In this homemade We will improve the built-in flash on a SLR camera using the Canon 60D as an example.
Many amateur enthusiasts and professionals consider that it is not worth using the built-in flash at all, since it makes the image flat and uninteresting, the light is too sharp for her and only “in the forehead”. This problem is of course easily solved by buying an external flash, but not always and not everyone has such an opportunity. So we make a reflector and at the same time a diffuser to the built-in flash.
It is shot with a flash without a reflector or diffuser
And this is already with a reflector. The difference is visible to the naked eye. Photos without processing in a graphical editor.
The flash light incident on the object reflected in the first is much softer, and in the second it also gives a sense of volume.
Materials and tools:
- Scotch tape
- Cardboard
- paper
- tracing paper
- A piece of plastic
- Bolt with nut
- (or )
- scissors
- Stationery knife
- pliers
- File
- soldering iron
Step 1:
We take a piece of plastic and cut a strip about 3 cm wide, about 6 cm long. It can be either straight or curved like mine, it does not really matter. In any case, we have to heat it with a hairdryer and bend it so that it repeats the shape of the flash body.
Try on. The flush should naturally be in a raised position. In the direction of the lens, the plastic should go 3 cm.
Processes the edges with a file or sandpaper.
Step 2:
We heat the rounded part of the plastic with a hairdryer and press it to the flash body from the bottom of the lens and hold it until it cools and hardens. Plastic should fit the camera as accurately as possible. Then we heat the plastic from the other end, in the place where it will be bent into the flash body. But here so far we are limited to a 90 degree bend, because we still have to insert a bolt.
In the center of our mount we drill a hole (I melted it with a soldering iron) and try on a bolt. It should be right in the center of the Canon label and stick out approximately parallel to the lens. I previously sharpened the head of the bolt so that it sticks out of the mount minimally. Then we heat the bolt and insert it into the hole, slightly melting it into plastic so that it does not turn. You can grind the edges of the hat, making it square, then the bolt will hold securely in the plastic.
Our fastening turned out to be three planes: the lower, upper and the one in which the bolt sticks out.We heat the plane with the bolt with a hairdryer and also press it against the flash body as tightly as possible. At the same time, it is worth controlling the lower plane so that it does not deform and does not move away from the camera body.
Then we warm up the upper plane and bend it inside the flash body. I bent and pressed plastic with my hands in cloth gloves, and this turned out to be not the best option, or maybe even worse, as the texture of the fabric and particles of thread remained on the plastic. Of course, this does not affect the functionality in any way, but the aesthetics have suffered significantly.
Step 3:
The mount is ready and we are starting to manufacture the reflector. I took several sheets of paper from the printer, cut a “petal” out of them, and glued it with tape. The shape and size of the reflector can be arbitrary, I repeated the shape of the pocket on the photo bag to make it convenient to store. From below we cut a hole and fasten the "petal" to the bolt. The reflector itself is ready! You can stick foil on it, for greater effectiveness. And since the reflector was not rigid, it can be bent and directed in any direction at any angle, and the mount allows you to do this with one or two fingers especially without being distracted from shooting.
When shooting, the reflector can be tilted to the right and left, thereby changing the angle of reflection and incidence of light on the subject. Indoors, when there are always walls nearby, furniture, and other surfaces for reflecting light, very interesting effects are obtained.
Step 4:
For shooting outdoors or when there are no surfaces for reflection (for example, in large halls), you can make another petal, which will also be used together with an already made mount, but will not reflect, but diffuse the flash light. It will give soft light without glare and non-contrast shadows.
To do this, take a thick cardboard, cut out the middle, leaving room for a mounting bolt and put on top of tracing paper (baking paper) or white polyethylene.
I used four layers of tracing paper (two were not enough). You can also use a piece of matte plastic instead of cardboard and tracing paper.
After testing the diffuser, I shortened it from the bottom, because the flash partially fell on the cardboard base, and cutting a couple of centimeters from the bottom turned out what I needed.
The first photo is just with a flash, and the second is already with a diffuser. The difference in the star is especially noticeable, with the diffuser the red color turned out to be more even, and without dark and light spots. And the shadow from the flag with the reflector turned out smooth. And when shooting portraits, the effect manifests itself even better.
Conclusion
This was the first time I used this type of reflector mount on an old Canon 550D, and honestly speaking, this mount proved to be better. The "three-digit" Canon DSLRs have a more miniature carcass and the contours are more angular, which is why the mount was sitting tight, in contrast to the "two-digit" massive carcass (60D). But nevertheless, both there and there its function, such a fastening of the diffuser / reflector, is quite tolerable. In real quality, the difference is obviously better,
And finally, a couple more examples:
[center [/ center]
