Manglesphoto Loc: 70 miles south of St.Louis

The easiest and cheapest is a layer or three of Kleenex and a rubber band and the same for my SB800 for macro/close-up

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

Go to a pharmacy or that dept. in a grocery store, and get a roll of white gauze bandage. Cut off a strip of that and use a rubber band to hold it over the flash tube. Add or subtract layers for more or less diffusion. This also prevents the flash from over-powering close subjects. With tiny subjects, the gauze covered flash head is like a giant softbox in the sky. Plus it's cheap, easy to use and takes up almost no room to store in a camera back.

I almost never use a built-in flash and certainly wouldn't use one for close up work. The lens will block part of the light emitted by the flash and cause a harsh shadow. You would need some sort of complex light redirection to get around that and it would constantly need to be adjusted. Why bother? just use an accessory flash instead.

I used standard flash similar to the SB600 all the time for close-up work, diffusing them and reducing their output with the gauze bandage trick described above. I also use an off-camera shoe cord and either hand hold the flash or, when stationary subjects allow, put it on a bracket that allows me to position the flash as needed.

Here is my rig using the gauze trick (100mm macro lens):



And here are some images made using that rig:

Besperus Loc: Oregon

Styrofoam cup.

kemert

Cool idea! I never thought of that. Thanks!

John N Loc: HP14 3QF Stokenchurch, UK

Tissues and an elastic band is probably the quickest easiest way. Or if you don't mind cleaning it of afterwards a smear of vaseline over the flash lens.

Architect1776 Loc: In my mind

Plain printer paper.
Try different thicknesses.
Also if your flash has power settings like Canon flashes do, set different power settings on it to see what effects occur..
I do that all the time for closeups.

mundy-F2 Loc: Chicago suburban area

I used tissue paper with a little tape. It works fine and if you are using thin paper, you can double it up in thickness if needed. Using a lite pastel pink can add a little color blush to skin tones. Works in a pinch when shooting film.
Mundy

awesome14 Loc: UK

I use one of these: https://www.amazon.com/LumiQuest-SoftScreen-Flash-Diffuser-Neon/dp/B0777X1WM2