DIY: 580EX and 580EXII Color Gels Printing Diagram

580Ex DIY:Color Gels Printing Diagram

Starting out today I will make a full post of the diagram and conception for the gels and how to attach them to your Canon 580EX and now for the 580EXII flash.


There are several ways you can do this and here is another.

You can get this printing pdf diagram for the 580Ex here and for the 580ExII (New) here.

With this print you then can cut your color gels as illustrated on the next DIY color gels next shots.

580Ex & 580ExII DIY:Color Gels_01


After you print the diagram onto some paper then it's time to match it with the color gel as you can see in the picture.



580Ex & 580ExII DIY:Color Gels_02



Cut it with a nice scissors :)





580Ex & 580ExII DIY:Color Gels_03


With the help of the ruler fold the upper part of the diagram with the gel underneath it. You can use a ruler behind to force it a little.



580Ex & 580ExII DIY:Color Gels_04



There you go. Now you got the gel shaped and ready to put into the 580EX or 580EXII.




580Ex & 580ExII DIY:Color Gels_05


Final product shot.
You can use different colors if you like ;)





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P.S. - I also have another version that I have attached them, to the flash, with some Velcro... I leave it up to you on what will suit you best and more be more practical.

If you have any assembly shots for the Nikon let me know so I can link to them.

Stay tuned for more stuff.

P.S. - A BIG Thank you to Thomas Reufer that mention it first at dforum.net

18 comments:

Matt Mitgang said...

Any info on where I could get a template for the Nikon SB-800 flash?

Firkin said...

great idea - where can I buy the gels from?

Anonymous said...

Nice idea,

Do you have one available for a 550ex?

Cheers

ruimleal said...

Hello Matt,

sorry but no info on the SB-800 if I get some I will let you know and post it here.

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Hi Chris,

you can get the gels from the link on the right side of the blog it's called Musikhaus Thomann (Lee Filters & Spannflex)

Anonymous said...

Brilliant! I was looking for a way to avoid velcro...

Glad you started the site.

Ryan R. Dlugosz said...

Hey - just found your site from the strobist link & am catching up on all your older posts.

Great stuff here - do you have problems with it falling out? I typically just tape the gels with gaffer tape, but this definitely looks a lot more slick!

Anonymous said...

great!!

but, are you worried about melting the gel to the strobe? it looks very close to the glas :/

Anonymous said...

Here's an idea for the SB800 template. Trace around one of the gels that came with your SB800 and cut out the transfered image.

Anonymous said...

Great idea! Just tried it out. Another quick tip is to laminate your gels to stiffen them up. I use a laminator I got for €10, works great, gels last much longer.
Keep blogging:)
Steve.

Tony said...

Nice! I'm gonna do this with My gels. Do You have a template for the 430EX also?

Tony said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Tony said...

Nice! I'm gonna do this with My gels. Do You have a template for the 430EX also?

Tony said...

That would be awesome if You had one for the 430EX also

Vladimir said...

Here's i made for 430ex: http://www.3fonov.ru/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/430ex_diy_priting_diagram.pdf
I'll post your links in my russian cross-post: http://www.3fonov.ru/2008/09/cut-gels/

ruimleal said...

Vladimir,

thank you for the links and great work you got there.

Rui

Anonymous said...

Is there any interest in having these gels professionally die cut and perforated along the fold line? I have the capability to do this and sell the gels custom fit to the 580EX II if there is enough interest.

Jeff Lynch
Serious Amateur Photography
http://jefflynchdev.wordpress.com

BSP said...

http://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-Photography-Gels/

print this on transparency sheets at office max or wherever has a laser printer...works pefectly

Anonymous said...

This is exactly what I was looking for. Thanks!