Toronto Photography Meetup Group

Dunno if this has been posted before, but here is a way to make a cheap tupperware/sto-fen style diffuser (click on pic for link):

Neat, but do the pictures look? Any samples?

dunno.

Never tried it, didn't bother finding it, but probably about as good as a sto-fen?

Did you click on the link?

Did now.

You can't get them cheaper or more compact than this:

<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/yOHqeCTGV4M5iI-4_RyCIg?authkey=Gv1sRgCJWTi62M1s76gwE&feat=embedwebsite"><img src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_Cnno-qkNKoI/S0u0m61e-XI/AAAAAAAAIFU/_yGlucguozw/s800/20100111-_MG_5478.jpg"></a>

<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/y-WfHwySYtp2wM3XpXp06A?authkey=Gv1sRgCJWTi62M1s76gwE&feat=embedwebsite"><img src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_Cnno-qkNKoI/S0u0pS1h26I/AAAAAAAAIFc/r2gkV_1_SMI/s400/20100111-_MG_5479.jpg"></a>

It's a barf bag from an airplane. Just make sure you get a clean one.

....unless you want to make a DIY flash gel cover...

I use a piece of matt board held in place with a black rubber band, bent to bounce.

you can make a cheapo DIY with any plastic juice jug and a few elastic bands.

I think that's called a Gary Fong Lightsphere!

I think that's called a Gary Fong Lightsphere!

I think that's called a Gary Fong Lightsphere!

I thought this was Gary Fong's inspiration for the lightsphere:

Not if you forget to clean out the orange juice.

That'll make it tungsten balanced no? lol

That's what i thought...until it turned green/blue mouldy.

I have one of the cheapest and efficient methods of diffusing light I find and you can vary the levels of diffuse with it via layering.
Simply: Wax paper and an elastic to hold it onto your flash.

You may laugh, but some careful work can get you a nice smooth diffuse, and if you crinkle it some you get a varied diffuse. Layering it with more pieces or folds helps to diffuse more light too.


Give er a try!

I've used wax paper as well as white plastic bags in the past. They do work but once I bought a stofen I kicked myself for being so cheap up until then. They are so easy to attach. The DIY gizmos work just as well but they are a bother assembling and disassembling, attaching and unattaching. The stofen is quick and easy and lasts forever. It's only a few dollars and I own no stock in the company.

I cut out a small Nalgene square bottle and it slides on my larger flash perfectly. Its semi opaque and does reduce the harshness of the flash considerably. Take your flash to MEC or similar camping supply store and see which one is a good fit. Mark it off and cut it out and its exactly like a sto-fen.

I am wondering - do the manufacturers of these diffusers maintain that they use a plastic that is optimised for flash diffusion? One can never under-estimate the hubris of manufacturers.

I can envision getting poor results if one uses a plastic of too great an opacity. Wouldn't that throw the camera metering off? Just wondering.

I happen to use it in completely dark and very low light situations, and just wing it. Its worked for me. The plastic I used does not appear to be opaq-er then the sto-fen. Worth trying either way for $1.75

interesting... I went the more expensive of getting a diffuser plastic piece... But very interested in trying this...
I want to DIY Beauty dish

i use a 8.5"x11" piece of paper, folded once hamburger style and once hotdog style, and use a rubber band to secure it.

works so much better than simply bouncing (/flash alone), and works so well in places where you can't bounce.

tens of dollars for a diffuser? forget it, i pay pennies for mine.

How much would the nalgene bottle cost?