Speedlights with beauty dish

Marcus Geezer

Marcus Geezer

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I'm trying to nail a lighting style, and it would seem the only way I'm gonna do it is using a beauty dish. I've tried and tried with my strobist brolly, softbox and brollybox attachments but to no success, seeming that a beauty dish is the way forward.

I'm not in a position to invest in mains lighting yet so I need to get a Bowens S-type adaptor and then looking at probably the Lencarta beauty dish to use my 430EX and my 580EXII flahsguns in.


Ideally want to use the 70cm, but will I have problems limited by the comparitively minimal output power of a flashgun?

Also, white or silver?
 
Limited power could force you to up the ISO, but you should be able to manage OK - beauty dishes are typically used close, so they don't lose a lot of light over distance.

Get a silver beauty dish for max striking effect if you shoot models with perfect skin - get white if they're only nearly perfect:)
 
Garry Edwards said:
Limited power could force you to up the ISO, but you should be able to manage OK - beauty dishes are typically used close, so they don't lose a lot of light over distance.

Get a silver beauty dish for max striking effect if you shoot models with perfect skin - get white if they're only nearly perfect:)
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Thank you Garry. White I think it will be!
 
Isnt the 'beauty' of the dish the characteristic wok bowl shape being used to focus and soften the light? This looks more like a cone?

EDIT. One day I will be buying a 3 or 4 head mains powered system and buying s-type fitting gear means I'm only buying once so to speak. If I buy a strobist product then when I go to mains I'll have to buy again.
 
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Marcus Geezer said:
Isnt the 'beauty' of the dish the characteristic wok bowl shape being used to focus and soften the light? This looks more like a cone?
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Yes, that's my point.
 
Marcus - you certainly can - I have a cracking 70cm beauty dish with elinchrom fitting that I bought off ebay for about £70 but, it's not collapsible and it's not circular anymore having been caught by the wind a couple of times.
 
Thanks everyone for your time to post up.

Quick question then. Would it be fair to say a 40cm dish is good for head and shoulders, and a 70cm for full length shots? Or do they produce different characteristic lighting?

I ask as my target shots are beauty dish above with two rim lights which would be anything from a head shot to full length portraits. Would rather not spend on a 70cm if I only need to buy a 40cm.
 
I think that personal preference comes into it - and size, because the 70cm seems to be A LOT bigger and heavier than the 40cm version...

Yes, the 40m one is pretty well limited to head shots, because if it has to be moved back to light a larger area then the light becomes much harder. The 70cm version is more versatile and can still produce reasonably soft lighting at a greater distance.
 
Marcus Geezer said:
Thanks Garry. Based upon me using a strobist bracket and konig stand do you think a 70cm might be too much from a weight point of view?
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No weight problem with the Lencarta Strobist bracket, but I don't know whether that's the one you want to buy...
And I feel that most weights are too much for the Konig stands:'(
 
What kind of light are you looking for Marcus? Any examples of what you're looking to achieve? Maybe a smaller 40cm would suffice? I much prefer a smaller dish but then I prefer harder light, I had the 44cm Elinchrom minisoft, lovely BD, though just bought something better to replace it, thanks Garry ;)

Your weight concerns may be justified, especially if you ever want to add a grid for it, and IMO that's when they really shine :)

Totally irrelevant though depending on what you want to shoot, lol

Regards

Danny
 
Marcus Geezer said:
Thanks Garry. Based upon me using a strobist bracket and konig stand do you think a 70cm might be too much from a weight point of view?
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It's not the weight as such, it's that the Konig stands have quite a small footprint so any weight that's not directly on top is more likely to pull them off balance.

I love those little Konigs for a lot of things simply because there's less chance of tripping over the legs and they're very light to transport, but if you want something larger, then the big Lencarta stands I used recently are really excellent. Not that heavy but seriously beefy and with a wider spread than you'll get for double the money elsewhere.
 
Also worth looking at is the viewfinder collapsible strobist octobox, it has a central diffuser and used without the outer baffle behaves exactly like a bd, folds like a brolly and a lovely bit of kit, still wouldn't be without my 2 dishes and agree that grids are worth the investment.
 
