The Ukrainian folks behind the iblazr, a little four-LED accessory flash that plugs into an iDevice’s 3.5mm jack, have almost doubled their $50K Kickstarter goal and now offer something new: a diffuser, included free with the flash.
My colleague Charlie Sorrel wasn’t overly enthused with the iblazr when he wrote about it earlier this week, but I’m pretty keen on the idea.
While direct on-camera flash usually creates hideous results, the iblazr’s designers added thoughtful features that make the little flash an accessory I could definitely see myself using.
There’s a variable brightness setting that could (hopefully) be used for fill-flash—the technique of using flash at low power in order to negate shadows by “filling” them in. And since the unit can swivel in the headphone jack, it should theoretically be possible to effect another lighting technique: bounce flash, where the light is bounced off a wall or ceiling to create more useful diffuse, even light that emanates from a side or top source.
With the help of a common 3.5mm extension cable, the iblazr can even be used off-camera, as the flash’s creator demonstrates. There’s even a use for video, as the iblazr’s will come with a continuous-light mode.
On top of all that, the diffuser—if the project reaches its extended $110K funding goal, and there’s no reason to think it won’t—is a welcome addition and should add even more options.
Source: iblazr
