For those just starting to use a better beamer, may I encourage you to calibrate it to your setup?
Because it narrows the beam of projected light significantly (thats why it works in the first place), the alignment of the flash head/beamer assembly can have a significant effect on where the light falls in your image.
With the SB800, the weight of the beamer tends to cause the head to droop a bit, and you tend to have the light under the center of the frame. This obviously changes depending on how far out you are shooting, but it can lead to some very unpredictable flash results.
If you use a flash arm to get the flash higher, the chance for misalignment increases.
I would recommend setting up the flash/beamer, on whatever arm, bracket you plan to use, and take a series of test shots of a distant wall in a dim room. I try to estimate my average shooting distance with a particular set up (lens/camera) and then be certain that my light pattern falls correctly in the frame. It is pretty impressive how far off it can be.
To correct for the droop in my setup, I tuck a 12 gauge piece of insulated wire around the flash head where it articulates with the body. This holds it at the correct angle.
This 'adjustment' certainly will vary depending on your particular rig.
I would also rec. playing around with different zoom settings on the flash to observe the effect on the pattern.
50mm is the recommended zoom, and it is probably the best, but I have tried the other settings for certain applications.
This simple adjustment can reduce the number of flash surprises with the better beamer.
Cheers
Randy







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