Gary Fong diffuser - is it good? What's better?

I have the Fong diffuser, lightsphere II. It' s my current favorite, thought I still use others. I like the Fong for the quality of light, when bounced, it's generally flattering and tends to make people's skin look smooth on my 20D with canon flash. It seems to be an improvement over the plain old bounce card. When direct, it's better than most, though I rarely shoot direct anymore. The Fong comes in 2 parts, the bottom, flared base, and the top dome-like lid. If you shoot direct, you use the dome-like lid on the top, if you shoot bounce you can remove it or leave it on. I tend to remove it. My only complaint is that the dome-like lid tends to fall off and is sometimes hard to get back on while running around and carrying stuff and chasing a bride....

I now carry a small round or triangular reflector, and if there's no ceiling or wall, I hold the camera in my right hand and hold the reflector in my left, up fairly high, and bounce the light off of the reflector, with the fong diffuser still on my flash, but without the dome top. This method requires practice, but it can make images look more like bounce flash even when there's nothing to bounce off from as long as the subject is fairly close and your arms don't give out.

I've also stopped using my ungainly stroboframe most of the time with the fong, as I can shoot verticals without horrible shadows as long as the person is a few feet away from a wall. Using the fong on top of the stroboframe seems a bit unbalanced.

I still use my sto-fen when I find the fong to be too large and attention getting. I sometimes shoot with 2 flashes, one on camera with a fong diffuser, annother mounted on a light stand or held in my hand or somebody else's hand, or at the end of a monopod. The second flash is either set at low power, aimed at a back or side wall, or diffused with a lumiquest device.

I still think there's no magic silver bullet, but most of these things work well for me if my batteries are good enough. Note that my 20D's high ISO performance has made bounce flash far more fun to work, and I love the ability to check results onscreen. I still keep an isopropyl alcohol bottle in my bag in case I lose my other diffusers.

I use a black lumniquest bouncer thing. it's great b/c it's black, doens't attract attention and doesn't fall off. I'm not sure if ti's qiute as good as the fong - people who have the fong seem to really love it - but my setup definitely avoids the 'flashed' look.

I tend to use a lot of off camera flashes as well, so I like to think that I have a pretty discriminating eye.

Here are two examples from a recent wedding using the Lightsphere PJ with insert.

Another example...

There is no "best" diffuser. They all have their advantages and disadvantages, so you get the ones that interest you and use them as appropriate. If you already have an alcohol bottle diffuser, you will find that there is not a lot of difference between it and the Lightsphere, regular or PJ, other than easier use, since the PJ is specifically made for the purpose. If you like that kind of light, then the $50 spent on the LS PJ may be worth it for the convenience, but that's up to you.

I disagree with people who say that there is little difference between the Omnibounce and LS. In some situations there isn't, in others, there is a big difference. For instance, in a dark, big room, the Omni gives a light more like direct flash, with harder shadows and frontal lighting and sometimes, a hotspot, but you don't run out of flash power as you would with the LS. In the same situation, the LS gives a more even light, although you start to get harder shadows, and it will cause your flash to struggle unless you open up or go to a higher ISO.

I also have the Flip It, from Joe Demb, which is a big white card but with a hinge that keeps the card in place. This lets you control the balance between the light that gets bounced off the ceiling and the light that gets bounced off the card, giving you some control over the hardness of shadows and how much light gets to be frontal fill as opposed to bounce. Again, in some situations, it looks very similar to the LS, in others, not. When you have the card in the forward positions, it is very similar to the Lumiquest Pocket Bouncer or Softbox. If the card is pushed back a little, you get an effect similar to the Lumiquest 80/20 or LS. Like the LS, you will run out of power in the card back position quicker than with the Omni.

As for photographing the wedding party in a hotel lobby, I personally use an off-camera flash and an umbrella. Just no substitute for this kind of light, although you could put one of the above mentioned modifiers on an off-camera light too.

For receptions in a large hall with high ceilings and no natural light, I either use the LS with higher ISO, or the Omni or Flip It if I feel I don't want to go to the higher ISO or wider aperture. I carry all three in my bag. Also, if the venue has deep, colored ceilings or is very dark (dark wood walls and ceilings), the LS will struggle too much, and there will possibly be color casts, to be worth it, so I use one of the other two.

Peter - When you go to post and upload a photo - please read the info on posting images... You'll find it right on those pages.

511 pixels or less in width and TYPE a CAPTION in the caption box so the image shows in the forum and not as a link. Thanks!

Thanks to all of you for the responses! This is quite helpful. I think I WILL get a Fong diffuser to add to my kit of toys. I know there's no "magic bullet," but I'm always trying to find new ways to make light look better. I appreciate the help, and the pictures you posted!

Jennifer

Peter, I like those photos - thanks for sharing them! Jennifer

Jeff and Nadine, thanks for your detailed responses. It really helps me mull over the options. It's always nice to get feedback from photographers who have used different diffusers. Thanks again! Jennifer