7” verses 11” reflector

[ndwgolf]

Is bigger better.
I recently bought a 7” Bowens mount Reflector to use on my Profoto B1 head and had some great results with it. The shop where I bought it has just offered me a 11” version that comes with a 20,40 and 60 degree grids……….. do I need it or are they going to give me pretty much the same results.
We’re talking £33 so not a big chunk of change.

 

[Garry Edwards]

A 20 degree hneycomb can be very useful, you can get them to fit a standard 7" reflector for around £10 from eBay or Temu.

A 11" reflector very slightly further away than a 7" one will give almost identical results, unless it's a really deep one that concentrates the light more effectively and so delivers more effective power.

 

[sk66]

When talking about "bare bulb" it's mostly about what happens at the periphery of the light pattern. Adding honeycombs makes the edges of the circle of light have more rapid falloff/sharper cutoff.

But there are also different designs, some can be designed to cover more area, and some can be more focusing/long throw. For the most part what happens in the center of the light pattern (quality of light) doesn't change much at all; unless we start talking about beauty dish reflectors. That's because once a light is "hard" you can't really make it "harder" (i.e. beyond 5x diameter distance).

 

[ndwgolf]

A 20 degree hneycomb can be very useful, you can get them to fit a standard 7" reflector for around £10 from eBay or Temu.

A 11" reflector very slightly further away than a 7" one will give almost identical results, unless it's a really deep one that concentrates the light more effectively and so delivers more effective power.

So to just get the 3 different sized grids for £33 makes it worth it then. I think I will try it as I can always use the 7" on as a hair/rim light.