Best modifiers for AD200

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Dan
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Having ditched my Nikon speedlights for Godox i'm now in the market for some (reasonably priced) light modifiers. I bought a TT685 this week of which i'm very impressed with and have an AD200 on the way. Its just the light and none of the relectors, barn doors etc that some packages come bundled with, so i'll have nothing to modify the light until i buy something.

Currently i have a 26" Westcott rapidbox, a small 30x30 softbox and a standard shoot through brolly. I'm going to have to get an S-type bracket anyway so got me thinking about modifiers for them. I'll probably sell the rapidbox to raise funds as its more geared towards speedlights, although i know you can get the AD200 in there with the right adapter.

I'll mainly be shooting portraits in my small dining room, but looking to do some ocf stuff out and about. Have always wanted to try out a beauty dish so i think i'll get one but not sure what size? Maybe an Octa and a largish softbox too or maybe just one of these? Also want modifiers that comes with grids. I'll probably buy the bog standard accessories like the reflector and barn doors but i'm mainly interested to hear what other modifiers people have used and would recommend or not recommend for the AD200.

Thanks.
 
Well, IMO that beauty dish is too small to be useful in your situation, also the included honeycomb grid is ineffective.
I do feel that a beauty dish is probably a good starting point, but perhaps this one would be better https://www.lencarta.com/studio-lig...iers/s-fit-80cm-white-collapsible-beauty-dish
The interior surface is white, which is much more forgiving when photographing non-professional models, the honeycomb works and it also doubles as a softbox of the same size, which is very handy.

As for barn doors, frankly I wouldn't bother. Many years ago, when we all had to use Redhead and Blonde hotlights, barn doors were just about the only modifiers available, but the ones that are available today are generally too small in the door size department to be useful without modification, and aren't needed anyway, as there are so many other ways available to control the spread of light.
 
The standard reflector and the pop-up BD (as above) are the only things I would attach directly to the AD200's head... maybe the doors, but I don't have them. I recommend them for keeping the setup small/portable.

I have a T-type Bowens adaptor (the lay flat type) that works equally well with the AD360/AD200/speedlights and larger modifiers/metal BD.
 
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Well, IMO that beauty dish is too small to be useful in your situation, also the included honeycomb grid is ineffective.
I do feel that a beauty dish is probably a good starting point, but perhaps this one would be better https://www.lencarta.com/studio-lig...iers/s-fit-80cm-white-collapsible-beauty-dish
The interior surface is white, which is much more forgiving when photographing non-professional models, the honeycomb works and it also doubles as a softbox of the same size, which is very handy.

As for barn doors, frankly I wouldn't bother. Many years ago, when we all had to use Redhead and Blonde hotlights, barn doors were just about the only modifiers available, but the ones that are available today are generally too small in the door size department to be useful without modification, and aren't needed anyway, as there are so many other ways available to control the spread of light.

Appreciate your response Garry, thanks.
I did think it looked quite small and i'm prepared to spend a little more on something decent, so i'll be definitely be having a look at that beauty dish you linked.

Oh and thanks for the tip on the barn doors :)
 
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Thanks for those mate, some of them look good. Especially like the mag mod copies as they are so pricey
 
IMHO the AD200 benefits from being able to fit in a Godox S type bracket designed for speedlights.

My AD200 has so far been used with a brolly, an Octabox and a beauty dish, the latter 2 with a Godox mount.

I wouldn’t dream of buying specific modifiers for the AD200, they’re likely to be style over substance.
 
IMHO the AD200 benefits from being able to fit in a Godox S type bracket designed for speedlights.

My AD200 has so far been used with a brolly, an Octabox and a beauty dish, the latter 2 with a Godox mount.

I wouldn’t dream of buying specific modifiers for the AD200, they’re likely to be style over substance.

Cheers Phil, what size beauty dish if you don't mind me asking? I don't want to buy something to big, but at the same time not too small either and i have no experience in using one to have a judgement .....
 
Cheers Phil, what size beauty dish if you don't mind me asking? I don't want to buy something to big, but at the same time not too small either and i have no experience in using one to have a judgement .....
The Lencarta 80cm folding BD is a very versatile modifier.

I can’t pretend I’ve really made the most of mine as a BD yet.
 
Hi Again Dan

On my AD200 I used to own :(
I used the simple bracket to fit any Bowen’s mount system.

One thing I did like was the wescott Apollo system nice easy umbrella type modifier easy storage and a great light mate
:fuji:
 
I've taken Garry's and Phil's advice and just ordered the 80cm Lencarta beauty dish.

Any tips using on using one, interested to hear from experienced beauty dish users ?
 
There's no short or easy answer to this one.
The 'classic' position for a beauty dish is fairly high above the subject, and directly in line with where the face is pointing - this produces the trademark shadows under the cheekbones. upper lip, chin etc that bring out the best in a model with good bone structure, and the light-to-subject distance is typically around 4 feet.
There are plenty of examples of this kind of lighting in the Lencarta Learning Centre.

But, you can do much more, and you will only learn this by experiment, experience and creative thinking.
 
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