No Frills umbrella - shoot thru umbrella for $2.99


Status
Not open for further replies.

pinholecam

Moderator
Staff member
Jul 23, 2007
11,005
120
63
Just want to share this tip.
Guardian sells a No-Frills white/translucent umbrella that is suitable as a shoot thru/bounce for $2.99. You'd need to remove the handle 1st though, but it just involves pulling/twisting it off.

Edit :
I took my most willing model and did a shot :)

IMGP2187-1.jpg


Edit :
Some shots of the umbrella diffusion and another test shot
IMGP2431.jpg


IMGP2432.jpg


IMGP2453.jpg
 

Last edited:
Some updates to this post. :cool:
 

looks big & good, especially for the price. so far i've only seen the umbrella in all sorts of other colours..

i think one easy way to remove the handle is to pour boiling water over the handle area to melt the glue.
 

The price seems to have changed. I got it for less than $2 a few weeks ago... the next time I went again, it increased to $2 plus... near $3

I just needed to twist the handle a bit and it came off... haven't tried it yet though :)
 

They know that more photographers are getting their umbrellas... :bsmilie:
 

Wow, good info, I like it. Value for money and pic for free...:bsmilie:
 

Wow, good info, I like it. Value for money and pic for free...:bsmilie:

You remind me of Dire Straits... crave me to listen to the song now. :thumbsup:

../azul123
 

cool, how's the shoot-thru vs reflected ratio?
 

Just got one from my neighborhood Guardian and that was the last piece they had in stock.

The handle is not difficult to remove from the metal shaft.

The metal area that holds the umbrella fully open seems quite poorly constructed. Not sure how long it's going to last..
 

While this may help to diffuse the light output from your strobes, if you're been using proper shoot though umbrellas like the ones from Elinchrom (Silky texture), you'll definitely notice the difference in light output - colour and/or softness. Apart from that, I am guessing there's a significant amount of stops of light the umbrella is cutting as compared to the proper ones made for photography, this could mean that your flash has to work harder as well.
 

Just got one from my neighborhood Guardian and that was the last piece they had in stock.

The handle is not difficult to remove from the metal shaft.

The metal area that holds the umbrella fully open seems quite poorly constructed. Not sure how long it's going to last..

While this may help to diffuse the light output from your strobes, if you're been using proper shoot though umbrellas like the ones from Elinchrom (Silky texture), you'll definitely notice the difference in light output - colour and/or softness. Apart from that, I am guessing there's a significant amount of stops of light the umbrella is cutting as compared to the proper ones made for photography, this could mean that your flash has to work harder as well.

wow, with this sort of pricing, one has always get prepared to sacrifice something. otherwise, bowens, elinchrome, broncolor and others will gone bankrupt soon.
 

that would usually work when you actually have a wall or ceiling to bounce with.

i would think that the photographer controls the environment and not the other way around
i am sure that a nice wall is not too hard to find yes?
 

i would think that the photographer controls the environment and not the other way around
i am sure that a nice wall is not too hard to find yes?

I'm a nobody and still in the process of learning. I'm sure it would be rather easy to find a surface to bounce with indoors but outdoors? Please do correct me if I'm wrong. Thanks.
 

I'm a nobody and still in the process of learning. I'm sure it would be rather easy to find a surface to bounce with indoors but outdoors? Please do correct me if I'm wrong. Thanks.

I dunnno about you, but if i was going to choose a location to shoot, i would look for a location that will benefit me most

every shoot is different, every location is different, if for example
the location you choose does not have a wall
then bring a "wall" along with you (eg reflector)
 

Status
Not open for further replies.