Testing the DIY Spinlight

Recently, we posted about a DIY alternative to the Black Foamie Thing and Spinlight 360 using a Flashright Pro.  What you see above is yet another such DIY alternative.  This one was posted on the Strobist Flickr forum by photographer David Huy.

Hit the jump to see how I assembled mine, and how it performs against the modified Flashright.

COMPONENTS
The "DIY Spinlight 360" uses the following parts:

• Flex mount flash gun adapter.  Variously branded as K-8, Interfit, and Strobies.  There is a specific adapter for the most common flashes.  For example, for the SB-800, the K-8 branded flex-mount adapter is the CA-1 model.  Available on ebay.  Some are white, some are black.  As low as $9.99
• Honeycomb grid.  This is the matching grid for the flex mount above.  To my knowledge, the grid is the same for all types of flex mount.  Available on ebay (a bit harder to search for because of the variety of names used, including honeycomb, honey-comb, and grid).  As low as $11.99.
• Optional: dome diffuser.  This is similar to the type of dome used for Gary Fong's lightsphere.  Available on ebay.  As low as $1.99.  I didn't attach a diffuser to mine.
• black foamie thing (BFT).

I removed the grid on the honeycomb grid accessory, leaving just the outer frame.  Strictly speaking, you don't have to do this, but if you leave the grid on, the grid will eat up a lot of the light.

Removing the grid is not easy.  The grid's frame is held together by three clips, equally spaced apart:

In addition, there are three tabs that fit into three corresponding holes on the other part of the frame.

To disassemble the frame, I held the lip of the frame and pushed against the edges of the honeycomb until the frame started to separate.  Before disassembling the grid, I didn't know about the tabs so I tried to pry one side open, which broke two of the tabs.

Once the frame is separated, you can remove the grid and reassemble the grid's frame.  The frame attaches to the flex mount and rotates.  All you need to do is attach the BFT to the grid, and if you wish, a dome diffuser.

The flex mount itself is mounted to the flash head just by pressure and friction.  It's reasonably secure though I wouldn't dangle my flash by holding on to the flex mount.

IMAGE QUALITY

How does the DIY Spinlight 360 compare to the Flashright modification?  To me, they have almost identical performance in terms of light pattern and efficiency.  (The DIY Spinlight 360 seems to have a slight edge in efficiency.)

One subtle difference is that when aiming the flash to the rear corner, the Flashright mod may have a slightly lower lighting ratio (i.e. shadows are a bit brighter), possibly because a portion of the dome may not be entirely blocked by the BFT.  In the Flashright shot below, note the thin hard shadow below the jaw line - meaning that a second light source (in addition to the bounce) was illuminating the subject.

OTHER DIFFERENCES

Although I haven't tested them in the field, both the DIY Spinlight 360 and the Flashright Mod appear to work very well as replacements for the BFT and Spinlight 360.  If you are choosing between the two, here are some factors to consider:

