Flekt wants to make a studio-mountain out of the molehill that is your pop-up flash. Invariably, with the advent of digital photography, there was a mass uptake in the craft. At least, there was a mass of people who realized digital would satisfy their need for instant gratification with the thrill hit of ‘instant development’ via an LCD screen, among other reasons.
Many in this new genus of hobbyists found the real joy in it, and then equal parts frustration, when they realized they were unable to get the visions in their heads, influenced from professional work, to manifest in their photos. This is often the point when gear lust kicks in, driven by the idea that a more expensive camera, better lens, and a better flash will make their photos look more like the ones in the magazines. They would be right. To some degree.
There’s a lot to be said for making the most out of your tools, and with forethought along with proper understanding, phenomenal photos CAN be had with naught but a point & shoot. However, in photography, sometimes it does take certain gear to achieve certain results. Sometimes that gear is the price of a car payment. Or four. So, it’s no wonder those who are not pursuing photography as a primary vocation are often seeking solutions of a more DIY persuasion, or get suckered into buying poorly crafted gimmicks.
Lighting is one of the primary areas for this, because flashes, strobes, and modifiers, are pricey. There’s a plethora of adapters and adornments that promise to make the most out of your camera’s pop-up flash, but arguably, Flekt is among few who think that it’s possible to supplement a beauty-dish with a modifier for a pop-up flash.
[REWIND: Phottix Announces New Collapsible Beauty Dish]
Seemingly well engineered, Flekt looks the part. Securing to the hotshoe, it can be locked in place and adjusted to fit most DSLRs. The light from the pop-up flash is redirected 180 degrees rear through a right angled concave reflector (which apparently reduces loss of light) onto the primary reflector which diffuses the light toward the subject. Flekt is to be a system with more removable inserts to come but for the moment has a single option for diffusion.
Thoughts
You can see some example shots here from the Flekt system, and more on their site and Kickstarter. Their Kickstarter campaign has just begun and already making headway, so clearly there is a market, and that market is already biting. It is an interesting concept, and will be interesting to see who adopts it. Given the design it could, in theory, behave similarly to a beauty dish, though keep in mind there’s no getting around the initial small light source which has a limited output – I expect the useable range to be quite limited.
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