Diffuser (photography)

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Simple diffuser on a camera flash, made from a piece of paper, a rubber ring and two staples

Example of the effect of a diffuser (here: studio umbrella) in close-up photography (details in the image description)

In photography, a diffuser is an aid to soften hard direct light and to reduce extreme light-shadow contrasts and annoying reflections. A diffuser for a flash unit (“scrim”) causes the flash light to be scattered (compare: flash methods ).

Diffusers made of white, semi-translucent material are located in front of each light basin ; white shades, plexiglass or glass panes, nylon fabric or even sandwich paper are often used. Depending on the application, however, you should make sure that the diffuser is neutral in color and does not create a color cast in the image.

In underwater photography , diffusers are used in front of lightning to minimize the snow effect (the annoying reflection of tiny particles).

Diffusers are also used in numerous devices with an illuminated display in order to achieve uniform illumination of the display. A classic example of this are measuring devices.

Diffusers are used in enlargers to distribute the light filtered by the color mixing head evenly over the entire film surface.