G2: Bounce with Internal Flash?

[BryanS]

Hi, everyone...

I was off today with the kids, and tried a little experiment. I've gotten such good results with bounce flash on the G2 with the 420EX, so I wondered what kind of hack I could do to get bounce with the Internal Flash.

The results are posted here... and it's not bad, no bad at all!

First, I started with some simple poster board and cut pieces that look like this:



The smaller piece will be folded into a little snout that is taped to the G2 (probably could be rigged with velcro for those who do it often, but it's taped over the focus assist light... almost). The bigger piece is a bounce card that could be taped to the top of the camera for a diffusion bounce at the subject.

First, fold the snout like this:



You could probably glue aluminum foil to the snout for even better results, as I did this rather quick and there's some light loss by bouncing off the white card.

The results?

Here's what happens when using the internal flash ONLY (no bounce hack at all). I used a little truck of my son's and my daughter's favorite doll to give you an idea of what you get...





Typical overburnt image with the direct flash, and not very pleasing at all. Shadows are very harsh. You've all seen this with your internal flash, I'm sure.

Now, here's what happens with the snout attached and bounced off the white card taped to the top of the camera and pointed 45 degrees toward the subject...





Much softer results and more acceptable lighting. Not only that, but the shadows are less pronounced. Pretty nice, but I'm betting that the flash distance will be affected. I used no flash compensation and this is the actual exposure. You may want to turn up the flash power somewhat, but maybe not.

Next, let's look at just using the snout bounced off the white ceiling...





The first doll picture is underexposed because the ceiling is really far away, and the truck is more acceptable because it was shot on my pool table (much closer to the ceiling). The picture of the truck shows almost no shadow at all, and could be great for those of you doing flash macro shots like I do often.

Again, foil inside the snout would have increased the flash coverage, I'm sure. However, the results of this simple and inexpensive hack are rather astounding, don't you think?

Want bounce shots but can't afford the 420EX? This may be the next best thing.

Let me know what you all feel about this!

Thanks.

Bryan

 

[JJ (Mo)]

Well, I can see a drastic drop in the 420EX sales! I'm selling my G1 to my daughter but keeping my 420. She could get by using your method. Sure made a big difference. I'll try it tonight (no celebrations). How about giving us your measurements (the cardboard that is). Thanks for sharing and a very Happy New Year.

Jerry

 

[BryanS]

How about giving us your measurements (the
cardboard that is). Thanks for sharing and a very Happy New Year.

I'm tired of giving out measurements, considering I'm putting on the tux for going out in a few minutes.

Seriously, I'll try and give measurements tomorrow sometime (when I recover from tonight). Actually, I just guessed at things myself... what would work. Your engineering might be significantly better than mine.

Bryan

 

[hank]

you can also just carry a blank CD insert folded in half and jam it between the flash and the af assist lamp with your left hand, thats what i do,

here is a look at that method:

http://www.silvercrayon.com/g1/macro.html

 

[BryanS]

you can also just carry a blank CD insert folded in half and jam it
between the flash and the af assist lamp with your left hand, thats
what i do,

Looks great. I'm betting that a hand mirror would work a little better and you'd get stronger light. You have to be careful that no light slips out to hit the subject directly, which is why I have the "snout" effect on mine.

My method also allows you to get a bounce diffusion when there's no white ceiling or it's too high (card taped on top of camera).

Cool stuff.

Bryan

 

[alan rothstein]

Bryan, have a great time tonight, and if you can take a picture of the camera setup with the deflectors (in a mirror?) so we can see the whole thing that would be great.

 

[gary ng]

The idea is good but would only be useful for may be macro shot as the in built flash is too weak even for straight on use and any kind of bouncing can easily cost it 1 to 1.5 f-stop making the flash almost useless for people shot.

Well, I can see a drastic drop in the 420EX sales! I'm selling my
G1 to my daughter but keeping my 420. She could get by using your
method. Sure made a big difference. I'll try it tonight (no
celebrations). How about giving us your measurements (the
cardboard that is). Thanks for sharing and a very Happy New Year.

Jerry

 

[keith-s]

Check this out
http://www.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1010&message=1785536

 

[Jess60037]

Owners of older flashes can make a "poor man's" 420EX.



This was shot using a Sunpak DX-7R Ring flash with a NIKON** dedicated module. The ring was taped to the top of the flash body and aimed upward. The camera was in manual mode. I just fool with the shutter speed and aperture using the LCD to judge exposure. Works surprisingly well.

Beware that you run the risk of frying your camera with certain non-canon flashes used in this fashion, depending I think on trigger voltage.

--Jess Ting

 

[Jeff Lunt]

Hey Bryan....I've been doing the same thing. I started with a white envelope a couple weeks ago and then moved up to various other devices. Today I used a 39 cent hand held mirror with OK results. Fun Stuff.

Happy New Year Buddy.

Jeff

 

[agawk]

I used a sheet of typing page to bounce the internal flash and the result is pretty dramatic. Of course it is difficult to get consistency that way.

Internal flash picture:



Bounced with a sheet of white paper:

 

[agawk]

Sorry about that. I guess I could not post picture this way using geocities.
Try
http://www.geocities.com/newoccasions

Until I get set up with pbase or some other site, is there a way to post images instream?
Thanks.

I used a sheet of typing page to bounce the internal flash and the
result is pretty dramatic. Of course it is difficult to get
consistency that way.

