****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
Don't expect a miracle, but it does what it says it will any you get great results from a simple cheap little device. Sure you can stick a Styrofoam cup over your flash or wrap it in toilet paper but that looks stupid and is somewhat less effective than this. If anyone is curious about the science behind it the idea is that it diffues the light by making it less direct while creating a larger surface are for the light to bounce off of and emit from. Light acts like a stream of water and when it hits something it will either be absorbed diffused or scattered. This little device does all of that. Most of the light gets through the front of the puffer but after being absorbed by it. This makes the puffer into its own larger but less harsh light source. But the light that escapes is softened by spreading it out over a larger surface. Just look at the size difference of the puffer and your pop up flash. The puffer becomes your new light source. Some light also bounces off of it and then bounces around the room to reduce nasty shadows and to make the light much less directional. Some of the brightness from your flash will be lost in this process but that can generally be a good thing. To help with that play with your flash compensation on your camera and you can increase or decrease the flash intensity to get the results you like. I actually prefer a lighter flash so i kept my flash comp in the negatives. This is also great for outdoor shots or shots in rooms with tall ceilings that would not benefit from a bounce flash since most of the light still comes from the front. For $20 you really have nothing to lose. Plus hey you are on amazon if it doesn't smell good to you just freaking return it.This is no replacement for a speedlight or other external flash for your camera. I think people expect miracles from this thing or something. What it DOES do is make your worthless tiny pop up flash not worthless anymore. It softens and warms the light from the pop up flash and reduces the harshness that you get from pop ups. The shadows on the subject and backgrounds are much softer.You can use this thing as a fill flash now and not worry about the light looking horrible and making your subject look like they were just lit up by a pop up flash. Dialing back the flash exposure on your DSLR and using this as a fill flash works much much much better than a normal pop up flash.Here is a very quick and dirty YouTube video I did showing what the puffer plus does to the light coming off your pop up flash and what it does to shadows:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QPHj8eLB0kThe Puffer plus is very easy to use. There is a small adapter that fits on your camera's hot shoe, which you can leave on all time if you want. It sticks up about 1/4" above the shoe and has a place to slide the main bracket that holds the white dome. its not the tightest fit in the world, but it does the job...definitely a must buy for people who want to use flash occasionally but can't quite afford a speedlight flash yet. Also might be good for people who may already own one but don't want to drag it along with you on a family outing. This thing will fit in a pocket and can be used to fill in light nicelyThis diffuser is definitely bigger than those you get in those popular blue-orange-white packs (I include picture of it installed on my camera), which I think it's a good thing. I own a Nikon 3200. The one i got came with some burrs/excess plastic on the portion that makes contact with the hot shoe so i had to grind that part a little to prevent it from getting stuck or hurting the hot shoe. Of course having to rework it is a little annoying, but honestly it's no big deal. After taking care of that i had no issues using it. I was afraid that it would get in the way of the pop-up flash or obstruct some other function but had no issues at all. It does soften the flash a lot! So all in all i say it does it's job.I read the other reviews about this diffuser fitting loosely in the hotshoe, and I was concerned but figured it couldn't hurt to give it a try. I have a Nikon D3100 DLSR and this diffuser fits very snugly in the hotshoe. I have no concerns about the bracket falling out of the hotshoe. It did not interfere with the flash, but I did not insert it all the way. There was perhaps two millimeters hanging out. With it fitting so snugly, I was concerned that if I forced those last two millimeters that I'd never be able to remove it! The way the lens anchors to the bracket feels a little tenuous. I think if I smacked it against a solid object it would pop out of the rails, but time will tell. I took a few test photos with and without the diffuser and the diffuser made a noticable and pleasing difference (the photos were indoors. Was looking down the hall into the living room, a distance of perhaps 15 feet. Diffuser smoothed out the shadows and reduced glare off of shiny objects, just as a diffuser ought.) So far I am pleased. I will update this review once I take it on a real shoot.There is an on-going war between professionals who use off-camera flash, and the point-and-shoot majority. Technically I have no doubt that the off-camera brigade are right. However, if, like me, you have either children or grandchildren, taking a picture at the right moment trumps organizing a formal photo-shoot or carting round tripods, transmitters and flashguns. The idea of the "Puffer" is to puff-up the size of the on-camera flash head and so reduce harsh shadows. Having taken a few dozen pictures with it of my small grand-children, my conclusion is that it does make a worth-while improvement, and it is certainly a lot smaller and lighter than a separate flash-gun.I have a canon 750d, I couldn’t get the plastic mount back out plus my flash not popping up at all. I will use that by hand but it’s a waste of money.A good accessory for a pop up flash on the camera makes good soft light and is easy to attach and is value for moneyA great product, but very expensive!easy to use and works well for a quick shot.
