Let there be light........and plenty of it!

STM

Senior Member
There are times when the tide is low at one of my favorite shore bird haunts and it coincides with sun being at my face rather than at my back. I started using a hotshoe mounted flash to fill in the shadows and put a catchlight in the bird's eye but using the "Beast" to photograph birds often means long distances to the subject. The Sunpak flash I use has plenty of power under normal usage where you would use a flash but it just does not have the range in daylight to add adequate fill at distances over 50-75 feet. Enter the MagMod. It is a fresnel lens system that focuses the light and gives up to a 3 stop increase in range. I got a clamp that attaches to one of the 3 1/4x20 sockets on the tripod foot of the Beast and it still gives me plenty of room to mount the lens on the gimble head.

MagMod.jpg

And the proof is in the pudding, as the saying goes........... a hazy sun day with shadows on this beautiful Tri-Color Heron at about 75 feet.

STM_4446.jpg
 

hark

Administrator
Staff member
Super Mod
Contributor
I've been a fan of MagMod products for a while now although I haven't yet tried out the fresnel lens. Their claims for its capabilities sound amazing.

Nice image! :cheerful:
 

STM

Senior Member
I've been a fan of MagMod products for a while now although I haven't yet tried out the fresnel lens. Their claims for its capabilities sound amazing.

Nice image! :cheerful:

I also looked at the Better Beamer and went with the MagMod instead. It was about $25 more than the Better Beamer but looked more than worth the extra few bucks. There was no Better Beamer kit to fit my flash and the service people there were not very helpful in helping me find one of their products that might fit. It also looked kind of flimsy compared to the MagMod. The MagMod shroud that holds the fresnel lens is made of very pliable silicon rubber and folds flat (about 1") and fits neatly in the gear bag. It has a soft bag to put it in to prevent scratches to the lens. The magnets are very strong and hold it in place very securely. It takes some work to get the rubber holder on the flash head but there is never really any need to remove it once it is mounted and it is super secure.
 

hark

Administrator
Staff member
Super Mod
Contributor
I also looked at the Better Beamer and went with the MagMod instead. It was about $25 more than the Better Beamer but looked more than worth the extra few bucks. There was no Better Beamer kit to fit my flash and the service people there were not very helpful in helping me find one of their products that might fit. It also looked kind of flimsy compared to the MagMod. The MagMod shroud that holds the fresnel lens is made of very pliable silicon rubber and folds flat (about 1") and fits neatly in the gear bag. It has a soft bag to put it in to prevent scratches to the lens. The magnets are very strong and hold it in place very securely. It takes some work to get the rubber holder on the flash head but there is never really any need to remove it once it is mounted and it is super secure.

I've had the MagBeam (fresnel) attachment since some time last year but haven't yet used it. Plus I have a variety of other MagMod products such as the magsphere, maggrid, magbounce, maggels, magmasks, and I *think* a magsnoot. Some haven't yet been used. I like the convenience as well as the quality. :encouragement:
 
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