Rita's puppies at one day old...
I shot this image using this little el-cheapo diffuser http://www.ebay.com/itm/Universal-Cl...wAAOSw3xJXnjBg
I experiment with different types of inexpensive diffusers for flash units. I like this diffuser because it has a reflective surface at the rear and pumps out quite a bit of light forward. Yet, the light is pretty soft. I shot the pups from just a few feet distant ISO: 320, 1/60 second @ f/3.2, using 50mm on a crop sensor camera and 17-55mm f/2.8 IS lens with a Canon 420EX flash...
At less than two U.S. Dollars with shipping, you can't beat the price of this little diffuser that you can carry in your shirt pocket.