On 03 Aug 2002 00:34:26 GMT, russbutner@aol.com (russbutner) wrote:

> I did perform the side by side test, and yes, there was a discernible
>difference.I wish that I was wrong, would love to have that 1 stop of light
>loss back.

Was the distance about/over 5' or so from flash to subject?
Was the subject to background, and flash to subject distance
the same in both cases?
Was there no nearby reflecting surface (3' or closer)?
Was the flash exposure well above (2 stops or more) the
ambient light exposure?
The physics says there will be no difference in a careful
test with normal distances, but many things not directly
related to diffuser vs. none on the flash can affect the
results...
(I assume that this was the handkerchief, and not the
Lumiquest, some models of which can enlarge the effective
light source size a bit.)