This is a great post. I used it to make the diffusers I use now on the MT-24. I would agree with what you heard about the twin being harsh without modification. Before the twin, I used a 580EXII and homemade diffuser, which was much softer than the twin without modification. But it was too bulky (also used the Wimberley flash arm), and I wanted the flexibility from the MT-24's twin heads - so I started with the twin w/o diffusers. But the light was IMO harsh all the way from 1-5x. Next I added Fong Puffers and that made a huge difference from 3-5x. But at 1-2x the light was still too harsh for me and I made the diffuser Delantech described on his blog. That's been the ticket for me. Light is soft from 1-5x.Originally Posted by neuroanatomist
I have a comment...I want one! [img]/emoticons/emotion-1.gif[/img]
FWIW, Sto-Fen makes a diffuser set for the MT-24EX, which I'd probably get. There's a blog post about building diffusers using the Sto-Fens as frames for Gary Fong puffer diffusers.
The various versions of the puffer diffusers help by not only diffusing the flash (increasing the light's surface area), but it gets that light closer to your subjects. The distance was what the puffers alone needed further help on, and what made the light harsh still when at 1-2x. The new diffuser that uses the sto-fen & puffers diffuses the flash twice and gets the light source closest to the subject (sometimes too close). I would really recommend the combo personally, but of course people have different tolerance levels on all these points. Enjoy the flash though, and all the macro fun!
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