My old Gary Fong product does not fit on my new EL-5 so I figured that I would try the "Lightsphere® Collapsible Generation 5" that has been out of stock for some time now.
The Altura might be something useful for much of what I shoot but I am so used to using something closer to the Lightsphere that I would still get the Lightspehere if it were available and I had the Altura.
The BIG thing with flash looking good is getting it OFF the camera, or being able to make it appear as off-camera.
Everyone has a different opinion, and mine is no different. I tried the Fong modifier years ago, and didn't care for it.
When I was shooting a LOT of weddings, and had to work quickly. I really liked the Demb Flash Diffuser (which is no longer made & worked quite well). You can probably find knock-offs of it somewhere.
Keep in mind that when you use this kind of light modifier on a speedlite, that you are spreading what little light that you have (about 72 Watt/Seconds) in all directions. The more the light is spread, the less will hit the subject that you are shooting. The Inverse Square law of light applies here, as it does with any light source. You waste good light by spreading it everywhere. A more direct bounce of the speedlite off a white ceiling or wall would be a far better choice, if possible. Even one behind you would be better. Also, keep in mind that a speedlite is hard light, but once you bounce it, the light from it becomes much larger and softer.
The big lantern style round soft boxes, when attached to a large studio strobe, work well to produce widely spread light, but at enough power to be easy to waste by bouncing it everywhere. You can't get similar results using just a speedlite and one of these small round ball modifiers. There just isn't enough power for this.
My old Gary Fong product does not fit on my new EL-5 so I figured that I would try the "Lightsphere® Collapsible Generation 5" that has been out of stock for some time now.
The Altura might be something useful for much of what I shoot but I am so used to using something closer to the Lightsphere that I would still get the Lightspehere if it were available and I had the Altura.
Probably best to just email the Gary Fong website. Haven't heard that name in a long time. His diffuser was popular back when a lot of the cheaper hacks made with household materials weren't widely known, and since then a lot of other options are available. I have used a similar dome type diffuser that comes with the Profoto A1 for events and I prefer the quality of light vs the typical square type fresnel plus built-in diffuser.
Magmod has one, but you have to get one of their magnetic attachment things to use it. I am not a fan of Magmod stuff mainly because the magnets add a noticeable amount of weight, and I try to be cautious about how much I put on a hotshoe. https://magnetmod.com/products/r1-magsphere-2
I've used something like the Altura and didn't like it for event photography, but if you are a fan of direct flash (ie flash head pointed directly at subject) it would be more flattering to people's skin than just a bare fresnel.
If there is no ceiling where you are shooting, the "Lightsphere® Collapsible Generation 5" will send your light in all directions with only a small fraction of it heading toward your subject...TAKE IT OFF and aim the head at the subject when there IS NO CEILING to bounce light downward toward the subject. PLEASE! if you use it with no ceiling, you are mainly drainging your flash battery much much faster, and there is little benefit to the light reaching the subject.
