MagMod Kickstarter makes your lighting modifiers magnetic

Attaching a flash modifier can be a tricky business. Either you need a special mount designed specifically for just your flash, or else it's a matter of velcro, elastic, cloth, and a hodge-podge of other materials to get it to stay in place. But the new Kickstarter MagMod is aiming to change all of that, with a magnetic system of mounting flash modifiers — and it's one that will work with almost any strobe.

It's a brilliantly simple concept. There's a MagGrip band which stretches around just about any flash around, and has a pair of rare earth magnets embedded near its front. As the project creators describe it:

First, each modifier attaches to your speedlite by magnetizing to the MagGrip, an elastic, one-size-fits-all band that stretches around almost every professional hot-shoe flash created.  Hallelujah!

We've tested it with some of the biggest flashes, like the Canon 600EX and Nikon SB900.  Even some of the smallest like the Nikon SB600 or an old Sunpack Auto30DX, it's fitment is equally as strong.

Once that's in place, modifiers are simply placed on top, and held in place by the extremely strong neodymium magnets. That means they instantly lock into place, without needing to fiddle with straps and adjustments. And the way the MagMod is designed, you can stack them, too. So you can pick up as many modifiers as you want, and just add them on top of one another until you get the setup that you really love.

At this point, the designers have created two different MagMod filters. There's a flexible silicone honeycomb grid called the MagGrid. Like all flash grids, it serves to focus down the light from your flash into a smaller area. There's also the MagGel kit, which is a housing for hard plastic colored gels. It allows you to stack three to four gels into a single MagGel, and then magnetically mount that on the front of your flash.

If you're intrigued by this concept, it's not overly expensive. The basic MagGrip and MagGrid requires a $55 backing, and then $79 if you want the MagGel kit with six gels as well.

Already successfully funded, the MagMod is expected to ship in February of next year — but as with all Kickstarters, take that with a grain of salt. They tend to take longer than people think.

(via FStoppers)