wistler Posted May 12, 2005 Share Posted May 12, 2005 it at the same time. Need to get it soon and play with it. Hope it doesn't take too long to get here. Anyone here had any recent experiances with it to share?MC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maury_cohen Posted May 12, 2005 Share Posted May 12, 2005 Nervous??? Why be nervous about a piece of gear? Just try it out and get used to it or not. The advertisements page I saw is a bit misleading in its photos. Besides the added diffusion the photographer has used other advance techniques to improve the quality of the shots. Longer ambient exposures and bounce were used in at least some of the shots. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maury_cohen Posted May 12, 2005 Share Posted May 12, 2005 I spoke a bit too quickly there. Apologies to Gary F. The photos do seem to benefit manily from the combination of bounce off of a low, white ceiling and the diffused flash that filters forward. In my opinion it could be an effective tool when combined with a higher than normal ISO and/or a flash with fairly decent output. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nick_breedlove1 Posted May 12, 2005 Share Posted May 12, 2005 I hate to burst your bubble. I've got a lumiquest diffuser, a Canon 580ex flash, and a Canon 20D body. I saw the lightsphere thinking something new and revolutionary...I wasted $45 on a piece of plastic junk that a $19 lumiquest over the flash head diffuser will do. Wish I had never bought it. Make a difference in pics --- NO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grant g Posted May 12, 2005 Share Posted May 12, 2005 Nick, What Lumiquest are you using? I have the Ultrasoft and the Mini Softbox, and I prefer the Lightsphere II. I like that the Lumiquest products fold flat and store easier in a camera bag. But the LS2 fits over my 24-70 just fine. MC, There's nothing to be nervous about...unless you end up feeling like Nick above. I'm sure either of you could sell them at or near cost. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
e.m. Posted May 12, 2005 Share Posted May 12, 2005 I use it and love it. Also one of the best benefits is you do not need to use a bracket with it. No bracket, now that's what I like to hear! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fotografz Posted May 12, 2005 Share Posted May 12, 2005 You'd think SOMEONE would come up with a better solution than a cheesy fold up piece of plastic you velcro to your $500. flash ... I just love that ripping sound when you remove it. Or an empty plastic milk bottle turned upside down ... especially cool when staggering Uncle Bob knocks it off on the dance floor and it goes bouncing all over the place... really professional. I'm going to rubber band a red clown nose on my LSII. I tried another diffuser off of e-bay. They took a dome of milk plastic and crudely cut a hole in it and crammed it over a 550EX. I fell for it. Ordered one. Laughed when I opened the box. Threw it in the trash, $30. the wiser. What a bunch of junk. But, (sigh), at least some of it works. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lb- Posted May 13, 2005 Share Posted May 13, 2005 don't worry marc, I'm working on a revolutionary new design that'll not only work 10X better than the LS, but it'll look 10X sillier as well! something along the lines of one of those beer helmets but with two flashes where the beer cans usually go shooting back into a 20" umbrella mounted to the top of the helmet. when you need direct flash you just reach up and swivel one of the flash heads to face forward. I guess if you didn't need the extra power of two flashes you could keep one side free for a beer can! hmmmmmmmm........ well, until I get the prototype off the ground, I've used the LS on the last few jobs and it's worked very well for what it is. Like any other piece of gear it's important to understand it's limitations. I'm finding the LS on a 580ex flash sitting on a canon 20D with the 16-35 zoom lens to be a really great (and bracket free) combo for shooting receptions and parties. I like to work fairly close and the LS's range with that flash suits the 16-35 very well. Works very well outdoors without any bounce as well. cheers<div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wedding-photography-denver Posted May 13, 2005 Share Posted May 13, 2005 Hahaha, they do "bounce" quite well. I like the results over all. I found that the use of higher ISO is part of its sucess and the awarenes of surfaces behind the subject is also to be noted and worked with. Another thought I am playing with is to line the back of the large part, inside, with some reflective material (perhaps white card or paper) to push some more light forward and to the sides rather than blinding me every other shot. Haven't had a chance to really try this yet. It is an interesting lump. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grant g Posted May 13, 2005 Share Posted May 13, 2005 Marc, I was very tempted to draw a Shmoo face on it when I first got it, but I was afraid that people would think that it's where they're supposed to look! And yes, the Lumiquest ripping of velcro is very inconvenient. At least the LS2 pops off easily as your dance floor experience proves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suzanne carey Posted May 13, 2005 Share Posted May 13, 2005 Hi MC. I used mine at my fist wedding a few weekends ago. Overall, it seemed to work great. My only complaint was my flash seemed to have problems recycling. Some images had no flash at all b/c of the poor recycle time. I was using a 550EX flash and fully charged NiMH 2500 mAh batteries. So I am not sure if this was an issue with my flash or using the LS. If anyone has any ideas, I am very open to ideas! :)<div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cliff_henry Posted May 13, 2005 Share Posted May 13, 2005 Marc, Here you go!<div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patrick_murphy3 Posted May 13, 2005 Share Posted May 13, 2005 Cliff, that is hilarious. The scary thing is, it might actually give good lighting. Although the two shoulder-mounted flashes could be overpowering the umbrella and giving too much direct light. I once built a flash holder out of a monopod. I screwed a Stroboframe flash holder (the little square thing with the red knob) at each end. The camera clamped in the middle, at the base of the widest monopod tube. This put one flash about two feet to the left of the camera; the other flash could extend to the full monopod length, so it was three feet to the right when extended. The idea was to get more side lighting. In use at a basketball game, there was little lighting difference on faces compared with on-camera flash. On the downside, there were two visible shadows, compared with using on-camera where the shadow was usually hidden by the player's body. So I abandoned the getup. The FlashMan photo you posted reminded me of my ill-fated device. I am almost scared to ask if it has ever been actually used (grin!). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KenPapai Posted May 13, 2005 Share Posted May 13, 2005 That FlashMan is not wearing a tie, is he? LOL!! Thanks. Was this real or stage? ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
picturesque Posted May 13, 2005 Share Posted May 13, 2005 The ironic part of the Flash Man's rig is that the head mounted umbrella probably gives pretty nice light. A long time ago when wedding photographers used medium format gear, some used to use a 16" square softbox over their flash. Gave nice light but cumbersome, although it didn't look as ridiculous as the head umbrella. Suzanne, there is nothing wrong with your flash or batteries. There is nothing else you can do to improve your flash's recycling with the LSII unless you get an external battery pack. Then, full power recycling is cut to about 1 to 1.5 seconds. The LSII uses a lot of flash power because of it's design. If you use it on shots where your subject is farther than 10 feet from the flash, or you use medium/smaller f-stops or slow ISO, you will probably be maxing out your flash power each shot. If you don't want to get an external battery pack, try using wider f-stops/higher ISO and/or use a different modifier or direct flash for distance shots. Michael, I also wondered why Gary Fong didn't make the shape of the LSII more linear with a "waist" so that a "cuff" can be fitted on the waist that acts like a bare bulb enhancer. You would just twist the cuff to the back going from horizontal to vertical orientation. Also, the dome should have been made like a cap, with threads so it would stay put. I think he should have gotten together with the guy that makes Stofen OmniBounces because he has all the molds for different flash units already made. Maybe a unit that would snap onto an Omni Bounce base. Oh well--he didn't ask me... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jon_austin Posted May 13, 2005 Share Posted May 13, 2005 Sto-Fen OmniBounce. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derek_c. Posted May 14, 2005 Share Posted May 14, 2005 I don't know... I highly doubt Gary Fong himself uses LS II often enough. It's for close distant only. (I think) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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