Beauty dish Hard or folding

I would say that the ones with 16 ribs are better than the solid metal ones, or at least the affordable ones - the Mola is better, but very expensive.
Most though have only 8 ribs, and personally I don't feel that they should even be described as beauty dishes because the light goes every which way but straight forward :(
 
Garry Edwards said:
I would say that the ones with 16 ribs are better than the solid metal ones, or at least the affordable ones - the Mola is better, but very expensive.
Most though have only 8 ribs, and personally I don't feel that they should even be described as beauty dishes because the light goes every which way but straight forward :(
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what size you think is must useful?
 
Chaz Photos said:
what size you think is must useful?
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Not an easy question, because different people have different needs and different sizes of studio space, but personally I like the 80cm size, available in both silvered and white finishes.
All varieties are available to fit Lencarta/Bowens, Elinchrom and Profoto.
Silver produces a more striking effect, white produces a softer effect, more suited for models who don't have the classic fashion model look/complexion, i.e. it's more forgiving than silver
 
Garry Edwards said:
Not an easy question, because different people have different needs and different sizes of studio space, but personally I like the 80cm size, available in both silvered and white finishes.
All varieties are available to fit Lencarta/Bowens, Elinchrom and Profoto.
Silver produces a more striking effect, white produces a softer effect, more suited for models who don't have the classic fashion model look/complexion, i.e. it's more forgiving than silver
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I understand about white V Silver it was more about the size, guess also how close you get as too far and it have no effect.
 
Chaz Photos said:
I understand about white V Silver it was more about the size, guess also how close you get as too far and it have no effect.
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For a BD it's more precise than with a softbox.
@sk66 did a brilliant post on the light pattern from BD's

Do I'd say if you're accepting that there's an optimal distance the size depends whether you're shooting small or large subjects?

But that could be nonsense.

For the record I'm not certain the folding dish doesn't do exactly the same job as the solid one. But I need to test further.
 
Phil V said:
For a BD it's more precise than with a softbox.
@sk66For the record I'm not certain the folding dish doesn't do exactly the same job as the solid one. But I need to test further.
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A few years ago I remember @Garry Edwards being totally against "folding beauty dishes" however since the introduction of Lencarta's folding beauty dishes he has changed his tune somewhat
Garry Edwards said:
I would say that the ones with 16 ribs are better than the solid metal ones, or at least the affordable ones - the Mola is better, but very expensive.
Most though have only 8 ribs, and personally I don't feel that they should even be described as beauty dishes because the light goes every which way but straight forward :(
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as this coincides with many bringing out a 16 rib as opposed to the old 8 rib the conclusion I reach is that the shape must have changed significantly enough for this to be the case, always been more than happy to accept what he is saying.

Mike
 
mike weeks said:
A few years ago I remember @Garry Edwards being totally against "folding beauty dishes" however since the introduction of Lencarta's folding beauty dishes he has changed his tune somewhat


as this coincides with many bringing out a 16 rib as opposed to the old 8 rib the conclusion I reach is that the shape must have changed significantly enough for this to be the case, always been more than happy to accept what he is saying.

Mike
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Yes, I was against them, because the only ones available at that time weren't beauty dishes, they were basically cheap octa softboxes of the totally wrong shape, fitted with a deflector in the wrong place 8 ribs sent the light off in a variety of different directions, none of which were forward.
In other words, they weren't beauty dishes at all, they were nothing more than dishonest marketing hype.

Then along came the Lencarta ones. More accurately, along came a very good but expensive American one that I happened to see, which gave me ideas, followed by the Lencarta one, and I (and others) put a lot of time into getting the shape, materials and focus right.
These pretend beauty dishes, sold under a variety of different names including a "Premium" and very expensive brand, are still around of course, and although there are now a number of 16-rib copies of the Lencarta one, looking at them (haven't tested any of them) I would say that they are still the wrong shape.
 
Garry Edwards said:
Yes, I was against them, because the only ones available at that time weren't beauty dishes, they were basically cheap octa softboxes of the totally wrong shape, fitted with a deflector in the wrong place 8 ribs sent the light off in a variety of different directions, none of which were forward.
In other words, they weren't beauty dishes at all, they were nothing more than dishonest marketing hype.

