DIY Flash Modifier For LX3

I’m really enjoying my new Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3. While I can’t access my RAW files yet (without the silly software that shipped with the camera – HURRY UP APPLE!), I’m enjoying the quality of this little camera and the ability to keep it with me wherever I go. Good purchase.

The little camera does have a hot shoe, and I’ve used it with my Nikon SB strobes and CyberSync triggers, but sometimes you just want to use the built in convenience of the popup flash. The thing has some serious output, but, as is typical with on-camera flash, the light is harsh and stark and could use a little modification.

Last night, while wandering through The Container Store at the mall, waiting for friends to meet for drinks and a movie, I thought that perhaps I might get DIY inspired by the vast assortment of frosted-plastic doodads in the store.

I found a plastic toothbrush holder for $1.29 and it looked as if the cap would fit nicely over the LX3 flash. I figured some sort of bounce/diffuser was in order and I gave it a go.

I started by cutting the top of the cap about an inch from the end with a Dremel tool. This made a convenient sized cap that would fit nicely over the LX3 flash.

Since the LX3 flash always points forward, I decided to go a little further than just a diffuser (someday I’ll probably build the 35mm film-can diffuser so popular for pop-up DSLR flashes – if I can find a 35mm film container) and try to reflect the light upward to get a diffuse light that would bounce off the ceiling and around the room. In order to achieve the change in light direction, I would need to make a reflector and place it at approximately 45º in front of the flash. To do this, I cut a piece of plastic from the top of a cheese container and glued a bit of aluminum foil – shiny side out – to the plastic sheet.

I then fine tuned the shape of the aluminum-clad plastic to fit inside the cap at about 45º. Using messy silicon sealant (I only had white hanging around the house) I cemented the reflector in place inside the cap.

It may not be pretty, but it fits on the flash pretty well.

So how does it work? Below are two images taken on manual exposure (ISO100, f/2, 1/13s) with the bare flash and with the diffuser.

Bare flash.

With modifier.

Certainly the modifier costs me a bit of light. But I think it’s obvious that the modifier results in a softer, less harsh deer-in-the-headlights appearance of the flash. I’d call it a success.