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03/03/2006 07:12:19 PM · #1 |
While watching an outdoor photo show on TV I always see this gentleman using this device in front of his hotshoe flash. Says it throws the flash a LONG way for fill in outdoor use. So I'm watching a Tivo'ed episode today and he highlights this little gem. Its called the Better Beamer. And I have added a link here for anyone who might be interested. It sure looks like a great accessory and man is it reasonable.
//www.naturephotographers.net/gs/gsbb.html
MattO
Note to add. I have no stake in this item at all, just wanted to point it out for others who may have never seen one before, like myself.
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03/03/2006 07:14:38 PM · #2 |
I chatted with a guy using one of those a few weeks ago at the zoo. He was an old Nikon film guy, but had that type of flash magnifyer. We were standing about 400' away from 4 adult giraffes and he was shooting them with flash fill! I was amazed.
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03/03/2006 08:35:58 PM · #3 |
Those things are a handy way to extend the range of your flash with long lenses, but it's possibly less useful than it seems. Shooting with strong flash at long focal lengths almost always brings out redeye in your targets, and makes for very harsh lighting... i find that for just for fill, a decent hotshoe flash can already more than put out enough power for daylit subjects even at 800mm... and using the flash as your main light source just gives very unnatural results. Still, it's cheap enough to have in your bag just in case :)
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03/05/2006 11:49:50 AM · #4 |
| I almost always have a Better Beamer attached to setup and use it often, mostly as fill. I very rarely experience redeye. It's no the strength of the flash that causes redeye but the position of the flash relative to the lens. Other factors affecting red-eye are the level of ambient light. |
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03/05/2006 11:52:42 AM · #5 |
Originally posted by SimonD:
It's no the strength of the flash that causes redeye but the position of the flash relative to the lens. Other factors affecting red-eye are the level of ambient light. |
That's what i meant... using flash generally on subjects far away (i.e. at longer focal lengths) means the flash is very close to the lens axis from the subject's point of view. But just using it as fill (i.e. when there IS enough ambient light) doesn't cause problems of course.
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