On Wed, 16 Sep 1998 15:46:57 GMT, wja@mediaone.net wrote:

>Watching the News Broadcasts recently, I have noticed that most photographers
>have what look like diffusers mounted to their speedlights/flashes. I
>understand the potential benefits (softer shadows, no red eyes, etc.) of
>having a diffuser on the speedlight but I am curious whether the TTL flash
>mode will work if a diffuser is placed on the flash? Also how much should you
>compensate for having a diffuser mounted on the flash? And the final question
>is whether there is a specific diffuser specifically built for Nikon's SB-28
>All answers will be greatly appreciated.

Fads come and go with news photographers, who seem often to be not
too technically informed...;-) It was the "bounce card", now it's the
"Omni-bounce", or some such thing... These are often seen in use
in outdoor situations at distances greater than a few feet where they can
have NO effect on the image - and they just waste battery power
and recycle time. Unless the light source can be moved significantly
higher above the lens (if you choose to do this - I don't...), or the
light source size can be made significantly larger that the unaided
flash (I mean A LOT bigger!), or the flash is used VERY close to the
subject, or the flash is used in a VERY small white room, there is
virtually no advantage to using a "diffuser" except for lighting a
wider angle when using wide lenses.