Hello sifus, at the moment im still learning on strobe thingy and looking for new diffuser, currently i got stofen only. Sometimes i got problem in bouncing light especially in high ceiling and black ceiling. I was wondering if lightsphere can provide better light diffused, as it spread the light 360degree and provide bigger light source. Any opinion? I rarely found people using lightsphere in my place, not good is it? Do cheap version of lambency different from gary fong one? Looks the same Hehe thanks in advance!

I prefer lambency over stofen.

lambency spreads the light better when there's no place to bounce.

Hey thanks. Do u used the gary fong one?

no, mine's the cheap 3rd party types. supposedly imitation, i haven't touched it for years though.

Yeah i found the cheap imitation too and plan to buy it, but im afraid that i'll not use it and wasting my money lol. Is there any reasons why u not using it anymore?

Anyone using this type of diffuser??

bulky to carry around.

most places have enough room to bounce. if not then my flash (580EX II) has white card. if I'm using the 430EX II (sometimes i carry lighter setup) then it still has a diffuser at the front.

I stopped using stofen diffuser and now use this: http://www.gstrapinuse.com/index.php?main_...products_id=499

This reflector bounce card is quite effective for situations of black ceilings or super high ceilings. If there's ceiling it still gives good results. The Flash bounces of the ceiling and off the the reflector.

This looks good and easy to carry!
But too bad i already bought this Godox Speedlite Accessories Set which have this mini reflector:

ohh i see. thanks for sharing bro

wow looks good bro. do u put it 90degree from ur speedlight or slightly bend forward to that it bounce forward?

Yeah I mostly shoot 90 degree bounce.

i usually shoot in clubs, either black ceiling or tall black ceiling or outdoor rave party. all i need is the bounce card.

using all these diffusion thing only will use up more power of the flash and cause slow cycle and shorter battery life. i have tested from demb, stofen, lambecy, to big arse whale tail, to custom designs, to DIY... wasted a lot money, simple bounce card like a white namecard size is more then enough. sorry if my answer is misdirected from original question. just my experience sharing.

Thanks for sharing your experience bro, really appreciate it so do you use the build in bounce card or you buy the more bigger external bounce card?

If you shoot outside, do you put ur flash upward 90degree and bounce card facing towards subject? If yes, is it wasting of light when we shoot the major light to the sky/space, while only a few light bounce at the whitecard? Small light will enough to overpower ambient light especially in daylight? Lol so sorry for so many question bro, im still learning and hope u can share more thanks man!

erm... let me think how to answer....

my flash has build in card, and it works in portrait mode due to the head design able to swivel that way.

(indoor)the small card (about namecard size) brings about maybe '15-20%' light forward, which is enough for small fill... if you are in a ceiling room, you will get nice balance ambiance with nice light fill infront. light from above ceiling is always nice and a soft front fill to cancel out the shadow, but not enough to create a shadow of its own.

(outdoor) yes, you are right, but the light will always find its way around, although firing upwards, the light doesnt goes 100% up, there is always some light find its way to disperse everywhere, having small 10-25% fill everywhere. (you can try setting up your tripod+flash and wireless trigger it in your house front yard or empty space with no ceiling, you will see how it spread around the area).... having a big bounce card will bring big heavy light forward, while saving power, it causes harsh shadow. eg, a lighsphere, is marketed in a way telling you the light goes everywhere and give you nice shadow, but to me, i imagine a light bulb, height slightly higher on my head, and i walk around and look at people, imagine the shadow fall on their face with the light source just above my head, the shadow is not natural at all because the light source isnt from the ceiling but rather low, to a point slight higher then them.... to me, they over market their stuff... and people falls into it. then with just the bounce card, this is what i sacrifice, fire away with more power and light lost, but gaining a soft ambient with beautiful shadow due to how the light travels and fall onto them. (sorry im not very good in explaining)

sometimes you need to experiment around to see which style you like, but my advise is always start with the given built in bounce card, you will learn a lot from there. im just sharing my style, you may not like it, you can try test others if it those may suit you

the above - exactly my experience.

now all my diffusers are in a box.

I go out with my main flash unit that has a built in diffuser and bounce card.

if no place to bounce and card doesn't work well, just direct flash.

Indoor, I use 'a better bounce card', which I DIY (please google).
When no place to bounce, I use mini softbox.
But for best results, I try to capture slightly more ambient light. To achieve this, I set ISO to 400 or 800, and shutter speed to just enough to counter handshaking.

I know there are two types of 'extremists' - this first afraid to use flash, the second uses flash with ISO set to 100, because their fear noise. I personally find the 'middle way' to be the best.

This post has been edited by river.sand: Aug 29 2014, 03:35 PM

Best(IMO) solution for event lighting.
Setup remote flashes on lightstands at several corners.
Use umbrella if can't bounce.

Flashes are then controlled remotely via RF triggers along with a main flash attached to the camera as well.

Flashes are gelled if needed

Results will be a nice soft lighting with a kicker light to add dimensions.

However this is troublesome and too large event space may be difficult.

This post has been edited by LegendLee: Aug 29 2014, 04:23 PM

that's why i use ISO 1250 with shutter speed around 1/80.

good enough to capture ambient light and freeze motion.