I recently had the pleasure of playing with some flash accessories from Honl Photo, a Speed Snoot, a Speed Gobo/Bounce Card, and a Speed Strap and four things really jumped out at me:
1. The impact they had on controlling light direction. Like you, I have seen the before and after pictures (or more accurately, the with and without pictures) featuring a snoot. Yes I knew it would control/direct light, but it took experiencing it myself, in the confines of my own studio and on my own subjects to really drive home the control and the power of such a simple tool.
2. The quality. This is not the only snoot I tested, but it was the best when it came to quality of materials and workmanship. These are durable well made items that you will only have to buy once in a lifetime (unless you lend them to a friend, because they'll never find their way back home) Two thumbs way up!
3. Price. The Snoot, Gobo/Bounce Card, and Speed Strap combined are about $40. Great products at an outstanding price. The Speed Strap may seem like a luxury to some, but I have more than one flash so I can easily (and quickly) move these tools from one flash to another, plus I hate putting sticking Velcro all over my SB-800's.
4. Convenience. Both the Snoot and the Gobo/Bounce Card store flat and take up about as much room as a business size envelope, so they will fit easily into even the smallest of camera bags.
It was a tossup between showing you a couple of the images I took, or a video that (is short) and really lets you see the product "first hand".
Enjoy the video.
1 comment:
Ok, I'm not going to lie. I'm pretty cheap (possibly because I'm in grad school). Spending $40 for a flash accessory seemed a bit much. So like most people, I decided to make my own. They worked out great, but they sure didn't last very long (cardboard tends to deform after a while and black paint fades after an extended exposure to flash). Now I understand why these guys cost what they do. It's all about quality.
Scott, you opened up a can of worms here. I found their video series on their site and went through about 5 videos last night. I really want one of those velcro straps so that I can get rid of the ones on my SB-600. ... if only the better beamer had the same mounting mechanism - that would be awesome!
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