External and Pop-up Camera Flash Diffusers

DIY Home-made, Sto-Fen and Lambency Diffusers for Nikon, Canon etc

Aug 6, 2009

Do those little plastic cube flash diffusers really work? Are better diffusers available? How to make diffusers. How to analyze diffuser performance.

Direct flash (where the flash unit is pointed at the subject) creates harsh, unflattering lighting in photographs. Even the best DSLRs can create bad photos if direct flash is used.

The problem isn't that the light is pointed straight at the subject. The problem is that the flash is small (point source), creating hard-edged shadows.

The solution is to increase the size of the flash. This smears out the shadows, creating soft flattering light (especially good for portraits of people). It's like putting a lamp shade over an electric bulb.

A flash diffuser is a translucent piece of plastic or paper that is placed in front of the flash, increasing the size of the flash. Reflectors can also be used. The bigger the diffuser, the softer the light. No fancy design or diffuser shape can make up for a small-sized diffuser.

The effect of a flash diffuser can be seen by holding an A4 or Letter sized sheet of white paper about 6 inches in front of the flash (placing the camera on the table or a tripod helps). This works for both external and built-in flashes.

As far as diffusers are concerned, it doesn't matter much whether the flash is Nikon, Canon or other brands.

Sto-Fen Versus Gary Fong Lighsphere Versus Lambency Flash Diffusers

Many external flash units now come with a small plastic cube that fits over the flash. These are based on the original Sto-Fen Omni-Bounce design. (The Sto-Fen Omni-Flip is available for built-in pop-up flashes.) Unfortunately the small cube doesn't increase the size of the flash by much. The softening effect is therefore limited.

The Gary Fong Lightsphere diffuser is larger, but still relatively small, about 3 to 4 inches wide. This means that softening performance is better, but still limited. The Gary Fong Puffer diffuser is for pop-up flashes. The Lambency flash diffuser is roughly the same as the Gary Fong Lightsphere.

Good results can be obtained from these diffusers, partly because they also direct some light towards the ceiling. It can be better to just bounce the flash directly off the ceiling.

Opteka and LumiQuest are other brands to consider for both external flash (Soft Box) and pop-up flash (Soft Screen) diffusers .

How to Make DIY Flash Diffusers

Medium to large home-made DIY diffusers are easy to make and can out-perform smaller commercial offerings. Size, material and distance from flash do not need to be exact. Photographers can experiment with different diffusers and compare photos to decide on which is best.

For a large off-camera flash diffuser, a remotely triggered external flash (wired or wireless) can be fixed to

The main disadvantage is that the box or umbrella is difficult to hold if both hands are used to hold the camera. The box can be placed on a table or held by an assistant. One incredibly dorky solution is to hang the box on the photographer's chest.

Bounce Flash with External and Pop-up Flash

Many ceilings are white. They make ideal flash diffusers, being hundreds of times larger than any on-camera diffuser.

An external flash is simply pointed up towards the ceiling, bouncing the flash off the ceiling. The entire ceiling becomes one large white reflector.

Bounce flash attachments (such as Professor Kobre's Lightscoop) are available for DSLR pop-up flashes. A 45 degree mirror is placed in front of the built-in flash (anchored to the flash socket), reflecting light from the built-in flash upwards towards the ceiling. Unfortunately the built-in flash is weak so the device works only if the ceiling is low.

The Best Flash Diffuser

The larger the diffuser, the better. However a large diffuser is also clumsy and harder to use. In many situations, ceiling bounce flash or large aperture prime lenses without flash, are a better solution.

Whatever the solution, direct flash should be avoided. Nothing makes photos from a digital SLR look like amateur photos from a compact camera, as much as direct flash. With a simple and effective paper diffuser costing a few cents and taking minutes to make, there's no reason to not use a diffuser.

The copyright of the article External and Pop-up Camera Flash Diffusers in Photography is owned by Yuen Kit Mun. Permission to republish External and Pop-up Camera Flash Diffusers in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.