Soft Diffuser or Softbox Diffuser

Hi Folks,

My first question in this catagory. And first for 2008.

I have three Pentax flash units, AF200S, AF200Sa and AF280T. The first two are fixed head and the last is a tilt and swivel.

I'm still shooting film and have not had the best of luck with straight-on flash or bounced. (Red eye often and wierd shadows).

I think diffusers are in my future and I've found two types on eBay that look like they may help.

The first type is cloth-like with an elastic which seems to be a universal
item, and will probably fit my AF280T. (MAYBE the other two).

The second attaches the same way, but is a blow-up, pillow-shaped beachtoy-type deal.

They both ship from either China or Hong Kong, and don't cost very much.

Just want to know if they're worth a shot, as I can't seem to find real Pentax diffusers.

Any and all feedback will be more than welcome as always.....

I still use rubber bands with white business cards...(bounce + fill)
sometimes I use white plastic (dollar store) cups.....(point the flash straight up and set the cup on top for barebulb effect).
if you want to get fancy...there's a mini umbrella and stand...(best bet)
the thing to remember is this: you need to be close to your subject with the light or any softening effect gets negated..

Have a look at Lumiquest Softbox and Mini-Softbox. They attach to the gun with Velcro. Sto-Fen Omnibounce is another useful, easy to use diffuser.

Thanks Fellows,

I'm off to the Stationers and the Camera Store.

Gonna bend some light!

If anyone else is looking for diffusers, and has a thyristor sensor on their flash (for non-TTL shots), make sure the diffuser doesn't block the little window..

Lumiquest has two shapes for their mini softbox models. One, a fully rectangular "lens" for strictly TTL, the other is drawn up on the bottom plane to allow the thyristor to see.

This precludes using the large pillow-type diffusers in my case.

Thanks Mannesty!