Onflash Softbox question

[hus]

Hi all, I have a question regarding the attachable softbox that attach to the flash unit.
Do they give a decent result and avoid red eye problem or would I be just wasting my time with them if l gwet one.

Thanks in advance :th3:

[kiwi]

I'm not sure they help with redeye, they do help diffuse and soften the flash especially if you're quite close

[hus]

Was thinking for 2 uses Darren one for portrait and the other was for indoor sports which direct flash reaches my subjects but the redeye problem is always there.
I was thinking use one of thoes small softboxes and really bump up the iso, You think thats worth trying ?

cheers

[kiwi]

Not really honestly, not that I've tried it, try bouncing the flash

[hus]

Roof is dark yellow and walls not really suitable for bouncing, thats why I I thought I may as well go the small attachable softbox option.
I might as well try out a cheap one from ebay and see how I go, they are cheap enough :)

[maccaroneski]

Hus it's all about apparent light size in relation to your subject - one of the small softboxes (I have a Lumiquest Softbox III) is great if you can get it right in close to the subject. If not (such as for sports) then all it's doing is eating light, I reckon.

Redeye is all about the flash being on axis - if you leave it attached to the camera, then you won't avoid it. Maybe get a sync cord and have Atilla hold it sitting next to you (assuming of course you are not taking shots of him playing :))

[hus]

For the sports situation I may have to take your adviced Tony, I have remote triggers so looks like I setup a flash unit on a tripod (can't use Atilla cause I become his personal photographer during his wrestling events).
I have finally taken the advice given to me and shot in manual and to my surprise I got good results :D:D:D
As for portraits and small group shots do they give the results ?

Again thanks for the advice guys :th3:

[kiwi]

Bs careful with using tripods etc in case they become a hazard, try using bungee cords or flash grips to fix a couple of lights to something that will not get knocked

[maccaroneski]

Good for a portrait, but not so much for a small group shot. It needs to be in real close for a good effect.

Here's a review which talks about the one I have:

http://strobist.blogspot.com/2008/09/by-request-lumiquest-softbox-iii.html

[fillum]

I wonder if one of those extension brackets might help with the red-eye? Like this (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=ProductDetail&A=showMultipleImages&Q=&sku=371039&is=REG)...


Cheers.

[maccaroneski]

Most probably Phil - the angle of incidence equals the angle of reflection, so anything that take the flash off that axis of direct reflection from the flash to the eyes back through the lens would probably work.

[hus]

Ok I think it's worth a play with I just ordered 2 (other one for the boy), Phil's link may solve the red eye issue for the sporting events but l will take Kiwi's advice and setup the remote trigger (got 2 in the camera bag waiting to be used) at the next comp.

[hus]

Back again, since I had time to play in the garage (yeah I got banned for a while :o I thought why not build my own softbox.
The project just finished and I did a test run, I will do a write up on how it was built as I took photos as i constructed the softbox, my main aim was to make it ligtht as possible which I think I managed to do.
The screen to defuse the light is a single layer of hobby cover cloth, after this result I may add another layer for further defussion. Single layer defussion resulted with only 1 stop loss of light.

As you can see the first was hand held and ther second was using the homemade softbox.

[bindiblue]

Very nice effect,, looks like its much better than direct flash,