Digital Camera World Verdict
The Rogue Round Flash Kit is great for anyone who wants to get a bit more creative, or to capture more attractive images with flashguns or strobes that have a round head. It’s easy to use and effective. The Rogue Flash Adapter extends the kit’s use to flash units with rectangular heads, but make sure you buy the correct size for your strobe.
Pros
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Available in two sizes (Standard and Small)
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Suitable for round or rectangular flash heads
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Magnets make it quick and easy to swap modifiers
Cons
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Rogue PF Adapter (£37.6/$34.95) required for the Profoto A1, A1X, and A10.
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The colored gels are a little fiddly to handle
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Only 3 gels in the kit
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ExpoImaging is perhaps best known for creating the Rogue FlashBender, but it also produces a collection of round magnetic flash modifiers that are quick and easy to use. Paired with the Rogue Flash Adapter, which is available in Standard or Small size, the circular modifiers can also be used on flashguns/strobes with a rectangular head.
The Rogue Round Flash Kit is sold by itself or with the Rogue Flash Adapter. It’s also possible to buy the components of the Round Flash Kit separately.
Specifications
Kit includes: Rogue Flash Diffuser Dome, Rogue Flash Gel Lens, Rogue Flash Grid 45, Rogue Flash Adapter (Size: Standard), 3-Gel Starter Set, Storage Pouch
Compatible with: Godox (V1, R100, and HR200 head for AD200), Geekoto (GT 250, GTR) and Westcott FJ80, the Standard Rogue Flash Adapter fits most flashes including Canon Speedlite 580EX, 600EX, Nikon Speedlight Nikon SB700, SB910, Sony F45, F60, Godox TT685, V860, Metz 52 AF1, Nissin Di700A, MG10, Yongnuo 685 and other similar-sizes flash
Mount: Magnetic
Material: polycarbonate, flash diffuser dome soft semi-translucent white silicone
Key Features
The Rogue Round Flash Kit contains a Rogue Flash Diffuser Dome, Flash Gel Lens, Flash Grid 45 and 3-Gel Starter Set and a Storage Pouch - all you need to control, soften or (in some cases) colour balance light from a flashgun with a round head. It’s directly compatible with Godox (V1, R100, and HR200 head for AD200), Geekoto (GT 250, GTR) and Westcott FJ80 flash units while a Rogue PF Adapter (£34.80/$34.95) is required with the Profoto A1, A1X and A10.
The modifiers attach directly to the directly compatible round heads via magnetic attraction but the Profoto heads need help from the PF Adapter.
Thanks to the inclusion of the standard-sized Rogue Flash Adapter, the magnetic modifiers can be used on compatible rectangular flashguns/strobes such as the Canon Speedlite 580EX, 600EX, Nikon Speedlight SB700, SB910, Godox TT685, V860, Metz 52 AF1, Nissin Di700A, MG10, Sony F45, F60 and Yongnuo 685, or other similarly-sized units. The small Rogue Flash Adapter is designed for use on smaller flashes such as the Canon 430EX, Nikon (SB600, SB800), Godox TT350, Nissin (i40, i60A) and Sony F32.
Once the Adapter is mounted on the flash, the modifiers can be snapped on and off the flash in the same way as they can on round flashes.
Build & Handling
Overall, the Rogue Round Flash Kit and Rogue Flash Adapter look and feel well made. Depending upon the size of your flash, the Flash Adapter can take a bit of stretching and wriggling to fit on a rectangular strobe, but it’s not a major workout. Similarly, the magnets do a good job of holding the modifiers in place, so they’re not knocked off easily, but they’re also not a struggle to remove.
Conveniently, ExpoImaging supplies a simple drawstring pouch with the Round Flash Kit to keep all the components together, and it doesn’t take up much room in your bag.
If you want to adjust the colour of the flash, the first step is to attach the Flash Gel Lens. Like the modifiers, this doesn’t take much lining up as the magnets usually pull it into the correct position. Then you can put any required gel(s) on the lens followed by the grid and/or the Diffuser Dome. If you don’t want to use a gel, the grid and/or diffuser can be attached directly to the flash (or via the Flash Adapter in the case of rectangular flashes).
Performance
As well as being easy to use, the Rogue Round Flash Kit and Rogue Flash Adapter do their job very well. The diffuser dome softens light effectively, spreading it more evenly across the frame and making shadows less harsh.
Although the dome is white, I found that it makes images slightly warmer when shooting with the Sony A7R V set to Auto White Balance mode than when it’s not used.
The grid does a good job of reducing the light-spill and making the light from a flashgun more directional, so it can be targeted effectively and there’s rapid fall-off.
As there are just three gels in the kit (1/2 CTO 5700K to 3500K, Cotton Candy Pink and Blue Steel) the colour options are quite limited. However, they make a good introduction and there are plenty more available on the Rogue website.
Verdict
Magnets make the Rogue Round Flash Kit very easy to use on round-head flashguns and strobes while the Rogue Flash Adapter only requires a little more effort to use them on rectangular flash heads. The standard size adapter fits most large or pro-level strobes while the small size is suitable for smaller units.
The soft, squishy diffuser dome performs well, softening the light and generally making images more attractive. Some photographers may want to keep on their flash all the time. Meanwhile, the grid enables a more dramatic look and the gels offer the opportunity to inject some creative colour.
Read more: find out more about the best flashgun or strobe in our guide as well as the best flash diffusers, softboxes and modifiers.