Internal flash picture:



Bounced with a sheet of white paper:

 

[DerekSurfs]

Check this out
http://www.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1010&message=1785536

Keith,

Do you have any current photos of this setup. None of the photo links seem to work on displaying cowboy bob's design.

Derek

 

[keith-s]

This is the pic of the flash diffuser from cowboy bobs site.
you need to follow the instructions on the bottom re printing it off.



Here is a quick one i cut out to show you how it works. You need to experiment with different types of paper, card etc. Good luck. Cowboy bobs site has some pics showing everything, but cant get to it at the moment, I suggest you keep trying.
Keith-S

Check this out
http://www.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1010&message=1785536

Keith,

Do you have any current photos of this setup. None of the photo
links seem to work on displaying cowboy bob's design.

Derek

 

[DerekSurfs]

Is there anyone who would like to share their results with Bryan's bouncer? If you have your own version that works please take a picture of what it looks like on camera- a pic in the mirror possibly. What dimensions and materials have worked best?

I just printed out a template from Cowboy Bob's version mentioned here. It looks like an interesting alternative until I get my external flash. The users on Cowboy Bob's thread were have in increase flash compensation as well. I wonder if Bryan's design would direct bounce more light onto the subject.

Thanks,

Derek

Hi, everyone...

I was off today with the kids, and tried a little experiment. I've
gotten such good results with bounce flash on the G2 with the
420EX, so I wondered what kind of hack I could do to get bounce
with the Internal Flash.

The results are posted here... and it's not bad, no bad at all!

First, I started with some simple poster board and cut pieces that
look like this:



The smaller piece will be folded into a little snout that is taped
to the G2 (probably could be rigged with velcro for those who do it
often, but it's taped over the focus assist light... almost). The
bigger piece is a bounce card that could be taped to the top of the
camera for a diffusion bounce at the subject.

First, fold the snout like this:



You could probably glue aluminum foil to the snout for even better
results, as I did this rather quick and there's some light loss by
bouncing off the white card.

The results?

Here's what happens when using the internal flash ONLY (no bounce
hack at all). I used a little truck of my son's and my daughter's
favorite doll to give you an idea of what you get...





Typical overburnt image with the direct flash, and not very
pleasing at all. Shadows are very harsh. You've all seen this
with your internal flash, I'm sure.

Now, here's what happens with the snout attached and bounced off
the white card taped to the top of the camera and pointed 45
degrees toward the subject...





Much softer results and more acceptable lighting. Not only that,
but the shadows are less pronounced. Pretty nice, but I'm betting
that the flash distance will be affected. I used no flash
compensation and this is the actual exposure. You may want to turn
up the flash power somewhat, but maybe not.

Next, let's look at just using the snout bounced off the white
ceiling...





The first doll picture is underexposed because the ceiling is
really far away, and the truck is more acceptable because it was
shot on my pool table (much closer to the ceiling). The picture of
the truck shows almost no shadow at all, and could be great for
those of you doing flash macro shots like I do often.

Again, foil inside the snout would have increased the flash
coverage, I'm sure. However, the results of this simple and
inexpensive hack are rather astounding, don't you think?

Want bounce shots but can't afford the 420EX? This may be the next
best thing.

Let me know what you all feel about this!

Thanks.

Bryan

 

[morris]

Hi Bryan, Good idea. Can you show us a picture of your rig on you camara. If you dont have a second camara just take a shot of it in a miror.

Thanks,
Morris

Hi, everyone...

I was off today with the kids, and tried a little experiment. I've
gotten such good results with bounce flash on the G2 with the
420EX, so I wondered what kind of hack I could do to get bounce
with the Internal Flash.

The results are posted here... and it's not bad, no bad at all!

First, I started with some simple poster board and cut pieces that
look like this:



The smaller piece will be folded into a little snout that is taped
to the G2 (probably could be rigged with velcro for those who do it
often, but it's taped over the focus assist light... almost). The
bigger piece is a bounce card that could be taped to the top of the
camera for a diffusion bounce at the subject.

First, fold the snout like this:



You could probably glue aluminum foil to the snout for even better
results, as I did this rather quick and there's some light loss by
bouncing off the white card.

The results?

Here's what happens when using the internal flash ONLY (no bounce
hack at all). I used a little truck of my son's and my daughter's
favorite doll to give you an idea of what you get...





Typical overburnt image with the direct flash, and not very
pleasing at all. Shadows are very harsh. You've all seen this
with your internal flash, I'm sure.

Now, here's what happens with the snout attached and bounced off
the white card taped to the top of the camera and pointed 45
degrees toward the subject...





Much softer results and more acceptable lighting. Not only that,
but the shadows are less pronounced. Pretty nice, but I'm betting
that the flash distance will be affected. I used no flash
compensation and this is the actual exposure. You may want to turn
up the flash power somewhat, but maybe not.

Next, let's look at just using the snout bounced off the white
ceiling...





The first doll picture is underexposed because the ceiling is
really far away, and the truck is more acceptable because it was
shot on my pool table (much closer to the ceiling). The picture of
the truck shows almost no shadow at all, and could be great for
those of you doing flash macro shots like I do often.

Again, foil inside the snout would have increased the flash
coverage, I'm sure. However, the results of this simple and
inexpensive hack are rather astounding, don't you think?

Want bounce shots but can't afford the 420EX? This may be the next
best thing.

Let me know what you all feel about this!

Thanks.

Bryan