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DIY Stofen Omni-Bounce like diffuser

I started with photography in June 2005, buying a SLR camera Canon EOS 350D to replace a lost Sony DSC-P71. I wanted to buy it cuz my parents were coming to visit me in Montpellier (South France) from New Caledonia.

At the time I only shoot in natural light, believing that was the only way to have very nice pictures with natural look, flash's light being to harsh. The only time I've shot with flashes were in a studio for one of my models, Bernadette Vong thru a softbox to soften the light

But then, for the need of a wedding shoot, I bought the cool Sigma EF-500 DG Super (£149.99 at WarehouseExpress). Wanting not o waste the expense, I then Google for "How to use E-TTL 2 flash" and the first result brang me to an interesting article: "Flash Photography with Canon EOS Cameras - Part I" where I learned some of the principle of flash and E-TTL technology. This article also talks about a blog called Strobist. In the US a strobe is a flash, so a strobist is someone who use flash. This wonderful blog teach you how to use small flashes to get professional results and also have a bunch of DIY photography tutorials. If you are interested in flash photography (you should) then have a look at this blog: "Learn how to light better at strobist". This blog is so interesting and well written that I read it every day in the tube when I go to work using my mobile phone's internet connection. As said on the strobist blog, why should one spend hundreds into a gear when you can Do It Yourself for few pences and have as good result? So here is my DIY Stofen Omni-Bounce tutorial. This Omni-Bounce costs £15 (about $30) at WarehouseExpress, not so much would you say? But it's £15 for a piece of nicely cutted white translucent plastic:

 Well, I'd rather save few quid and take my girlfriend out to the cinema! But damn, I want that thing! So this afternoon, while going to buy some water at the Waitrose next to my office, I went to the homecare products aisle looking for something that can be used to make my DIY Omni-Bounce diffuser. I need something white and translucent. I then find something interesting:

 

Hehehe, this is an Ecological Multi-Surface Cleaner! The bottle is made of translucent white/clear gray plastic. And seems to be at the very good size that can fit arount my flash's head, if not then I still can cut some part away and stick them back with tape.

 

 I was very lucky (good) because as you will see, the size of the bottle was perfect!

 

 The howto is so easy that I wonder if I need to describe it in detail... But we never know...:

 

 1 - Empty the bottle in another container (no waste!)

 

 2 - Clean the bottle (of cleaner...) and remove the sticker.

 

 3 - Cut it at about 5cm or 6cm (around 2 inches) from the bottom of the bottle.

 

 4 - And Eureka! You have your DIY Omni-Bounce diffuser!

 

 You can choose to have more than 5 or 6cm so you can play with the lenght of the diffuser. As you can see on the pictures below, the size of the bottle makes the DIY Diffuser fit perfectly arount the Sigma EF-500 DG Super flash's head. It just seems that this bottle was made for this purpose.

 Setting the flash upward and pulling the DIY Diffuser a little bit away, you can have a 360° flash. I don't know yet what to do with this kind of light, but I'm sure you can find something in the Strobist's blog pages.

 I will soon upload some pictures taken with this piece of plastic that saves me £14.21!



Comments

Thanks

Thanks for the info regarding the DIY diffuser. I tried it last night for my Metz 48 AF-1 using the same Ecover bottle and it fits like a glove. All for the outrageous price of £1.23! Thanks again, Peter

Thanks

Big thanks for this tip.. I just happen to have the same flush... and the same bottle of washing-up liquid under my sink (it was there when I moved in). Fits like a glove, works like a treat.. at a cost of your idea!

Cheers

Great to see this helped

Thanks guys for the feedbacks.
I'm glad to see this tip helped you.
If any of you have comments/feedbacks please write them here! Will be much appreciated by all.
If you have any tip related to this subject (what other bottle fit what other flash...) let us know too.

Diffuser

Thanks alot. I have been looking for a macro flash. For the time being I have been useing an of camera 430ex11 with lead but evrything is a bit harsh. This I think will save me the need for a macro flash. I had just finished an ecover washing up liquid bottle so have used that. It is a little large for the 430EX 11 but with a small bit of tape it stays on well.

Nice find

Thats great, I happen to have a Metz 48 too and will look out for that bottle for sure. Thanks ;)

Dead cheap bottle

Just got a similar bottle, a coconut hair conditionner (bought at Savers). 69p, a bargain. Slightly wider than my metz 48 flash, but still fits on nice and tight. Thanks again for the tip. regards.

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