• Cost: the DIY Spinlight 360 can be had for about $21.99.  The Flashright Mod costs whatever the Flashright Pro costs (currently around $27 + shipping and handling with the 74PLEASE discount code).  I'm not sure though if the Flashright Pro discount will last.
• Versatility: the Flashright Mod can be rotated to allow the dome to contribute to the exposure.  I suspect the same is true for the DIY Spinlight if you attach the dome diffuser, but I haven't tested it, and there may be a decrease in efficiency from the diffusion effect of the dome diffuser.   On the other hand, one benefit of the DIY Spinlight is that the flex mount can be used with other accessories that are produced for the flex mount, such as a globe, mini beauty dish, mini softbox, snoot, or barn doors.
• Compatibility: the Flashright Mod can work with almost any speedlight.  The DIY Spinlight requires you to have the specific flex mount for your flash.  If you have another flash or are borrowing someone else's the flex mount might not fit.
• Weight: the DIY Spinlight (part of which is made of a dense plastic/rubber) is much heavier than the Flashright Mod.  When the DIY Spinlight is mounted, it will make the flash a bit top heavy.  Sometimes, with a little movement, the flash head might not maintain a tilted angle.
• Durability: I haven't tested the durability of either the DIY Spinlight or the Flashright Mod, but I think the DIY Spinlight would be more durable because it has a simpler design, and much of the flex mount is made of a plastic/synthetic rubber material.  It is not indestructible though -- its weakest part is likely to be the 4 small plastic clips that hold the grid frame.
• Portability: the DIY Spinlight is larger than the Flashright Mod and will take up more space in your bag.
• Speed: the DIY Spinlight is faster to attach and remove compared to the Flashright Mod.  All you need to do is push it on the flash head .  With the Flashright Mod, you need to use a velcro strap.
• Stability: the DIY Spinlight is a snug fit on my flash but can be knocked off with moderate force.  By contrast, it is hard to remove the Flashright from the speedlight without undoing the velcro strap.
• Ease of use: both the DIY Spinlight and Flashright Mod are easy to rotate, though I find the Flashright Mod slightly easier to rotate because you're turning a smallish dome compared to a wide ring with the DIY Spinlight 360.
• Ease of construction:  FWIW, I think the Flashright Mod is easier to make because pulling apart the honeycomb grid for the DIY Spinlight is not easy.  Make sure no kids are around to hear you cussing.
• Aesthetics: this is totally subjective but I think the Flashright Mod looks more sleek, elegant and high-tech than the DIY Spinlight though the rubber band (if you use one) can detract a bit from its appearance (maybe i'll use a black one).  I imagine the DIY Spinlight could look pretty cool too in black.

I will be switching between the DIY Spinlight and modified Flashright to test them both in the field, and will be updating these posts with my observations. (Note: the product shots for this post were taken with the Flashright mod.)

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FlashRight Pro as Spinlight 360 Substitute (Part 1)

In this post, we'll discuss the Flashright Pro, a flash modifier by Peter Gregg, who catapulted into fame with A Better Bounce Card.  The Flashright Pro touts several features:

• lightweight, compact design
• directional: instead of sending light everywhere (such as in a dome diffuser), it sends light toward a direction 
• rotates 360 degrees
• diffuser

The Flashright Pro is intended to serve two primary functions: to direct bounced flash and to illuminate the subject with diffused light.  There is second version of the Flashright Pro, the Flashright Pro Extreme, that has a slot to accommodate 'ratio disks,' which are diffusers with varying sizes of holes.  The idea is to allow the photographer to control the proportion of light used as bounce flash and as diffused light.

The Flashright Pro was recently relaunched with a significant discount.  With its more practical price, I decided to get one, not for its original intended purpose, but as a substitute for Neil van Niekerk's black foamie thing (BFT) and the useful but expensive Spinlight 360.

FLASHRIGHT PRO COMMENTS

The first function of the Flashright Pro is great.  Bouncing flash from a specific direction rather than in all directions is a good idea, in my opinion.  Doing so will get you soft directional light, not just soft light.  Directional light is more interesting than perfectly even, soft light.  Not to mention it will save your batteries as well. 

However, I am less excited about the second function of the Flashright Pro -- sending diffused light to the subject.  Illuminating the subject using a small diffused light source is not particularly useful because as I have repeatedly demonstrated, diffusion DOES NOT soften light.  AT ALL.  See here.  That's why when I saw the Flashright Pro design, I was not the slightest bit interested.  I knew it would create hard shadows.  When I saw the $99 price, I was even less interested.

BLACK FOAMIE THING COMMENTS

My favorite modifier for on-camera flash is still Neil van Niekerk's black foamie thing.  When bouncing flash, I use either the BFT or I use my hand as a flag (to block the direct light from the flash from reaching the subject). 

The problem with the BFT is that it falls off very easily.  Recently, while shooting for a client, I couldn't count the number of times it fell off.  The BFT can't be strapped tightly to the flash either because it needs to be able to rotate around the flash freely.

The BFT has since been updated as the Spinlight 360.  The Spinlight 360 attaches to a speedlight securely, while allowing a flag to be rotated easily.  The only problem with the Spinlight 360 is the cost, which is $129 for the basic version.  Even with Neil's code for a $20 discount, it's still a very high price for a very simple piece of plastic.

Note: Neil did not create the Spinlight 360.  Someone else used the idea for Neil's BFT and turned it into the Spinlight 360.

