The puffer is one of my new favorite accessories! I got mine on ebay for pretty darn cheap(about $5), and while I don't know how it compares to a more expensive one, I like the results I've gotten so far.
Here's my example:The first one was taken without the puffer, the second with. Both are SOOC, just sharpened for web-the second is actually sharpened a tad more than I like but I am far too lazy right now to go back really trying to get this post done.
I think that the differences are pretty obvious, but I also know that images can look different depending on the web browser you use.
So: The one without the puffer looks more washed out, her skin tone looks very uneven and she has dark shadows under her eyes. The one with looks much warmer, and the dark areas under her eyes are not prominent.
I tried doing this example using one of my son's trucks first because I didn't want to go through the drama of getting MaddieBoo to pose without the drama (strange looks and limb positions that she thinks are cute), but I didn't get the difference I was looking for. So far my experience using the puffer on non-human subjects has led me to believe it's not useful, but of course there is much more experimenting to be had.
For about $5 I save myself some post-process time....works for me. Any thoughts?