The Strobist Corner: Super Simple Gel Holder For "Strobist" Gels
Here's the thing. If you are using the "The Strobist Collection" gels from Rosco (which we reviewed here. You know that they are really great. But they are a bit undersized to be velcro-ed to a speedlight. No room on both sides of the gels to attach them to the flash.
Mike Errecart is going to show you how to fix this with a very simple hack after the jump
What You Need
- A transparency sheet, or the plastic front cover of your graduation college work report
- A bungee
- Optional : something to hold the transparency sheet while bending it. I used a metal ruler.
Instructions
1 - Cut 2 pieces of transparency sheet (10*7.5 cm, which might be... err... 4*3 inches. This size fits my Nikon SB24 and YongNuo YN460 perfectly, if you have a different flash, re-size accordingly)
2 - Bend the 2 pieces with the help of the metal ruler (or whatever object you have, or only by hand)
The 'bending lines' are 3cm off the edges of the piece of plastic : edge <---3cm--->bending line<--- 4.5cm --->bending line<--- 3cm ---> edge
3 - Put the pieces of plastic on the flash head
4 - Tie them together to the flash using the bungee. I used the bungee I had my hair tied with. At this point, make sure that the strobe has some "breathing space". Otherwise the plastic will melt.
5 - Slide the gels between the2 pieces of plastic. You can slide 1, 2 or more gels inside without any trouble (it's not easy to use more than one gel when you use velcro).
6 - You're done !
The bungee does the job very well, you can put the flash upside down, no problem.
The plastic pieces can be folded and tied with the bungee to be stocked in your photo bag, using almost no space
I hope this will help some of you. This is a very very simple design, but took a long time to pop in my mind. I can now have fun with my gels !
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Comments
Nice idea. I was kind of
Nice idea. I was kind of dissapointed when I got my roscoe kit. I have a Honl kit which was perfect but expensive. I also use Viv285s which have a BIG freznel and the roscoe gells look lost in the mouth of those.
It would be nice if they could size up the roscoe kit some more and re-release it.
Another thought. clear Business card holders...
Silicone Bands Instead of Bungees
Thanks for the layered transparency sheet idea. I'll be borrowing this! I have been doing something similar with one sheet of plastic made from a disposable name badge holder you get at a trade show. Now I see why I need two sheets.
Instead of a hair bungee, I use a silicone bracelet which fits my Nikon strobe head perfectly. Don't use the formed "silly" variety. Get the flat bracelets that usually have text embossed into them. They're usually $1 (or less) each and they can be stored on the flash head.
Acetone
You can make the plastic binder/report cover melt to itself and form a permanent bond by using a little bit of acetone (nail polish remover) and pressing the two halves together.
Awesome
This a great and simple idea. I bought one of those 12 dollar gel holders from adorama and it works, but its impossible to get two gels into it. I am definitely copying this LOL.
single-layer
Just tried this great idea myself, and I find that because my gel samples are larger than the face of the flash, it's hard to squeeze them between the plastic layers.
What I find works better is just a single layer of clear plastic strapped to the flash. I just slip the gel under the clear plastic, and it's held in place by friction.
Thanks for the spark!
Why didn't I think of this?
What a great idea. And some good ones in the comments too. I just happened to have one of those identity plastic things from a recent trade show too.
this idea works ok, used it
this idea works ok, used it for 2 years BUT....beware of any gel that eats up a lot of light and is used on the flash when a lot of power is used 1/1 or 1/2 power. the gel will melt. so this idea is best when modified a little. cut out the middle section and leave 2 strips of plastic running across the fresnel lens on the left and right. this way the heat of the flash can dissipate more and the chance of your rosco gel melting is reduced considerably
yep thats an easy project
yes,there are many ways to do this one.
I made a preatty simple one some moths ago, a very handy stuff:
http://diyphotographystuff.info/734/diy-flash-gel-filter-holder-quick-an...
Thanks for sharing!
Another way
I was turned onto another way, not quite as elegant in some ways, but even simpler: wig tape. It's double-sided, transparent, remains very sticky even when you un-stick and re-stick it, and doesn't leave residue. And it even comes in a convenient pre-cut size. This is the kind of thing I'm talking about:
http://www.wigwarehouse.com/TopStick-Tape-p/vapsd150.htm
You just stick the gel+tape on the lens of your flash, and when you don't want it, peel it off and stick it just about anywhere else.
I have to thank my girlfriend for the inspiration for this - I would never have thought of wig tape, but she's a stage performer, and one day when I was griping about attaching gels, she suggested it.
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