[SA Chris]

Doing another wedding weekend after next (joy) and I think getting a diffuser for the flash would be good for softening the lighting a bit.

Flash I use is a Pentax AF-540FGZ. Anyone recommend a particular brand or type of diffuser that would be good for indoor use in a large dark room (like a church?).

[Paul B]

(avoid buying tuppaware from Garry Fong?)

How are you using the the flash (on/off) camera? Neil VN or something (tangents blog) uses a black foam piece to direct straight light from the on-camera flash hitting his subject and bounces off something, in a dark cavern obviously this isn't an option.

Probably telling you what you already know but softness is dictated by the relative size of the light source. So relatively big and close is very soft but if you move that far enough away it'll make little difference.

The cheapest and most versatile (although a pain in wind) is a convertible umbrella (refelctive or shoot-through).

Beyond that there are Ezybox's (24" ~£40) or Westcott Apollo's (umbrella softbox). Much better in wind). The latter has a recessed front so its a bit better at controlling spill and scrimming the light.

Smaller than that there are things like the Lumiquest and apollo-micro softboxes, these are quite good used in relatively close and seem somewhere between hard and soft (they're softer but with a clean edge).

There are 80,20's that let 80% straight up and 20% direct so you get some fill. These can be DIY'd without looking like a blue peter specialist using a white card and a hairband around the flash as a big bounce card. Probably best for on-cam use.

I like my DIY grids as well although you can buy these from Honhl.

They all have their uses, or I keep telling myself that 

[SA Chris]

What a minefield!

Will be using it on camera as I will be moving around a lot, so don't want something too big, and mostly of indoor use.

I think something like a small softbox is probably what I'm after, will check out the Lumiquest and Apollo.

What's wrong with the Garry Fong stuff?

[Johnny Brown]

softness is dictated by the relative size of the light source

What Paul said. Ye cannae change the laws of physics.

I'm guessing you're thinking of one of those Stofen things though Chris? They sort of work if you are taking fairly close-up shots of faces, but any further back and they just knock loads of power off and shorten your battery life. You can get exactly the same effect by sticking a rizla to the flash - doesn't look very professional but a good option if you want to test the effect. Never used any of Gary Fong's tupperware, but it does at least have the advantage of increasing the size of the light, so should work at greater distances than a Stofen.

Anyone recommend a particular brand or type of diffuser that would be good for indoor use in a large dark room (like a church?)

You probably don't want to be setting up umbrellas or softboxes in church, and assuming a)there usually isn't anything to bounce off, and b) you aren't going to be wanting to be firing a flash right in the couple's faces, I'd say none are going to do much. A Stofen/ Fong thing might be useful for signing the register, but you can usually bounce off the vestry roof, or pull out your rizlas.

[Stu Littlefair]

Honestly Chris,

At the distances you are working at, some sort of diffuser on your flash will still give you hard light, and will eat a stop or two of light.

Far better instead to work at wide aperture, high iso if needed and enhance the natural light with a touch of flash bounced off the nearest surface. Paul's recommendation of neil's blog, tangents, is a good one; he has loads of advice about this stuff...

Even if you are using direct flash, you should push your aperture/iso combo as far as possible so the flash has the least amount of work to do. Direct flash on top of a,bent which is a stop underexposed doesn't look too bad

Stu

[dave]

Even at not-close distances, a small diffuser will still make a noticable difference.

Whatever you decide to go with I'd say make sure you give yourself some roadtest time. Going into a pressure situation with new gear is a recipe for fuckups. If you can, try to get access to the venues.beforehand to get an idea of how much bounce you'll be able to use etc, other potential problems etc.

[The Aaronator]

A solution that I have found on numerous occasions is to take along an assistant with a large silver/white reflector and get them to stand directly behind you and angle the reflector as you shoot so you can bounce the flash on to your subject. The white side gives a lovely soft light and the silver side is useful for spreading the light on group shots and greater distances etc. You need a flash head that can be turned 180 degrees and angled upwards etc. But as Dave says "Going into a pressure situation with new gear is a recipe for fuckups" so give your self time to become at one with your equipment setup.

[gingerninja]

you can buy some good stuff from view finder photography. they do a beauty dish that also has a cover to diffuse the light too. its really good tho i tend to use it with a grid more often for my sports stuff.
http://www.viewfinderphotography.co.uk/categories/Speedlite-Accessories/Speedlite-Accessories-Kit/

[SA Chris]

Cheers for the advice guys. I was basically looking for something not too spenny to soften light for closeups, that would be easy to clip on / clip off, so fiddling around with Rizlas isn't really an option.

Planning on sussing things out beforehand, but venue is not exactly close by.

[Paul B]

but it does at least have the advantage of increasing the size of the light, so should work at greater distances than a Stofen.

For a vastly inflated price. I've found Stofens to be best at helping to 'fill' umbrella's, allowing a 'kind of' bare bulb effect from the flashes where really a monolight was designed to work.

Bounce card (or rogue flashbender if you fancy someting a bit more pro looking than white card and a hairband) sounds appropriate.

Or the Lumiquest SBIII, arms length on a cord could be really nice?

[Obi-Wan is lost...]

Lumiquest Pocket Bouncer either on camera or even better off camera held at arms length, but 3 hands and/or a light weight lens are useful for this. Ideal for places like churches where you can't bounce off the ceiling. Looks like you should be able to make one your self but not worth the effort for £12.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/LumiQuest-LQ-101-Pocket-Bouncer/dp/B00009R8DJ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1302202380&sr=8-1

Used Stofen in the past but never convinced they make a big difference whereas the Pocket Bouncer makes a huge difference

[gingerninja]

if youre in sheffield i know rother valley optics has a few different type os flash diffusers in. knew nothing about the shop but took my mate there to buy a telescope, turns out they stock camera stuff and have a studio to rent too.

[Yossarian]

I understand the Nikon D3 now comes with a hotshoe candle-mount, specifically for such situations...

Perhaps you'd be better off upgrading?