Sto-fen or Gary Fong diffuser?

[lindao]

I'm going to buy a diffuser for my Canon 430 EXII, which do you recommend? Is the Gary Fong really that much better? I'm a novice and I would be using it for indoor portraits. Thank you!

[Skyyton]

I would just get the sto-fen for now. You should be able to take most of your indoor shots without a diffuser at all. You want to use the ceilings and walls as giant softboxes. Shooting with the flash pointed over your shoulder can produce amazing light. You should only need the diffuser when the ceilings are too high for bouncing flash. Rule of thumb: If at all possible, the subject should not see any part of the face of your flash.

[agresbach]

i have both of them. i'd say either go f/ the stofen or neither. while the fong works great as a diffuser, you can loose a lot of valuable light since it spreads the light in all directions. so it can be great for lighting up a whole room (small one maybe) but like mentioned above, simply bouncing can be just as or more pleasing since it can give you more directional light that can be a cooler effect. i'd practice that first until you jump up to a more expensive diffuser so you'll know how to utilize it better. good luck!

[kencaleno]

neither-waste of time-just learn to bounce your flash off neutral colored walls/ceilings or use a bounce card-Ken

[agresbach]

a $10 investment into the sto fen is not that big of an investment to have in the event you cannot easily bounce for simple diffusion. bounce card is a good idea too though

[CaptainNH]

I've had a sto-fen in my bag for as long as I can remember and have only used it a couple of times. I'll normally find something to bounce off, but on the odd occasion I couldn't find something, I've used the sto-fen.

Cheap and reasonably effective - I can see why you shouldn't find room for one given their price.

[tonyniev]

I have both and I use the Sto fen more because it is very easy to carry...I only use the Fong for snapshots of the large family at home...some people lik ey brother in law always endure carrying the Fong. And I found a new way to use the Fong as off camera flash diffuser.

[acierman2006]

well i have used the whale tail ....and also the regular fong diffuser ...they are both good ...i have used them in off to the side lighting with remotes and i still have them ...but dont use them much ..unlesss i am on the road ...i use them outside for fill in flash ....but the price is crazy for a chunk of plastic ...you can find the same thing from a different company online ...at about 30$ and not 120$ ...so ...look on line for what you need ...they do work ...but ...the price is not worth it ...i found mine for 20$ each ...and am happy with the result ...but ...they are a pain in the ass for hauling around