FLASHRIGHT PRO AND BFT HYBRID

I didn't feel comfortable buying the Spinlight 360 but I really liked the idea and kept thinking of possible substitutes for it.  Then one day, I got an email talking about the relaunch of the Flashright Pro.  There was nothing different in the design as far as I could see, but one thing they changed was the price.  From $99, they dropped it to around $27 + shipping and handling.  That seemed like a very realistic price to me.  As I thought about buying one, I noticed that the Flashright Pro could function as a Spinlight 360 substitute.  The Flashright Pro's head could rotate 360 degrees just like the Spinlight.  If I attached a black foamie thing to it, it might function just like the Spinlight 360, at a far more affordable price.

[As an aside, there is a bit of irony here.  I could be wrong but I sort of recall that Neil conceived of the BFT idea from Peter Gregg's A Better Bounce Card.  So, I found it a little amusing that years later, Peter Gregg's Flashright might be repurposed as a substitute for the Spinlight 360.]

Anyway, I ordered a Flashright Pro, dreams of a cheaper Spinlight dancing in my head.  Ordering the FR was not super smooth.  I didn't get an order confirmation for several days.  And after one week, I called them up - just got voicemail.  I emailed them and it turned out that they hadn't even shipped my order.  Grrrr.  It took another few days before they shipped my order and finally, I got my order.

INITIAL OBSERVATIONS
The Flashright Pro arrived in a padded envelope, without a box or any fancy packaging.  The instructions were printed with inkjet using a very tiny font to occupy only 1/4th of an 8x11.5 page (perhaps to save ink).  I was surprised at how plain the packaging was.  I've seen cheap eBay lighting accessories with fancier packaging. :)

The Flashright Pro itself seemed to have ok build quality.  It looks much more polished than what you might expect from the very plain packaging.  I don't know how exactly to describe the plastic, but it's not the soft, dirt-cheap kind such as those used in some cheap light modifiers.  Neither is it the hard kind of plastic used in speedlights.  It's not fragile, but if dropped on a hard surface, it looks like it would crack.  (Then again, it did survive being mailed from Illinois to California without any damage.)

The Flashright Pro's components

The Flashright Pro is attached to the flash with a supplied velcro strap.  If you look at the above picture closely, you'll see that there is a piece of rubber foam where the velcro strap is attached.  This helps strap the velcro tightly around the flash.

There is only one size of Flashright, so it had to be made large enough to fit a large flash head such as that of the Canon 580EXII.  With a small flash head like that of the SB800, the Flashright is a bit off-center.  In my tests, this off-centered position did not appear to affect the efficiency of the Flashright, producing identical output either off-center or centered (using spacers that I inserted).

FLASHRIGHT PRO TESTS
I started testing the Flashright Pro by testing the light quality of several configurations:

• Flashright only, with the flash head aimed forward, while the diffuser is rotated to face upward.
• Flashright only, with the flash head tilted at around a 45 degree angle, while the diffuser is rotated to face upward.
• Flashright only, with the flash head in vertical position.
• Flashright with black foamie thing covering the opaque side of the diffuser ("FR + BFT dark").
• Flashright with black foamie thing covering the diffuser side ("FR + BFT light").
• Black foamie thing only.

I tested the different configurations by aiming them above the subject, to a corner (camera right), to a wall on camera right, and to the rear camera right corner.  All shots were on TTL.  BTW, if you're wondering how I can aim my SB-800 to the rear right corner, it's because I did the head modification.

Here are the results:

In my opinion, the result that looks best is the black foamie thing.  However, the Flashright with BFT on the opaque side appears similar, except that in the right wall shot and rear corner shot, there is a visible hard shadow cast by the diffuser dome.

The Flashright used by itself is not bad in my view, at least when the flash head is tilted so that most of the light is shielded from directly hitting the subject.  The hard shadow cast by the dome is even more visible compared to the FR with BFT, but the dome is also acting as a fill light, bringing up the shadow detail.  I would not mind using it if I didn't have the BFT with me.

I also tested the efficiency of the configurations by using manual flash.  I aimed the flash above the subject and used 1/2 power (ISO 200, f/2.8, 1/250).