Then along came the Lencarta ones. More accurately, along came a very good but expensive American one that I happened to see, which gave me ideas, followed by the Lencarta one, and I (and others) put a lot of time into getting the shape, materials and focus right.
These pretend beauty dishes, sold under a variety of different names including a "Premium" and very expensive brand, are still around of course, and although there are now a number of 16-rib copies of the Lencarta one, looking at them (haven't tested any of them) I would say that they are still the wrong shape.
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I have an aluminium diffuser panel that I made for a solid Calumet dish, but I'm very interested in the folder from Lencarta. I don't suppose you could tell me the hole centres on the two strut supports that hold the reflector? I'll let me know whether I need to hit the CNC machine again, or if I can modify my existing reflector assembly
 
Chaz Photos said:
I understand about white V Silver it was more about the size, guess also how close you get as too far and it have no effect.
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If a BD was truly parabolic distance would make no difference on the effect, but I've never seen one that was. And the size of a BD does not really equate to the optimal distance, just the area of coverage. Really, the only way of determining patterns/distances is with testing of a specific setup, and it might require some experimentation to optimize it... they can be quite finicky.
 
Denyerec said:
I have an aluminium diffuser panel that I made for a solid Calumet dish, but I'm very interested in the folder from Lencarta. I don't suppose you could tell me the hole centres on the two strut supports that hold the reflector? I'll let me know whether I need to hit the CNC machine again, or if I can modify my existing reflector assembly
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I have the 80 cm and 120 cm versions and, on both, the hole centers are 16 cm apart.(I just measured them. :) )
 
Graham W said:
I have the 80 cm and 120 cm versions and, on both, the hole centers are 16 cm apart.(I just measured them. :) )
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Thanks Graham! Did you use solid dishes at any point and replace them with these, or did you go straight to the collapsible units ?
 
Denyerec said:
I have an aluminium diffuser panel that I made for a solid Calumet dish, but I'm very interested in the folder from Lencarta. I don't suppose you could tell me the hole centres on the two strut supports that hold the reflector? I'll let me know whether I need to hit the CNC machine again, or if I can modify my existing reflector assembly
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Well, the (only:) ) downside of being retired is that I can no longer answer these questions - but fortunately Graham has done it for me.
 
Denyerec said:
Thanks Graham! Did you use solid dishes at any point and replace them with these, or did you go straight to the collapsible units ?
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I do have a solid dish but, to be honest, I don't feel qualified to offer a comparison.I do,however, recognize a high build quality when I see it and these have it in bucket loads. They come with double difusers and a grid so they are really versatile.
The holdall they are supplied in is to the same build standard..
 
Graham W said:
I do have a solid dish but, to be honest, I don't feel qualified to offer a comparison.I do,however, recognize a high build quality when I see it and these have it in bucket loads. They come with double difusers and a grid so they are really versatile.
The holdall they are supplied in is to the same build standard..
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That's good to hear, as I don't have a studio and am on location when I shoot, stuff gets put up and torn down very very regularly, much more so than studio shooter kit. I have some Rotalux kit (Going strong) and some Bessel kit that has fallen apart after maybe just 2 years on the road!
 
Denyerec said:
That's good to hear, as I don't have a studio and am on location when I shoot, stuff gets put up and torn down very very regularly, much more so than studio shooter kit. I have some Rotalux kit (Going strong) and some Bessel kit that has fallen apart after maybe just 2 years on the road!
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Can you imagine a 120 cm solid beauty dish? How would you transport it and where would you keep it? :)
 
Solid. The fold up ones are pretty much just an octa box.

A beauty dish is a beauty dish.

Down side is portability. That said I will still take an actual beauty dish if I want beauty dish light.

I have just changed my beauty dish from a Lencarta 16" white to a Pixapro 21.5" white because I felt the 16" was too small and had too much contrast, this surprised me because I normally prefer a harder light source. I also have a 27" Silver Lencarta dish which is great if you want more output and a more spectacular light but it does not see as much use as the white.
 
Graham W said:
I see you're in Leicester. If you can get to Derby you're very welcome to pop over and have a go.
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Might well take you up on that, I'm short on photography contacts in the area, and it'd be interesting to put the solid and folding dishes head to head.
 
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