|
Forums >
Photography Talk >
Another Grid question
There was another grid topic where many of you posted examples. It was mentioned how grids direct your light. I have a Speedotron 22" beauty dish, and before I go out and spend $180 on the grid, I would like to ask...If I could make a simple snoot out of black poster board, and gaffer tape it around my BD, what would be the difference between that and the grid. I also have a diffusion sock for my BD. If I put this on along with the homemade snoot, how would this differ from the grid. If there would be a definite fall-off in light "quality" I would definitely get the grid. ps to Stephen Eastwood(hope you see this)- Stephen, you said you attached a mirror to the small center reflector of your Speedo BD. Since the original is translucent, and you now have an opaque mirror, do you get a more intense light or softer on your subject. I was thinking of crinkling up some tin foil and wrapping it where you put the mirror, have you ever tried this, and if so how did you like the effect. Thanks, Jon. Jan 02 08 10:51 pm Link A grid will give you a gradated circle of light (with brighter center) where the snoot is going to give you a very hot circle of light with a hard outer edge. Two different affects. Jan 02 08 10:57 pm Link The point of a 22inch beauty dish is to have a large light source. Making a snoot for it would be somewhat pointless in my mind. Let's say you want similar results to a 20 degree grid. An "equivalent" snoot would have to be 22 inches around, the same as the dish, and five feet long. A 10 degree equivalent would have to be 10 feet long. Even if you made one, you couldn't get the same effect because you would be so limited by how far away the light would be at it's very minimum. To me, what a beauty dish with a grid does that a snoot can't is keep the light at a specific spread without requiring a great distance between the light source and the subject thereby allowing you to achieve a softer shadow while maintaining control over the spread. Jan 03 08 12:22 am Link I have the same BD and the honey comb grid and its great, you wont get the same affect with a home made snoot so if you intend on creating images that require the "grid affect" you should invest and buy it. Jan 03 08 12:44 am Link It looks like I'm ordering my grid tomorrow. I suspected that the quality of light would suffer, and that is most important. Thanks for the replies. Jan 03 08 01:02 am Link I use the Speedo grid on my Hensel dish, a tight controlled beam, if that's what you're after. There's no real alternative to a grid for a 22" dish. Think I paid around $150 from B&H for the grid 2-3 months ago. Maybe less. Jan 03 08 01:35 am Link I use a speedotron grid on my AB dish... I rarely take it off!!! (the grid that is....) Jan 03 08 02:12 am Link Rich Meade wrote: How do you get it to fit on? I have to tape mine on Jan 03 08 02:14 am Link Rich Meade wrote: Are you talking about this one? Jan 03 08 02:30 am Link It just snaps right over the top! its got 2 clips on either side, just like a tupperwear bowl. (well not exactly) maybe they have re-designed it.. I just got mine like 3 months ago. I think 35degrees is perfect its actually tighter than you would expect, .. if I need anything tighter I just move it closer to the model. on this image, I had the dish around 10 feet from the model:  Jan 03 08 02:36 am Link I ordered the 22" grid this afternoon. Used my local professional camera store, and got it for $165. Jan 03 08 05:38 pm Link I don't have an image to post but I bought a grid for florescent lights ( about 24 x 48) at the home depot, cut it slightly larger than my beauty dish, painted it black ( it was silver) and attached it with velcro tabs on the edge. It directs the light beautifully and cost 15 bucks. grids are about 1/2" squares . If you wanted more directional, cut another piece and overlap the other squares slightly. Jan 03 08 08:48 pm Link DeVaul Photography wrote: the grid will be more directional and less spread and a slightly different effect to the light, the grid is worth more than the dish and is priced becasue people know that. Jan 03 08 08:52 pm Link Rich Meade wrote: I do not think speedotron has ever redesigned anything ever. Jan 03 08 08:55 pm Link When I first got the BD. I was testing it out on my son. I kept getting that hot spot on his forehead. I posted the shots on the Fred Miranda site and asked about the hot spot. I was given all kinds of advice from PS to make-up(my son would never stand for that). I thought about using a polarizer, but the mirror idea sounds great. Jan 03 08 09:56 pm Link DeVaul Photography wrote: Luckily you did not get the use a softbox type of advice. LOL Jan 03 08 09:58 pm Link What about using blackwrap to direct the light? And Stephen, how is the grid different than flagging? Jan 03 08 10:01 pm Link Star wrote: I'm not Stephen, but the blackwrap idea is essentially the homemade poster board snoot, which as somebody pointed out is a different effect. Flagging is simply blocking light from hitting something in frame. The grid essentially turns a big light into a bunch of little lights to create a narrow beam. Jan 03 08 10:05 pm Link blackwrap would do nothing more than flagging, to keep it more direct the grid actually redirects the lightwaves in a more directional way so its a tighter control and more directional wave, the wrap would only keep the stray light from leaking out the edges but the light would still travel at angles outward from the dish making a different quality of light and much different spread. The spread is controllable with enough flags either around the light or around the subject, but the quality of light is not the same, you could all try this with any reflector and grid of any size you have to see the effects only smaller scale and see if its worth the money or not. For me everything I own short of an umbrella, fresnel, lightstick, and the obscure globe or glowing object has a grid, octoboxes, octobanks, strips, lightbars, reflectors, softboxes, etc. Personally I feel that a BD without a grid is nothing more than a umbrella in light quality and characteristic, only cost a lot more and weighs far more and dents much easier than an umbrealla. Stephen Eastwood http://www.StephenEastwood.com Jan 03 08 10:10 pm Link |
