I've just finished a short test of the 3 currently available commercial flash extenders - the Better Beamer, the MagMod MagBeam and the Norman 2H reflector (only works on Lumedyne/Norman/Godox AD360 type heads.
The Better Beamer and the MagMod MagBeam were tested on a Godox AD860ii that had a measured, full power, guide number (in feet) at the 200mm setting of 100.
Power is Full Output 1/1:
Naked Flash @ 200mm - GN = 100'
Better Beamer@200mm - GN = 200'
MagBeam @200mm - GN = 240'
The Better Beamer brought the flash back up to the claimed GN = 197' or 2 f stops above the naked output (real, measured)
The MagBeam brought the flash up to GN = 240 or 2.25 f stops above the naked output (real, measured).
The Norman 2H (with the spacer) was compared using a Godox AD360 at full output manual mode (1/1) and it's normal kit reflector -
Flash with Normal Reflector - GN = 172'
Flash with 2H and Spacer - GN = 370'
This is a gain of 2.2 f stops.
To gain 2 f-stops using power alone you must quadruple the power (energy delivered) so all of these units are effectively equal to having 4 synched simultaneously firing units.... The shoe mounted flashes are usually about 60 Joules (Watt-Sec) and cover a 35mm lens - the AD360 likewise covers a 35mm lens with 6X the energy or 5.17 f-stops more energy....
To gain 2 f stops using distance you must 1/2 the flash to subject distance....
Moral of the story - Flash manufacturers have a great deal in common with carpets - they both lie well.
The manufacturers' guide numbers are likely measured in a white or light gray chamber representing typical use in an interior, which would explain the numbers they get.
How often do you need to use flash in wildlife photography nowadays, with modern cameras?
I've measured similar flash units in wedding venues and in the 10' cubic white ceilinged room - the results do not change, particularly at the long (200mm) focal length settings. The best I have ever measured was the old Metz 60 series - they made it to within 1/2 stop of rated...
For nature photography flashes are needed for night, backlit subjects, motion freezing, shooting under triple canopy rainforest and in caves. Owls, hummingbirds, passerines in hardwood hammocks, snakes in the jungle, heavily backlit birds -- all of these I have been faced with in the past year. True, it represents only about 10% of all situations where bumping the ISO up to 1600 won't give good results but the difference in blown out backlighting, noise and flat light without any catchlight in the eyes vs NOT having these issues because a flash was used is enormous. Just using -1 stop fill flash in daylight can take a so-so shot and transform it into a real masterpiece. It is far from a cure all but it is a worthy tool in the photographer's bag.
ISO 12,000 w/out a flash vs ISO 400 with one is an enormous difference in quality.....
My longest-range birding experiment was three storeys straight up at night, and I used ISO 100 @ f/11. Equipment was a Profoto pack, head, and long-throw dish. Full discharges at 1200Ws was lighting up downtown. No visits from the men in blue, thankfully.
Yes, the old ProFotos worked well.... The Lumedyne stacked packs worked well also... Most reflectors were what I call moderate throw - about the equivalent of a 70mm lens in coverage. The 2H from Norman and its' Qflash clone was pretty much for lenses 300mm and longer. Did once play with a searchlight -- trailer mounted - but used it as a 10 GHz reflector for a magnetron (pulsed 1 kW) - the optical beam was impressive though even with just a 100 Watt bulb....
I have made several Fresnel flash extenders for my old Metz 402's - best I could get was circa 3 stops and a 300mm lens coverage. That was with a 10x12" lens with a 12" focal length....
The reason I posted the articles was I have been seeing an uptick in people who do not understand what the true intensity of a flash unit is and are "protecting" the wildlife while actually disturbing it more rather than less as amateurs are being "forced" to get "closer" to use a smaller flash and the fact that the advertisers are very prone to overstating their flash unit's power.....
It's always been this way, but nice to see again. Manufacturers use a light-colored room (indoor test) and assumed 25% reflectance of the subject rather than 18% for starters. Then they add some fudge factor on top of that.
The original Walt Anderson Flash eXtender is still around as the better beamer. It was more effective (nearly 3 stops) when the flashes had smaller heads with smaller fresnels and about 2 stops now. I was not able to get the Magmod on the large head of EL-1. I don't use the Grodox flashes and maybe they are smaller in the head like some of the Nikons they made or maybe still make.
EB-1 wrote:
It's always been this way, but nice to see again. Manufacturers use a light-colored room (indoor test) and assumed 25% reflectance of the subject rather than 18% for starters. Then they add some fudge factor on top of that.
The original Walt Anderson Flash eXtender is still around as the better beamer. It was more effective (nearly 3 stops) when the flashes had smaller heads with smaller fresnels and about 2 stops now. I was not able to get the Magmod on the large head of EL-1. I don't use the Grodox flashes and maybe they are smaller in the head like some of the Nikons they made or maybe still make.
The MagMod MagBeam attachment was quite a fight to get on the Godox VING860ii but it does fit. The EL-1 looks like a monster head, might need to put the magmod attachment in boiling water to get it to stretch enough....
For my application I do tend to prefer the portability of the Better Beamer over the 1/4 stop of the MagMod but I'll give it a longer test and then follow up.
It was not my Magmod, but a quick check in the field somebody had one. I did not see it fitting or at least being able to ever remove it again.
For many years I used the lenses from the Flash eXtenders (sold separately) with my own rigid side pieces held on the flashes with Scotch Dual Lock fasteners.
