Dome Diffuser vs. Mini Soft Box

[ElCapitan]

I was thinking about getting a dome diffuser for my 580EXII, but have been told that min soft boxes are a much better option. What is the better option and then what are the brands to look for?

Thanks for any help.

[autofocus]

Hmm, I guess you could say both have some utility. I have both and find the dome convenient when I have the flash mounted on camera. For off camera, I have and use a 14" square Flashpoint mini softbox mounted on a lightstand. Gary Fong makes some very nice dome/diffusers. They're both inexpensive enough to own both items, and use as needed

[OsmosisStudios]

Ive never gotten anything but bad results from the various tupperware add-ons. A good, if small, shoe-mount flash softbox would be your better bet.

Of course, off camera or bounce is always going to best.

[ElCapitan]

I would be using the flash off camera, but am looking for something to soften the light a bit.

[inkista]

It's not necessarily that soft (because of the small size), but I'm using an iShoot 23cm [8"] softbox I got off eBay (cheap ripoff of the Lastolite Ezybox Speed-lite). You have to use it in close if you want it to be soft, but the ability to control the drop-off can be fun.


5Dii, 24-105L, @40mm, iso 400, f/4.5, 1/160s.
YN-560 in softbox, zoomed to 24mm, diffuser panel down, inner baffle used. Around 1/8 power.
Triggered with RF-602s.

Light above subject camera left, held by a forcibly recruited VALS who (luckily) was a photography student.

This was my first time bringing lighting gear to Comic-Con, and I was a bit too buzzed and jumped up and the pace was about 10 times faster than I'm used to (i.e., the hall costumers are used to being stopped, and having a quick snapshot with the kiddies most of the time), so you basically get one shot and about three seconds with each costumer. I need way more practice!

Same gear, different section of the hall, I found Karen Berger and Mike Carlin. (I will always love Karen Berger for bringing the British Invasion to DC comics. Especially Moore, Gaiman, and McKean), and made them pose for me, only this time I had to hold the light myself.



Still, better than hard flash, and that hall is waaaay too big to bounce the light. I've been happily surprised at how useful it can be. It's no substitute for a larger softbox, obviously, but it's way more usable than I thought it would be.

[sk66]

The soft boxes are often better IMO because they are more directional. Less light is lost to the surrounding area.
Now, if you are going for overall even lighting and combining a dome w/ bouncing it the domes work very well. They also work well for backlighting. But in either case you tend to loose more light.