Lumiquest Promax System

Good product reasonably priced. Takes a bit of getting used to for figuring out how to handle the flash exposure. I increased about 1/2 stop and does well on most subjects but distance is critical. If you are taking pic's on the fly, plan on bracketing or else fixing the exposure in your software later. I like this product and once I got the additional strap for fixing it on the flash it is easy to use.

I found that I had to adjust the angle a bit by experimenting with the position of the side flaps to get the optimum flash bounce. I would recommend taking quite a few pics in various light ranges to figure before you go into a serious shooting.

I use to use a piece of white paper, rubber banded to my flash...this works much better, and looks more professional. Very easy to use, though the directions could be a little clearer on how to attach the soft screen diffuser. (It goes over the front, which I saw from on-line photos.) I can't wait to use the gold deflector to see what the "outdoor" effect looks like.

When I first got my Nikon SB-600 Speedlight Flash for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras, I was blown away by the results when I bounced it off of the ceiling. I was a bit underwhelmed however when I used a plastic diffuser similar to the SBM Supreme Light Diffuser for the Nikon SB600 and Olympus FL-36 Flashes, and since there isn't always a ceiling handy, I was looking for more.

The Promax system is more--much more. First off you get the 80-20 bounce, which augments ceilings by shining 20% of the light more or less directly to complement the 80% that bounces off of the ceiling. This was a very pleasant bonus. What I really needed were the included inserts, which deflect the light forward in a manner much more pleasing than a direct flash. This works great whether there are available ceilings or not. There are three included, and I've kinda found myself using the silver one more than the white one (yet to try the gold).

They all have a modest light penalty, but don't read too much into this, as the flashes that this kit is for are TTL flashes, which automatically adjust for this. Want an even more diffuse lighting effect, well there is a translucent plastic (vinyl I believe) cover that velcros on. This works beautifully, but at an even greater loss of light (see above).

The kit comes with velcro bits that tape onto your flash, but I didn't bother with these and went with the LumiQuest Cinch Strap. If you already own a decent flash for your Canon, Nikon, Pentax, Sony, or Olympus SLR setup, you're really missing out if you don't give this kit a good look.

The only real negative is that the documentation is well, almost non-existent. My SB600 came with quite a tome of a manual, and I had lots of ideas of what I could do before I threw some batteries in it. Here, well you'll see how to set it up, and then it's up to you to experiment. It may seem a bit frustrating at first, but it will pay off.

This is a great item to have for any flash work. It is completely collapsible which makes it ideal for storage and transport, and works just as well as some of the other plastic type diffusers (think Gary Fong). The ability to bounce 80/20, diffuse, create silver, or gold...makes it very versatile and all fits into a slim folder when not in use.

It can take 30 seconds or so to change out faces and/or change configuration, which is why it doesn't get 5 starts...but is a minor thing.

light, compact, easy to use, and it works as advertised. What more can I say?