Strobist – Making the quickest Snoot ever
November 18th, 2007 | Published in Personal Stuff | 3 Comments
I don’t have black straws. or good cardboard. and I’m lazy. So I made the quickest snoot in the world with what comes with every flash (Canon at least, I think Nikon has it too).
What you need:
- Heavy duty scissors
- Flash
- Case that flash came with
The case comes for free with your flash. I almost never use mine, but after the modifications I actually do. Notice that the inside is lined with a nice black felt that absorbs light like my girlfriend’s cleavage.
Cut a hole in the bottom, staying inside the stitching
Now you DIY guys, you can leave it like this and make a little velcro tab to flip it open and to close it, but again I’m too lazy to do that
After cutting the whole end:
Now you can use the case (wary of the open end, but it protects it well). WHen you use it on the flash, tuck the little flap into the space meant for the plastic stand:
And TADA!!!
Now for some tests about four feet from my wall o’ photos
24mm
105mm
24mm with snoot
105mm with snoot
I was surprised to see that when you narrow the light in-flash down to 105mm, it actually creates more light falloff. That must be due to the angle of light exiting the flash. You’ll use more power at 24mm, but the edge is nice and crisp.
The nice thing is I can carry the snoot with the flash, eating up no space at all in my bag and protecting the flash from damage (I put the flash bulb end in first to protect it with the bottom of the case). We used this at the first LA Strobist meeting and the guys seemed to like it.
March 13th, 2008at 11:49 pm(#)
Brilliant! thanks,-J
January 28th, 2009at 10:13 am(#)
way to ruin a perfectly good case, but good nonetheless.
January 28th, 2009at 6:48 pm(#)
true, but I never use them. once I get them they go in my bag side pocket, a hard pelican case, or they get bungee’d to a pocket wizard. I have 4 cases, so it’s been more useful having two cases and two snoots (better than busting out the black tin foil).