DIY Better Beamer

[SYS]

SYS submitted a new resource:

DIY Better Beamer - Building your own better beamer for less than 7 USD.

I've recently purchased a Better Beamer for my bird photography. I wanted another one for my purpose but decided to make my own, instead. It is made from a gutter downspout that I picked up from a local Lowe's for $2.99. The material is ideal for this as it's very light yet durable vinyl, and it fits the head of my flash perfectly. Add another few bucks for Fresnel lens, and voila, here's my own Better Beamer for less than $7.00. One main advantage of my DIY version over the original is that...

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[nevermore]

Cool diy. Is it lighter/comparable/heavier than the brand? Not that I'm looking for one. It's idle conversation hour at the crib.

 

[joayne]

Nice Job there!

 

[Capn Jack]

I've recently purchased a Better Beamer for my bird photography. I wanted another one for my purpose but decided to make my own, instead. It is made from a gutter downspout that I picked up from a local Lowe's for $2.99. The material is ideal for this as it's very light yet durable vinyl, and it fits the head of my flash perfectly. Add another few bucks for Fresnel lens, and voila, here's my own Better Beamer for less than $7.00. One main advantage of my DIY version over the original is that I don't have to fiddle with the Velcro strap to put it on the flash head. I love the fact that my DIY version can be simply "plug" into the head with no fiddling and no tightening. One disadvantage, however, is that it's not collapsible. I could've made it collapsible, which is simple enough, but I'd much rather keep the advantage of "plug-in-and-go" than to lose this advantage for collapsibility.

The Fresnel lenses used for the DIY:

Amazon.com

The real Better Beamer vs. DIY Better Beamer

Thanks for bringing this over from PotN.

 

[SYS]

Cool diy. Is it lighter/comparable/heavier than the brand? Not that I'm looking for one. It's idle conversation hour at the crib.

The DIY version is slightly lighter but not any less tough. However, my later updated DIY version, which I'll post later on this thread, is at least twice larger.

 

[SYS]

UPDATE: Super Beamer

In my search for a way to achieve a light, yet possibly more powerful device, I decided to experiment with Godox AD200 Pro with its Fresnel head as a possible answer. AD200 Pro (or AD200) has about three times the power of a speedlite flash, so I knew the power was there for tapping into. However, with its fixed zoom at 35mm, as opposed to an optimal zoom setting of 50mm for a speedlite flash, the initial tests with the same size Fresnel lens sheet from my previous DIY Better Beamer hardly made any significant improvement. 35mm fixed zoom setting spreads light in wider pattern, so I hypothesized that a larger Fresnel lens sheet, large enough to "gather" the wider light spread from a 35mm zoom setting, could harness the AD200 Pro's power into desired results.

For this updated DIY product, I used a Fresnel lens sheet with the dimensions, 12"L x 8"H, and a required corresponding larger and longer holder frame, the same gutter downspout but longer at 15" length. For finding the optimal light reach, all it required was testing the positioning of the AD200 Pro in relation to the Fresnel lens sheet until the sweet spot was identified.

The result: 5 and 1/3 stops of light throw, which is 3 full stops more than the original Better Beamer. One flash with the most light throw: Super Beamer.

Downspout 2" x 3" x 15" ($3.28 Lowes)


Super Beamer


Fresnel Lens Comparison (original Better Beamer, far left; Super Beamer lens, far right)


AD200 Pro Super Beamer

 

[SYS]

AD200 Pro Super Beamer with S2 S-type Bowens Bracket




Fresnel cover protection made from a manila file folder and unused lanyard badge ID holder


While AD200 Pro Super Beamer is the most powerful of all my experiments, just like with other Godox speedlite flashes, it doesn't work in burst shooting mode, either in sync or HSS. With 580EXII flash, on the other hand, it can provide very evenly exposed images in both in synch and HSS modes. The difference between AD200 Pro and 580EXII, using the same Super Beamer Fresnel lens sheet, is 2/3 of stops less with the latter.

580EXII Super Beamer

 

[Levina de Ruijter]

Very very cool to see your thread here, SYS!

 

[SYS]

Very very cool to see your thread here, SYS!

Thanks to a forum member and a POTN refugee, gjl711, this POTN thread got revived here.