I was surprised to find that the most efficient modifier was the BFT.  I was also surprised that the Flashright with BFT combination was far less efficient than the BFT.

MODIFYING THE FLASHRIGHT
I was not satisfied with using the Flashright with the BFT because it was using too much power, diffusing the flash in all directions, which is really unnecessary when bouncing flash.  After some tinkering, I found that it was pretty easy to remove the dome and the diffuser.  See the video below:


Note that the two halves of the Flashright's frame are held together by tabs.

One of the tabs (note: the small screwdriver is NOT needed to disassemble the flashright)

There are 5 tabs, and they are not evenly spaced.  There is a part where there is a larger gap between tabs.  That part corresponds to the part of the lower frame that is above where the strap is attached.  To reassemble, just align the tabs and snap the frame together.

I tested two modifications of the Flashright Pro.  The first modification I tested was to use the opaque part of the dome.

I just removed the clear dome and the diffusion disk.  With this mod, the partial dome is very loose.  To remedy this looseness, I wound a few loops of twist tie to serve as a kind of gasket between the partial dome and the FR frame.  You can see part of the twist tie in the shot above.  I then attached a BFT to the partial dome (in my case I used velcro tape).

The second modification I tested was to use the clear dome instead of the opaque partial dome.  With this mod, the dome fits the FR frame perfectly just like an unmodified FR.  I attached the BFT to the dome using an elastic band for friction and the infamous Neil van Niekerk hair band, which BFT fans will recognize.

I tested these modifications against the BFT using the same protocol I had done for the earlier tests.

I was pleased to find that both modifications produced lighting patterns that were very similar to those of the BFT.  In terms of efficiency, the BFT was still the most efficient configuration, but both modifications were not far behind from the BFT.

I was a bit surprised that the 2nd modification performed as well as it did both in terms of lighting pattern and efficiency.  I thought that the dome would act as a diffuser that would waste a lot of light.  Now that I knew that it did not have any noticeable disadvantage, I preferred the 2nd mod because it doesn't need any kind of spacer between the dome and the frame to rotate properly.  Moreover, compared to the first mod, the 2nd mod does have one advantage: if I choose to, I can partially expose the diffuser dome to lift shadows (albeit creating a hard shadow of its own).

In the shot on the left, I aimed the flash to the left, and I rotated the BFT to completely block the dome.  The result is that the shadows are very soft, because the subject is illuminated purely by bounced light (a very large light source). 

In the shot on the right, I aimed the flash at the same direction, but this time I rotated the BFT so that the dome would be partially visible to the subject.  In the result, we can see that there are two shadows: a soft shadow from bounced light, and a hard shadow from the dome (most visible below the jawline).  On the other hand, the soft part of the shadow is brighter compared to that of the first shot.

Because the 2nd mod appears to be more versatile, I've decided to keep my Flashright in that configuration.  I have yet to test either mod in real life shots, but so far, the Flashright Pro looks like a promising substitute for the Spinlight 360.  As regular readers of our blog know, we pride ourselves in real world testing of equipment.  I will indeed post real world test results in a followup to this post.

Meanwhile, if you would like to order the Flashright Pro, you can buy it direct from their website.  Try these codes 74PLEASE or GIMME73PLEASE to get the new [lower] pricing.  If you would like to buy a Spinlight 360 instead, check out their website.  Neil's $20 discount code is NEILVN20.   Note: we are not affiliated with Peter Gregg, ColorRight, FlashRight, Neil van Niekerk, or Spinlight 360.  Nor do we get any commission out of those sales (we do have a lilliputian Amazon Affiliates account).  Instead, the best ways you can support our blog are by telling your friends about our blog, sharing our posts in social media (Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, etc.) and photo-related forums, and subscribing to our feeds or via email.  Links to share and/or subscribe are on the right side of the page and at the bottom of each post.  (If you do subscribe via email, FYI we won't share your email address with 3rd parties.)  We also appreciate feedback via comments or email.  Thanks for your support!

