Leica SF-24D Sfill / Soft Box

[kristyansen]

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Dear All, 

What softbox solutions are available for the Leica SF-24D? I use it with my Leica M9 and will need it in a closed room setting either for portraits or also in a church for a baptism ceremony in the family. 

I see that the Leica Goodies SFill is no longer available - does any of you happen to have one you do not need anymore? 

Thanks for your thoughts - maybe the only working solutions are DYI like this? https://www.diyphotography.net/cheap-diy-flash-mounted-softbox/

Best, 

Cristian 

 

 

[Luke_Miller]

I have not found a modifier for the SF-24D I was happy with.  What does work for me is to bounce the flash, which effectively makes walls and ceilings serve as a giant softbox. I have several ways of doing that including hand holding it on a Nikon flash cord.  Here is another way I use:

 

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[kristyansen]

Thanks a lot. Also very ingenious idea on the tilt and swivel. At the end of the day, would an SF40 or SF64 be easier to handle / fulfill the flash bounce need? - or they are instead quite large and cumbersome? 

[Luke_Miller]

I have the SF 40. It is very compact and does not have much impact on the handling on the camera. I suspect its bigger brother (the SF 60) would be fine as well and adds the ability to swivel which the SF 40 lacks.  Both flashes operate in either Manual or TTL flash exposure control.  Their Auto mode is just a variation of TTL.  TTL operation is IMO their biggest limitation.  In TTL the camera controls flash exposure, so in any lighting situation where the camera's metering would tend to underexpose, such as a backlighted subject, the flash exposure will be underexposed as well. Shifting to Manual is the only option. The SF 24, SF 58 (I have both) and the SF 64 all have an Auto mode in which the flash controls the flash exposure and ignores the background.  This mode works well in situations where TTL is unsatisfactory and is the one I normally use.  Unfortunately, of these three, only the SF-24 does not seriously affect the camera's handling.