Sto-Fen Omni-Bounce for the Canon 580EX Flash

This is a great diffuser, and worth the extra (small) expense. Simple, easy to use and worth the cost.

There is really no reason for a photographer to buy this, a bounce card (which is built into the 580EX) serves the same purpose when one isn't using direct strobe and one should rarely if ever use direct strobe in shooting. You're wasting your money, especially $11 for something that is really just translucent plastic.

It works as advertised.....I love soft lights when using strobes and I have this little guy to help me achieve my desired effects day in and day out...I also have Gary Fong's lightsphere which is better but the bulk of the lightsphere is a turn off.

If this was $4 it would be 4-5 stars. For $15 it's hard to not feel like you're being taken advantage of. It works. It softens the light (and decreases the light output). Unfortunately it also changes the color of the light. The auto-white balance setting on cameras that get color info from the flash will make things too red, but that's easy enough to fix later. I hardly ever use it since my walls and ceiling are white and I get a much nicer effect bouncing the flash when indoors.

If you have a flash for your camera, get a diffuser. You need one so your pictures aren't harshly lit when you use an external flash.

It's that simple.