Dome diffusers

I know that there seems to be trend towards using dome diffusers. I don't know whether this just because the new z330s seem to come with them.

The question is really whether there is much of a gain over a standard diffuser. Clearly we would all love beautiful even light across the lens coverage but do the domes really add much in that regard?

Interested in thoughts.

The Z330s have domed lenses, so I guess their diffusers have to be domed too!

It is all a question of horses for courses. Dome diffusers do produce a wide softer light, but as they spread the light, also make it less controllable.

It is rare to be lighting up a whole scene with strobe light, so often, having control of its fall is as important as its quality.

I am a big fan of diffusers that modify the color temperature of the strob'e's output, particularly for those strobes that put out a cool light. For me, this is typically more important than the shape of the actual diffuser.

Adam

A diffuser works by accumulating energy and then scattering according to Rayleigh law. It works better if there is the least gap possible between the light source and the diffuser otherwise some of the energy will come back in and will be lost in the gap between the diffuser and the source

Once you are over a certain distance any light source will approximated with a point radiator and shape will not matter anymore

As radiation goes with inverse square low irrespective of shape once you have a diffuser on even the shape of the strobe no longer matter once the distance is much larger than the light emitting surface

A diffuser is wonderful and inexpensive device to transform a single light source in an almost perfect radiator

I have been designing dome diffusers for strobes since 2005. I originally made them to help with hot spots because I was shooting with four of them. What always confused me was why for the longest time no one was making dome diffusers with quality material. Even today, manufacturers put out expensive strobes only to furnish it with an inexpensive piece of plastic in front of the flash tube.  The dome, when used with studio quality plastic will give much greater control of your lighting, and allow the user to paint with the edge of the strobe more effectively, and at the same time eliminate hot spots. It will also give you more even lighting.  If you use multiple stones , like me, then you can control foreground lighting better, and create volume in your shots by using techniques, like cross lighting, up lighting and drop lighting. It is also important to understand that domes also reduce lighting distance slightly.. so, if for example, you have a wide angle subject that is further away, say a beautiful coral head in the background, taking one diffuser off your most powerful strobe (usually called your key light) will allow you to light up the distant target while allowing the other strobes to fill the midsection and/or foreground to give you balanced.lighting, and a more pleasing image. Just a few thoughts..