Diffuser v.s. Sunpak 120J

[mike_shaffer]

I would dearly love to get something like a Sunpak 120J (parabolic

reflector electronic flash) but lack the $$$s. Has anyone compared

the light quality of such a unit v.s. something like the Lumiquest

Pocket Bounce? I could easily make a similar device for next to

nothing.

 

What got me thinking this way is the much more even and soft results

that direct flash bulbs in a reflector give compared to direct

electronic flash. I assume that much of this is due to the shape of

the bulb and reflector.

[carl photography]

My Lumiquest gadgets (several of 'em) provide good, even lighting indoors, with desirable "catch lights" in the subjects' eyes (but they generally aren't worth using outdoors, with no ceiling or walls to reflect the spill light).

 

I wouldn't spend money just to experiment with parabolic strobes. Rarely, to generate broad and diffuse light, I attach a small white umbrella to a heavy-duty (Bogen) camera flash bracket (but it's a clumsy, unbalanced rig!).

 

"Brandon's Dad"

[bruce_rubenstein___nyc]

The "softness" of the light is primarily dependent on the size/area of the light source. The reflector flashes (Sunpak, Quantum & Lumedyne) are about 5" in dia., and are much larger than a plain shoe mount flash. You do have to remember that the size of the light source and the distance of the flash to the subject is critical. From more than 10', both types of flash are essentially point sources, and aren't very soft.

 

When you use any bounce device on a flash, it is only effective if the light has surrounding surfaces (walls, ceiling) to bounce off of. If you're outside, the pocket bouncer will give a larger radiating area, but will cost 2, or more, stops of light compeared to a direct parabolic reflector flash.

 

In terms of eveness, my Quantum (with the reflector in its wide angle position) give much more even illumination than a shoe mount flash that doesn't have any attachments on them.

 

Where the removeable reflector flashes really "shine" is being able to remove the reflector and attach something like a small light box. Using the Quantum wide angle diffuser is like having an Omnibounce. Even in large rooms the flash can put out enough light to give a combination of soft, direct and bounced light.

[gary_ferguson1]

Mike, I use Quantum units as well as Canon dedicated flash units. The parabolic reflector gives a tiny bit of an advantage, but the operative word is "tiny". It sounds like you're suffering from "the grass is always greener" syndrome. In reality the benefit of parabolic reflectors is extra power not softness, I use them for indoor architectural shots or with umbrellas.

 

For portrait applications I almost always use hotshoe mounted dedicated flash units, but with a Lumiquest Softbox or a Lumiquest bounce hood. In terms of the softness of the light these are just as good as a parabolic reflector, indeed probably better, however both fall some way short of a 30" softbox or umbrella.

 

Try bouncing your dedicated flash into the corner of a white painted room, where the ceiling and walls meet. This will give you a far softer look than any parabolic reflector and is getting close to umbrella quality.

[stephen_kruft]

My thought in all these situations is to do the free and old fashioned first. If your flash is fairly powerful and will swivel upwards, get a white card and a rubber band. Turn the flash directly upwards and attach the card behind the flash head so that it sticks straight up, with the white card toward the subject. Then when you shoot, you get a combination of bounce off the ceiling (if you have a ceiling) and softer light off the card.