Interfit has released the Strobies Portrait Kit, which takes the basic design concept of studio flash accessories like a softbox or snoot and adapts them for a flashgun. The Strobist, or off-camera flash, movement has become popular recently, with many enthusiasts looking for ways to modify the light from a standard flashgun to create more intriguing effects. Keen to capitalize on this, the Interfit Strobies Portrait Kit includes a total of six attachments: the Beauty Dish, Globe Diffuser and Softbox are diffusers for creating more natural and flattering lighting, and the Snoot, Honeycomb and Barndoor are for sculpting the light for more creative effects. Each attachment clips onto a mount that slides onto a portable flashgun and there are seven sizes of mount currently available for different models.
Considering the relatively affordable price of this kit, the build quality of each of the attachments is good. Yes, they are predominantly plastic, but they each feel sturdy enough, click into the flex mount fitting easily, and are held securely in place.
The softbox material is pretty thick, too, and spare clips for attaching the accessories to the flex mount are supplied in case they snap.
The three diffusing attachments are quite small, however, and combined with the limited output of a flashgun, this means you have to shoot quite close, making anything more than a head & shoulders shot a challenge. That said, setting our Nikon SB900 flash to full power and using the three diffuser attachments, we were able to use settings of 1/250sec at f/11 (ISO 100) and the results were good, producing a well balanced portrait. We shot a straight portrait with the snoot, barndoors and the honeycomb attachments, too, to really get an idea of the effect they created, although these would ideally be used with a secondary flash as a hair light or as a background spot.
There are several flashgun softboxes available from manufacturers like Lastolite, but the Interfit Strobies Portrait Kit is the first we’ve come across that offers such a range of shaping tools. It’s easy to use and provides some alternative lighting options with a flashgun – and if you’re a fan of off-camera flash, that’s a real bonus.
Flex mount fittingsTo secure any of the Strobies portrait accessories to your flashgun you’ll need to purchase a flex mount fitting which isn’t included in the kit. A total of 13 different flashguns are currently supported via one of the seven available mounts, and they all cost £7 each. Check the list below to see the flashguns that are supported and which flex mount fitting you’ll need.
Model FlashgunSGM100 Nikon SB600 / SB800
SGM200 Sony F32X / Canon 430EX
SGM300 Sony F56AM/Nikon SB26/27/28
SGM400 Canon 580EX/550EX
SGM500 Vivitar 285 HV
SGM600 Nikon SB900
SGM700 Canon 580EXMKII
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