Flash bouncers & diffusers: Lightsphere? Lumiquest?

[Feanor]

Yet another question from me here in the accessories section!





I could do with something to soften the light from my 580 EXII. Opinions on how to do this, as is so often with this hobby, seem to be contradictory. I gather the Lightsphere II is a bit of a gimmick. I read a thread recommending the Lumiquest 80-20, and looking at the manufucturer's website the Promax system seems to cater for every need; it also looks pretty good value for money, while being refreshingly simple and light - compared to a lot of these metal beasts available which seem a bit unnecessary to me.


I have had some good results from bouncing my flash using the in-built card, but what bothers me is that it's awkward to use ceiling bounce in portrait mode - which, since portraits are usually what bounce flash is for, seems a bit odd to me. Unfortunately the Lumiquest bouncers don't appear to be suitable for using ceiling bounce either.


Any suggestions? Or are these accessories not worth it, and I should just learn to use the kit I have so that it doesn't give harsh or shadowy results?

[tank]

The lightsphere is big and bulky. I like and use theSto-Fen Omni Bounce. Works great, small and simple.

[40Doodle]

I'm using the Gary Fong Lightsphere II Cloud and am very happy with it. It's not as small as some of the other diffusers out there, but is very lightweight, flexible and fits into my bag with no problems.


Rick

[Ehcalum]

I have the lumiquest promax system. I get great results with the frosted diffuser and no insert. Its not that big folded up, about the size of a large letter. It does kill about 1 - 2 stops depending on how you use it.


The lightsphere is a glorified tuppaware container, the omnibounce is a cut off hydrogen peroxide bottle. The promax system can be made with some poster board, foamcore and glue. Your milage may vary.

[Ehcalum]

Oh, the lumiquest will bounce off a 10-15' ceiling from my experience.

[Bill M.]

I have the Lumiquest 80-20 and the Stofen Omnibounce and I use the Omnibouce 99% of the time. With the Stofen you can still bounce and diffuse off a ceiling in portrait mode, while the Lumiquest does not allow you to bounce as effectively. The built in card really isn't too bad for landscape mode as you already know.


The problem with most of these diffusers is that in portrait mode, you still create a side shadow behind your subject, whereas a bracket mounted flash with a diffuser will generally keep shadows straight behind your subject (and more likely less distracting).


I like the Stofen also because it is the least distracting of the different diffusers--but it will be a moot point once I finally get around to buying a bracket!


The Omnibounce is so cheap you can try it without too much guilt if you don't like it. I would definately recommend some type of diffuser though, it really does make a world of difference in flash photography.