Mahoneyd187 said:
What kind of light are you looking for Marcus? Any examples of what you're looking to achieve? Maybe a smaller 40cm would suffice? I much prefer a smaller dish but then I prefer harder light, I had the 44cm Elinchrom minisoft, lovely BD, though just bought something better to replace it, thanks Garry ;)

Your weight concerns may be justified, especially if you ever want to add a grid for it, and IMO that's when they really shine :)

Totally irrelevant though depending on what you want to shoot, lol

Regards

Danny
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I've been scratching my head for nearly a year now trying to use brollies, softboxes, brolly boxes to get a directional yet soft light, in an effort to re-create the look I see with a beauty dish, but to no avail. I think the bottom line is, I need to get a beauty dish to see if that is the missing link, if it isnt, then the fault is user-error and I need to deepen my understanding and technique of lighting.

I use a strobist kit which is great for ease and so far the recharge and power limitations have not caused me problems, but I know that I'm beginning to try and use my strobist to achieve certain lighting, and I think I'm failing. When my slowly but surely growing part time business justifies it, I will invest in a pro 3 or 4 head mains powered lighting and will get the strip gridded softboxes and other modifiers that arent typically available to a strobist setup.

Thanks everyone else for your time to post up!
 
Marcus Geezer said:
I've been scratching my head for nearly a year now trying to use brollies, softboxes, brolly boxes to get a directional yet soft light, in an effort to re-create the look I see with a beauty dish, but to no avail. I think the bottom line is, I need to get a beauty dish to see if that is the missing link, if it isnt, then the fault is user-error and I need to deepen my understanding and technique of lighting.

I use a strobist kit which is great for ease and so far the recharge and power limitations have not caused me problems, but I know that I'm beginning to try and use my strobist to achieve certain lighting, and I think I'm failing. When my slowly but surely growing part time business justifies it, I will invest in a pro 3 or 4 head mains powered lighting and will get the strip gridded softboxes and other modifiers that arent typically available to a strobist setup.

Thanks everyone else for your time to post up!
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You're right. Good as Strobist lighting can be in some situations, there's no substitute for having studio flash with its fast recycling, adequate power, powerful modelling lamp and removable reflector. And despite what some people say, I haven't personally found any 'substitute' for a beauty dish that's anything like the real thing
 
Marcus Geezer said:
I've been scratching my head for nearly a year now trying to use brollies, softboxes, brolly boxes to get a directional yet soft light, in an effort to re-create the look I see with a beauty dish, but to no avail. I think the bottom line is, I need to get a beauty dish to see if that is the missing link, if it isnt, then the fault is user-error and I need to deepen my understanding and technique of lighting.

I use a strobist kit which is great for ease and so far the recharge and power limitations have not caused me problems, but I know that I'm beginning to try and use my strobist to achieve certain lighting, and I think I'm failing. When my slowly but surely growing part time business justifies it, I will invest in a pro 3 or 4 head mains powered lighting and will get the strip gridded softboxes and other modifiers that arent typically available to a strobist setup.

Thanks everyone else for your time to post up!
Click to expand...

Edit: crossed post with Garry LOL :D

If you're learning and trying to create a particular effect, you really need a modelling light. It'll save you weeks of messing about. Suggest you get one studio head, use it as the main light, before splashing out on a beauty dish.

TBH I don't get all the fuss about BDs as if they've got some magical quality. I've not got one anymore, and never used it when I did. They're just a big round light with a slightly harder core, that spills light everywhere - bit like a silver brolly. That's not to say they aren't any good, far from it, but the difference is relatively subtle.

That's by the by though. If you're serious about lighting, get a studio head :thumbs:
 
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Hoppy and Garry thank you for your posts, differing slightly regarding the BD which is interesting as I respect both your views regarding lighting very highly. For the moment I'm to stick with the strobist gear and try out a strobist to s-type shoe for a 40cm BD after the Xmas money pit period is over. I want to see what the fuss is all about, (or not).

Modelling lamps! Being purely strobist I would consider that an absolute luxury. When budget allows I'm gonna get at least 3 pro level lights in one hit with preferred modifiers. I aint gonna mess around getting it in bits and bobs.
 
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