't absorb the light, obviously because it is white it will reflect it. By pointing the flashgun straight up it scatters the light everywhere giving even coverage.

On the shot of James the flash was set to TTL and no extra EV compensation was added unlike the Lightsphere which is usually at +2 EV.
 
Janice said:
Does it not depend on the properties of the material you use... as to whether it absorbs lots of the light or bounces it? Id have thought foam would absorb it... but the photo of your lad looks good.
Click to expand...

The colour is the main factor. The "softer" the surface the more the light will be diffused and so less will reach the subject but the effect of that won't be nearly so noticable as the brightness used. A very smooth and shiny grey card wouldn't be nearly as efficient as a sheet of white paper or foam Colin used.

Janice said:
Does this mean putting a much more powerul output on the flash as lots will be lost in the extra distance of the bounce and the foam?? ie, not using ETTL
Click to expand...

ETTL will compensate for the bounce, the pre flash calculates the power needed for the main burst. In manual mode the same would be true if using a meter, or even chimping the histogram. You will lose a fair amount of power tho probably around 2 stops in an average situation.
 
OH! I was under the impression that as soon as you bounce your flashhead ettl II isnt used any more so it doesnt "do it itself" so to speak and you have to sort it out yourself.

thats good news.
 
TTL works by metering the light coming back to the camera so it doesn't really matter what happens between the head and the return as long as enough is getting back. Generally you will need a bit of + FEC when bouncing tho.
 
I made a better bounce card out of standard A4 paper and loved the result it gave. Today I received my GF Lightsphere imitation from the bay and the light it gives is very different from that of my bounce card. I prefer the lighting from the bounce card but it's not very strong being just A4 and I don't like to fold it up etc so can't take it around with me.

Does this piece of foam roll up okay? Also where did you get that strip of velcro from?

Such a shame there isn't a Hobbycraft near me :confused: I would have loved to try this fab foam out.
 
michaelho said:
Such a shame there isn't a Hobbycraft near me :confused: I would have loved to try this fab foam out.
Click to expand...

There are loads of place that sell funky foam, a quick web search should find some local to you. I get mine from Fred Aldous in Manchester
 
thanks, might pop into staples or something to see if they have it.
Is funky foam the name for it?
 
Janice said:
OH! I was under the impression that as soon as you bounce your flashhead ettl II isnt used any more so it doesnt "do it itself" so to speak and you have to sort it out yourself.

thats good news.
Click to expand...

When you bounce the ETTL ignores the focal length of your lens as it can no longer determine the distance the light will travel. Otherwise it behaves as usual.
 
Hacker said:
I was having a real Blue Peter moment last night making my own flash diffusers. It was inspired by the Better Bounce Card and to make it I got my self off to Hobbycraft in search of my materials. I was thinking of using thick paper but in the end I opted for a product called Fab Foam which is about 2mm thick and comes in A4 and A3 sheets, the A4 being 49p.
Click to expand...

Afaik that is the exact same stuff recommended for A Better Bounce Card.
 
HIMUPNORTH said:
I did a similar thing but cut out using this shape:
219657.jpg


I have a band of soft velcro around the strobe and have the other velcro (hooked) on the tails of the bounce/diffuser. Actually looks like a purchased item.
Click to expand...


Good idea, thats a perfect shape after all... I'm trying to make one up from it but I'm finding I can't cut an accurate template from that slightly offset image...

Can you post up a flatter image perchance Hun ? :)
 
Forbiddenbiker said:
Good idea, thats a perfect shape after all... I'm trying to make one up from it but I'm finding I can't cut an accurate template from that slightly offset image...

Can you post up a flatter image perchance Hun ? :)
Click to expand...


If all else fails you could 'Free Transform' it in PS??
 
Holy thread revival batman!!

Still very handy though!
 
Good idea, I'll keep an eye out for the magical 'Fab Foam', I like the idea of being able to roll it up and keep it in my bag - card or paper ones are easily creased.
 
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