EDIT: 7/20/12 - the current discount code for Flashright is SAVE75
EDIT: 8/7/12 - the link for getting the Flashright for $25.99 is https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=4YHE2MEHBMMTN

RELATED POSTS:
Testing Neil's Bounce Technique
Black Foamie Thing on Video
Testing the DIY Spinlight

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Thank You Fellow Bloggers: My Favorite Blogs - Part 1

I have always wanted to cover this title, but I kept delaying it and preferring technical subjects thinking that they might appeal more to our readers, until a few days back, when one of my absolute favorite bloggers decided to put his blog on hiatus. This made me think a lot about the circumstances that caused this to happen and I believe that this is the best time to write this post.

The whole internet has been writing about Steve Job's death and how he affected their lives, consider this post as a thank you, a tribute to those bloggers who really made a significant difference to my photography and probably to a lot of other people's as well.

I follow more than 50 photography/DSLR video related blogs via Google Reader, but I really perk up and feel all tingly when I see an entry from one of the blogs I really love, every single one of these blogs has a direct (and significant) effect on me, my photography and my bank account, yes, I bought lots of my photography equipment based on some post or some image that I found on one of these blogs.

I am not a paid photographer and I didn't gain a single dime from any of my photos or my posts over here, so I'm sort of free to not have a certain style to my photos, I'm free to try and use all sorts of lighting techniques, I can be a strobist, a one light photographer or an available light shooter, all I want to say is that I'm very open minded to all the different techniques and different styles you're going to see in my list, I have respect for each and everyone of them,  so please keep this in mind while going through my ramblings below.

DISCLAIMER: The order in which I am going sort my list below has nothing to do with how better one blogger/photographer is than the other, unfortunately there has to be some sort of order (alas, that's the way life is) and that order is completely random.

1. The Visual Science Lab - Kirk Tuck

Kirk's blog is unique in it's mixture of a large variety of topics, ranging from technical equipment reviews to sudden rants about things that ticks Kirk off to how the logistics and business of photography works to deeply philosophical posts about art, portrait love shooting sessions and why do we take pictures. A one of a kind blog, the closest blog I can find that shares some of Kirk's "air" is Shutterfinger which I enjoy sometimes.

What attracts me the most to Kirk's blog is the writing style and the frequency of his posts, sometimes he can post up to 4 posts in just one day. I bought my Canon 60D and 35mm f/2 lens because of Kirk Tuck, and I was starting to get excited about the new Olympus cameras, but all of this has come to an abrupt end, if you don't know, Kirk has decided to stop posting on his blog because of some idiot's comment that made him rethink the whole purpose behind his blog, which lead him to the conclusion that he better spend his time in money making activities rather than posting free content for the internetz. That was a sad day, if I were to choose only one blog to follow, I wouldn't hesitate to choose Kirk's lab.

P.S. This paragraph is addressed to Kirk, you can skip it if you want and read the rest of the post. Dear Kirk, I have read everyone of your 700 something posts, but didn't comment a lot as did a lot of your readership (evident from the 250 comments on your last post versus the average 20 comments on the other posts), I agreed with some of your posts and disagreed with others, I know that it is your blog, it is your time and it is your decision, but allow me to say that I don't completely agree with the reasons for stopping your blog.

You mentioned that the blog takes time from you and you have to keep it updated regularly, but who obliged you to do so? I believe you put this target for yourself, you don't have to post daily or even weekly updates, do it when you have free time that isn't going to cost you money or take you from your family, I remember you mentioned that you wrote your posts while importing pictures in lightroom, and you're a pretty quick writer too. The other point you mentioned was something about free content, I'm not an expert but I'm not entirely sure that your blog's content can be monetized easily, nobody would pay money for technical product reviews since they are out there for free, and I don't believe that the other content can be monetized as well especially that you say it gets a lower number of page views. Finally, I have always felt that you poured your heart's content in your posts, you wanted to vent out some thoughts, you wanted to share them and discuss them with others, I don't believe that all of your posts were written for the sole reason of making a brand name and image. On this blog here I post product reviews and photography techniques because I love to teach the others everything I know, I don't get money for what I post nor am I a photographer who wants to build a brand, I do it in my free time and at my leisure because I enjoy it.

That's all I wanted to get off my chest since I read your last post, it has been a real pleasure reading your blog and I hope that some day I will find one of your new posts in my RSS feed.

P.S. I immensely despise the word "photog", just like Kirk pointed out once, if you use it please consider not using it anymore.

