Jansjos with Diffusers

Deanimator · Post by **Deanimator** » Sat Aug 26, 2017 4:45 pm

I got my ping pong ball diffusers made for the new Jansjos.

A label on a piece of PVC pipe.

Canon T4i
Minolta 50mm manual reversed onto a Tokina 100mm macro
Stack of 198 done with DSLR Controller and Zerene

Harald · Post by **Harald** » Sun Aug 27, 2017 10:15 am

Hi there Deanimator,
Do you mean that ping pong balls makes a great diffusor for the Jansjö lamps?

Deanimator · Post by **Deanimator** » Sun Aug 27, 2017 11:42 am

Harald wrote:Hi there Deanimator,
Do you mean that ping pong balls makes a great diffusor for the Jansjö lamps?

I haven't used them enough to say "great", but definitely "good". Without them, there are way too harsh highlights and shadows.

Here's another:

ChrisR · Post by **ChrisR** » Sun Aug 27, 2017 12:51 pm

If you shine a Jansjö on some tissue paper you see how small the bright spot really is - too small!

Deanimator · Post by **Deanimator** » Sun Aug 27, 2017 3:12 pm

ChrisR wrote:If you shine a Jansjö on some tissue paper you see how small the bright spot really is - too small!

In the few days in which I've had mine, I've found them to be very useful for a limited spectrum of tasks.

I would NEVER use them for general still life photography (flowers, guns, crockery, etc.).

Where they shine (no pun intended) is in macro photography, in particular of subjects that larger light sources (like my 300w CFL in articulated arm lamps) can't efficiently light. The problems that I've had in the past with part of a tiny subject being brightly lit with the rest in deep shadow have disappeared.

I don't have cheap speedlights which I can risk cooking doing 200+ exposures for stacking. I've never owned a strobe at all, although I'm contemplating getting one or two in the future.

The Jansjos have already been a big help. I suspect that will continue.

ChrisR · Post by **ChrisR** » Sun Aug 27, 2017 4:49 pm

Agreed entirely, I'm not knocking them, I expect half the forum has some, but I was surprised how little that enlargement of the "end" actually does. The only negative I can remember is that their color temperatures can be different from each other.

Deanimator · Post by **Deanimator** » Sun Aug 27, 2017 5:40 pm

ChrisR wrote:Agreed entirely, I'm not knocking them, I expect half the forum has some, but I was surprised how little that enlargement of the "end" actually does. The only negative I can remember is that their color temperatures can be different from each other.

So far, I haven't noticed any difference in temperature between them, but they're RADICALLY different from the 300w CFLs. They're so different I had to do a color white balance to get them to come out right. Given that I've basically shut down my outdoor macro work for the season, that wasn't much of a hardship.

Harald · Post by **Harald** » Wed Oct 04, 2017 1:22 pm

Ping pong balls did a great job for me diffusing my Schott light.
More flexible lightning then with a light tent.

Thanks for setting me on that idea Deanimator...