One thing I learned quickly in this digital photography game is that the popup flash on most digital cameras is for emergency use only. Ask any professional how often do they use the built-in flash on their digital SLRs and they will look at you as if you’ve just grown a thumb in the middle of your forehead. There are several problems with the popup flash, two of which are it’s location (on top of the camera near the forehead) and it’s too much of a harsh spotlight.
The folks at Lightscoop.com hope to change all that with their $30 Lightscoop. I ordered this after a recommendation from Lesa King. When it arrived, I was thinking "this is never going to work." So of course I fired off a couple test shots (before and after) and I was stunned by the difference. Yes, it does work!
How does it work?
It works by sitting in your hot shoe in front of your flash. There is a mirror in the front that bounces your on camera flash off the ceiling/wall up and behind you back down onto your subject.
As with most things there are a couple of caveats. For one, it’s not as compact as I wished is was. Yes, it’s small and very light weight, but it doesn’t fold down. Not big enough to fit over a lens (for storage in your camera bag) and a little too big to fit in a pocket. It takes up a lot less space than an external flash, but I’m hoping the next version could fold down flat. The second caveat is that they recommend very specific settings: Manual mode, ISO 800, Spot Metering, widest lens aperture (f2.8, f3.5, or f4.0 depending on your lens), shutter speed of 1/200th, Exposure Compensation set to +1, no curtain sync, slow sync, or red-eye reduction. Some of these settings are a no-brainer, but others seem a little restrictive. However, they are suggestions and not the law. You can experiment and see which settings you like best. Also since it bounces the light off the ceiling/wall it won’t work in all settings such as outside, cathedral ceilings, gymnasiums, churches, etc. All-in-all, it performs as advertised and is a great solution for $30. They models for Nikon, Canon and Pentax as well as a Standard version and a Warming version (I’m using the Standard version). It’s also smaller than most other types of on camera flash workarounds. On camera flashes still suck, but this makes them suck a whole lot less. I took a few test shots with my Nikon D70 (yes, I could have used the D300, but the D70 was closer – lazy, I know).
with the built-in flash on a Nikon D70 shot in RAW (hot spots and some blown out highlights)
with the built-in flash on a Nikon D70 shot in RAW and the Lightscoop
with the built-in flash on a Nikon D70 shot in RAW and the Lightscoop and a simple exposure adjustment in Adobe Camera RAW
Wow, that’s just incredible and one of those, “It’s so simple, why didn’t someone think of this before” solutions. I’m still glad I have my external flash and other lighting equipment but I wish I had something like this before for some other situations I have been in. Needless to say the low price point and the results make this sell itself. Makes you wonder what such a product doesn’t come with or isn’t built into cameras in the first place. Needless to say I will be getting one.
nice toy. thanks a lot for the information.
very cool, great exposure!!
Good stuff, Terry. I’m actually due to get one of these for Christmas! My wife heard about it from David Pogue, and apparently (probably thanks to the publicity he provided) the product is out of stock. I’m delighted to hear some of the pros & cons from you, and I’m looking forward to taking it for a spin myself.
J.
I’m actually interested to see the photo without any flash, and compare the lightscooped photo with that one.
Hello Terry,
Does your electronic compensation display show underposure when using your camera flash or your speedlight. I have noticed that my if I use my flash or speedlight in dim lighting that my camera’s compensation display tells me that the shot will be underexposed however the shots come out fine. I don’t remember if the D200 had the same issue with the flash. Can you check your camera for this? You can also check out some of my shots that I have taken with my d300 at the following link.
http://photocrumb.blogspot.com/
Thanks
the pop up flash comes up but wont flash how or where can i get it fix its a nikon d70s and it gets alot of use specialy at nite and most used on weekends
lovely in 2007