Better Beamer

[bob_r]

I don't know if any of you have tried the Better Beamer flash attachment, but I tried it for the first time today and am very pleased with the results.

My backyard faces East and is shaded by my house and a couple of 40-50 foot trees in the afternoon. Taking pictures in the afternoon has always been difficult because of the poor lighting available at that time.

This was shot with a Canon 30D, Canon 100-400mm lens, Sigma 1.4X teleconverter, Canon 580EX Speedlight + the Better Beamer. Even though I was 35-40 feet away, you can see the shadow of the hummer on the fence that was created by the flash+the Better Beamer.

Bob R

This was shot at f/5.6 - 400mm (resulting in f/8 - 560mm because of the teleconverter) at 1/1000s ISO 200.

[pants]

I have never heard of that Better Beaner flash attachment before. I just looked it up and it looks interesting, is that a reflector on the end of the attachment?

[bob_r]

Pants,

It's a fresnel lens. It's held to the side brackets with velcro. When not assembled, it's a pretty compact unit. It's only recommended for 300mm telephoto lenses or greater and is supposed to be able to add two stops of light output to the flash. I paid less than $40 for it at B & H. Rather an insignificant amount for any photographic paraphernalia.

Bob R