Best Diffuser for a 430 flash

[mjmattson]

I've just bought the 430 flash and want a diffuser for it as I mostly do portrait photography. A local camera store has just the simple snap on plastic piece to diffuse the light, which I'll probably go with at least for the time being.

Is there any significant advantage to going bigger and better with the diffuser? Gary Fong was a brand name for diffusers I had heard previously, but wasn't sure this would really be necessary for me.

[ddr]

lumiquest
-softbox
-promax

[GadgetRick]

Quite frankly, I'd say stay away from the little snap on boxes. You need to get your flash off camera for portraits and you need something like a softbox or umbrellas for this.

[BigVinnie]

This home made reflector is hands down my favorite.

[OsmosisStudios]

Originally Posted by GadgetRick

Quite frankly, I'd say stay away from the little snap on boxes. You need to get your flash off camera for portraits and you need something like a softbox or umbrellas for this.

While I agree with you in a sense (off-camera flash is best), there are times when you simply cant. In those cases, I love the small sto-fen diffusers.

[scootermcq]

Originally Posted by BigVinnie

This home made reflector is hands down my favorite.

+1 on this.... I use this pretty much when ever my flash is on camera (candid at weddings etc,) and it beats anything else I have tried. Bounce is just too unreliable because of ceiling height, color, wall too far away etc. The photographer I work for as a second shooter has had me make one for him, and he is mostly using it as well. He has quit using Gary Fong, and snap on softboxes etc.

This image is taken with one, and you can see the effect it has on shadows on the wall behind the groom....

[mjmattson]

@Scootermcq - love the face the groom is making!

Thanks for the tips. For now I have just a sto fen, but I'm going to be making one of those do it yourselfs as well and play around with it to understand it more. I probably will get a gary fong at some point, although since I do a lot of stuff out doors there aren't many walls to bounce it off.

Thank you for your input, being new to this it's hard to know where I fit in and what gear is best for me. =)

[scootermcq]

I have used a Gary Fong, but I find it is only good out to about 10 feet or so and in some of my situations I need greater range, which my $5 difusser reaches. Even inside that 5' range it does a nice job.

This young lady was 2.4 meters away. She is side lit by an open door to her rear right. Difusser was pointed directly at her. ISO was 800, f5.6 and 1/60 at 52mm. Flash was TTL +1and rear curtain sync.