Safari DSLR Pop-Up Flash Booster

Greatly Extend the Power of Your On-Camera Flash

The Safari DSLR Pop-Up Flash Booster by ExpoImaging is an optically engineered lens that’s designed to make your camera’s pop-up flash up to 8x brighter. Molded from rugged polycarbonate materials, the Safari simply slides into your camera’s hot shoe. Once in place, just pop open your flash, which will now fire through the magnifying lens.

The Safari is designed to use with lenses greater than 100mm at distances greater than 20′. According to ExpoImaging, the Safari will boost your flash by 8x between 30′ and 50′. It’s compatible with mid-level Canon APS-C and Nikon DX DSLR cameras, but a version that’s compatible with full-frame cameras may be available in the future.

We tested the Safari on a Nikon D70 with a Sigma 100–300mm f/4 lens. With a little force it fits snugly in the hot shoe and stays securely in place. Starting around 20′, the Safari produces nice, even light from side to side. Anything closer, though, will be too bright. In those cases, you’ll have to adjust the flash compensation on your camera. Compared to the bare on-camera flash, images taken with the Safari are much brighter and more pleasing from distances ranging between 20′ and 50′. At around 55′, the brightness was about the same as the bare flash at 20′. The bare flash couldn’t even touch the subject at that distance.

Of course, because Safari is sitting in the hot shoe, it still has all the downfalls of on-camera flash—namely, harsh shadows and red eye. But if you shoot a lot with a long lens in low light or heavy shadows, the Safari is a lightweight, easy-to-use solution that will chase away the shadows and bring light to your subjects.

Company: ExpoImaging, Inc.
Price: $34.95
Web: www.expoimaging.com
Rating: 4
Hot: Exposes distant subjects; rugged
Not: Still on-camera flash; not collapsible for storage; no FX version