D.I.Y Gary Fong style Lightsphere.

[potatomato]

I got tired of waiting around for the Lightsphere to be available at B&H for purchase (they've been out of stock for weeks now), and I'm hearing some stories of people having to wait weeks to get their's delivered.

So out of necessity, I fashioned my own. And surprisingly enough, after a few different methods, the results were quite satisfying.

All it took was a plastic to-go container (which contained udon noodles that were delicious), including the lid, some electrical tape, and a cutting implement sharp enough to cut through that kind of plastic and easy enough to control as to not stab your leg/arm/cat/wife (I used a box cutter).

It involved tracing the 580EX's head around the bottom of the container with a pencil, cutting out that piece as smoothly as possible with the blade, cleaning it up (also with the blade), taping the edges, and reinforcing the tape with more tape. You could probably just keep layering more tape on until you get a snug fit, but I felt that if I used some tape on the flash head itself, I could create a 'stopper' so the 'Lightsphere' wouldn't go down past the point I designated.

I posted a few images of the Jason 'Lightsphere' over on Flickr.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/potatom...7594198483848/
As well as some example images of the Jason 'Lightsphere' in use.

Oh, and because you can take the cover off, you have access to the wide angle filter and the catchlight card.

One thing I haven't tested is its front aimed flash fill performance, as I made this late tonight, and didn't have daylight for fill flash use.

Let me know what you think back here, or over on Flickr.

Cheers.

[FocusingOnFlorida]

Looks like it did the job for you. I'll bet it is a bit lighter as well. BTW, I ordered mine directly from Gary Fong's website and it arrived quickly. If yours works, I would save the money.