2. Strobist - David Hobby

David is probably the first photographer I got to know when I started learning photography, I saw a part of his Lighting 101 (or was it 102?) DVD on one of my friend's computer and he linked me to his blog, from there I devoured the lighting 101 and 102 series of posts, I learned all about small flashes (strobes), modifiers, triggers, gels, chimping, light reverse-engineering, etc... 70% of my lighting knowledge comes from the strobist blog. As with all of this list, the strobist was the reason I bought 3 Canon flashes, 2 Chinese studio flashes, a couple of wireless triggers and lots of light modifiers and DIY stuff.

I have one request from David, if you're reading this, please, please, pretty please use a wider template for your blog and use larger images for your posts, I would love to be able to see the images clearly in your posts while reading, currently I have to click every single image to see a larger version in a new page to understand what you're talking about, then keep switching between the post material and the images, did I say please? :-(

3. Tangents - Neil Van Niekerk

My favorite flash photography blog, Neil is a well known wedding photographer that is famous for his on-camera bounce flash techniques and the black foamie thing. 90% of my flash lit photos are done using the on-camera bounce flash techniques I learned from Neil's blog, it is the quickest and easiest way (not to mention the lightest) to shoot great looking soft-lit pictures. You will find lots of great tutorials and videos freely posted on Neil's blog, I suggest that you read every single one of them. I bought my Lastolite 24" EzyBox based on the results I saw on the tangents blog.

4. Laurence Kim

Gorgeous photos, that's the only word that can describe Laurence's site, not beautiful, not elegant, not amazing but rather gorgeous photos. Laurence has done a lot of gear reviews (which I really enjoyed), posted about some techniques (which I copied successfully), but the most unique thing about his blog is how gorgeous his photos look, take his last post for example, see what I mean? Most of his photos are shot using available light and they have a very light and airy feel.

One more attractive aspect about his website (just like his photos) is the light and airy feel it has, the design is very simple, non distracting and very professional at the same time. I have also followed his adventures with film cameras and medium format in earnest, you can find some great info on his blog. And as usual he was the reason I bought my Canon 85mm f/1.8.

5. Zack Arias

Probably shares my "favorite flash photographer" title along with Neil vN, his photos are just unique, check his latest blog to see what I mean. He has recently updated his blog to a nice clean and uncluttered template with wide large photos (similar to Laurence Kim). Zack is known as the one light guy because he usually uses one light only in his photos, and to a good effect. A must see on his blog is his great one-hour-long video explaining his complete post-processing workflow, this video has converted me into a lightroom and RAW-shooting addict.

My only gripe with Zack is that he doesn't blog as much as he used to (although he tweets a lot), but I know that he's in a new stage in his life and I am patiently waiting for the goodies to come back.

6. LensRentals - Roger Cicala

The LensRentals blog has become more famous recently after being featured on Gizmodo more than once, and for a very good reason, Roger's uniqueness comes from the insane amount of lenses and cameras at his disposal, he goes on about busting all the myths about lens' sharpness and variations between copies, how does dirt on a lens affect it's performance and all sorts of exciting experiments. He even stacked 50 UV filters to a lens and took pictures to see what happens, just because he can.

Roger also has some great scientific articles about lenses that would really teach you a lot you probably didn't know about. I also thoroughly enjoyed his talk about lenses history and how they progressed to become what we use today.
 

7. Gavtrain - Gavin Hoey

Gavin's videos and tutorials on YouTube was among the first I saw when I was still learning photography, he doesn't post much now, but I learned a great deal of techniques like the water drop and smoke photography from him. Gavin is a photoshop master and has some great post-processing tips on his blog, he also usually posts some photoshop tips on TipSquirrel.com.

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The Black Foamie Thing: On Video

If you are a regular reader of this blog, I assume you are familiar with different flash bouncing techniques. One of the very famous users and great mentors of this technique is Neil Van Neikerk and his black foamie thing.

I am a strong advocate of this technique and it has changed my indoor flash photos dramatically, he has posted a video tutorial showing how he actually uses it, I suggest you all go and watch it.

http://neilvn.com/tangents/2011/03/08/video-using-the-black-foamie-thing/

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