Gary Fong Puffer Pop Up Flash Diffuser - CANON/NIKON
by Gary Fong
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Gary Fong Puffer Pop Up Flash Diffuser - CANON/NIKON
Customer Review: HUGE bang for your 20 bucks
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a cheap little plastic device that claims to greatly improve your flash photos with your pop up flash. It is exactly that. I put this thing on my D90 and was instantly impressed by the results. It actually prevents that pop up flash from doing the only thing it can do..... making everyone really ugly. $20 just turned that useless flash into something very useable. The light is much softer and falls on the subjects in a much more appealing way. Outdoors, it works really well for fill flash. I use flash in rear-sync mode almost all the time, and the puffer makes it easy to blend the flash with the existing lighting.
Keep in mind, a speedlight with a defusor will always give you better results, but you may not have it with you, or not have one at all.
As for the other reviewers having problems with build quality, I have not experienced any of this. I took it out of the package, set it up on my camera with no difficulty, and started shooting. It's in and out of my camera bag all the time, seems sturdy and durrable enough to me. Some reviewers refer to the plastic being to flexible or soft. To me that just means it will be less britle in cold weather, so less prone to cracking. I consider the type ofplastic used a plus.
Big improvement on everyday shots. I would absolutely recomend this to anyone..... again, HUGE bang for your $20.
Customer Review: CHEAP DEVICE - IMPROVES FLASH PICTURES SOMEWHAT
Summary: 4 Stars
If you are easy to satisfy, and/or on a tight budget, this is a good product to use for your flash photography. It is made of two pieces of strong flexible plastic that fit tightly together. Users have a choice of connection slots in order to accommodate various cameras. It does soften the light from the camera's built in flash and it is a solid fit that will not break even if it gets accidentally knocked off the camera - which is impossible.
The diffuser itself doesn't pop up. The user installs it on the top of camera (onto the external flash mount) and the built-in flash can either pop up when needed or it can stay in the up position The diffuser always stays in place until the user takes it off. (It's so simple, why am I elaborating?)
I think that once the initial production costs are paid, the inventor and manufacturer will make money on this device. This is a very simple but high quality little piece of equipment. Many thousands of smart amateur photographers will appreciate owning it.
I'll be using this accessory only when I'm unable to use my much more expensive off-the-camera flash set-up, but I am glad to have it handy for such eventualities when needed.
If you have a SLR with a built-in flash, and are going to use that flash, you should at least soften or defuse the light when possible.
Customer Review: Surprisingly effective
Summary: 4 Stars
I have used several on camera/flashgun diffuser attachments that did not work as advertised.
On the plus side the Gary Fong flash diffuser significantly cuts down on shine/glare off faces from on-camera flash.
The down side is that all specular highlights that one normally expects in an image made with on-camera flash are simmilarly dulled/diffused. I find that a plus for informal people shots, others may not.
The diffuser absorbs a significant amount of light so you have to experiment with exposure compensation, more exposure the further you are from the subject or the wider the field of view. You really need to consider this when using the diffuser and may want to bracket exposures. Pop-up flashes are not very bright to begin with.
I recently took pictures for a semi-formal family event. I was very pleased with the results, particularly not having to wipe the shine off multiple faces in Photoshop.
I now tend to use the Gary Fong diffuser routinely for on-camera flash people photos.
I highly recommend this device if users understand its intent, use and issues with exposure compensation, the latter inevitable because of light loss.
Customer Review: Results are great! Could be made better...
Summary: 4 Stars
I've always been unhappy with the harsh shadows and bright light when using a camera's built-in flash. I decided to get the Gary Fong Puffer because it seemed like the best product at this price point. I'm very happy that I purchased it, because the results were what I was wanting. Much softer light and a more natural looking image. The quality of the product could be better (much better for two pieces of molded plastic that cost $20!). The black piece that attaches to your hotshoe on the camera is a brittle, hard plastic that broke in two the second time I tried to put it on my camera (a Nikon D40). Luckily for me, it broke exactly in the center, so I can still use it....it's just three pieces now. I would purchase the product again if I had it to do over.
Gary Fong just needs to use a different, softer plastic for the mounting bracket. On the bright side, the white diffusor is height adustable for different cameras and situations. Once mounted to the camera the product is very stable and sturdy. Short of purchasing a seperate flash and diffusor/bounce card, I think this is the way to go.
Customer Review: Nice little attachment
Summary: 5 Stars
Just purchased the Puffer for my D700. I want to be able to take my SB-800 off camera and use the camera in commander mode to trigger the off camera flash. I have done this before and have always felt the direct fill from the built-in flash gave the wrong affect to the image when it fills the shadows from the off camera flash. I have always used a diffuser on the big flash and like the look that gives. I am very impressed with how this helps the built-in flash match the character of the off camera flash.
I also tried it "stand-alone" with just the built-in flash. This will work very well when I don't want to carry the bigger flash around and still want that diffused look to the pictures. Definitely warms up the light by a bit and smooths out the shadows. I think you would be hard pressed to tell the difference now between the built-in flash with the Puffer versus the SB-800 with the diffuser.
I did check out the version and I have V2, and it seems to be fairly sturdy. Good enough for what I will be using it for.