Speedlite Beauty Dish

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JennyGW

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Jenny
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Hi all,

I've been looking at one of the Lumodi dishes for a long while:-

http://www.lumodi.com/store/c1/Featured_Products.html

It just bugs me greatly to have to buy one in from the USA, $59 shipping etc.

Does anyone know of a similar product available in the UK, please?

Beauty dish specs: aprox 14", white, with it's own bracket (not direct on flash), with a grid (at least as an option)

The Lumodi and Interfit Strobies seem to be the only Speedlites specifically build for Speedlites. (Products like the Bowen beauty dish are made for studio flash and will not work well with a Speedlite.)

Making a DIY dish is not an option.

Many thanks,
Jenny
 
Robgigphot said:
Hi Jenny,
I have a Lastolite beauty box that achieves the same effect as the Lumodi dish although through a different method and quite a lot cheaper at £100
http://www.lastolite.co.uk/strobo-beautybox-llls2650
Kind regards

Rob
Click to expand...
I wouldn't describe that as a beauty dish, it's more of a Swiss Army Knife, that can make a stab(:)) at doing various different things.

JennyGW said:
Hi all,

I've been looking at one of the Lumodi dishes for a long while:-

http://www.lumodi.com/store/c1/Featured_Products.html

It just bugs me greatly to have to buy one in from the USA, $59 shipping etc.

Does anyone know of a similar product available in the UK, please?

Beauty dish specs: aprox 14", white, with it's own bracket (not direct on flash), with a grid (at least as an option)

The Lumodi and Interfit Strobies seem to be the only Speedlites specifically build for Speedlites. (Products like the Bowen beauty dish are made for studio flash and will not work well with a Speedlite.)

Making a DIY dish is not an option.

Many thanks,
Jenny
Click to expand...
Well, the Bowens, Lencarta or any other real beauty dishes work as well with speedlights as anything else. You just need a S-fit adapter and then plug the gap around the flashgun head with something, scrunched up cooking foil works well. The specific hotshoe flash "beauty dishes" that I've seen are all too small to be useful, and sometimes the wrong shape too.
 
Garry Edwards said:
I wouldn't describe that as a beauty dish, it's more of a Swiss Army Knife, that can make a stab:))) at doing various different things.


Well, the Bowens, Lencarta or any other real beauty dishes work as well with speedlights as anything else. You just need a S-fit adapter and then plug the gap around the flashgun head with something, scrunched up cooking foil works well. The specific hotshoe flash "beauty dishes" that I've seen are all too small to be useful, and sometimes the wrong shape too.
Click to expand...

Hi Garry,

The result using a bd that is not designed for a Speedlite is a massive loss of light and very poor light coverage. A Speedlite projects light forwards, a studio flash is a bare bulb spreading light. I have seen people trying to use studio strobe bd's with Speedlites and the results are a long way short of the Lumodi.

Thanks,
Jenny
 
Garry Edwards said:
I wouldn't describe that as a beauty dish, it's more of a Swiss Army Knife, that can make a stab:))) at doing various different things.
Click to expand...
I didn't , I described it as a beauty box which can achieve the same effect as the Lumodi dish. Which incidentally is very light and portable. I have and Elinchrom beauty dish which I use mainly for studio use but the Lastolite remains in the car for exterior portraits

Kind regards

Rob



 
Robgigphot said:
Hi Jenny,
I have a Lastolite beauty box that achieves the same effect as the Lumodi dish although through a different method and quite a lot cheaper at £100
http://www.lastolite.co.uk/strobo-beautybox-llls2650
Kind regards

Rob
Click to expand...

Hi Rob,

I've just had a look at the Lastolite video. What it shows is a totally standard softbox with a screen in front with a hole cut in it. It's an interesting idea, but rather than spend £100 I'd buy a stand box and put the finally screen in place and have the same set up for a third of the price. The light is traveling through two diffusers instead of being gathered and reflected out, those diffusers cause considerable light loss. I guess a grid could be found for this too. Hmm, I think the Lumodi is still coming out top for ne - but I may well be caught playing with screens for the front of my softbox!

Many thanks,
Jenny
 
JennyGW said:
Hi Garry,

The result using a bd that is not designed for a Speedlite is a massive loss of light and very poor light coverage. A Speedlite projects light forwards, a studio flash is a bare bulb spreading light. I have seen people trying to use studio strobe bd's with Speedlites and the results are a long way short of the Lumodi.

Thanks,
Jenny
Click to expand...
Of course there's a loss of light, and the problem is that there isn't much light to start with... but stuffing the gap with crumbled baking foil changes what would otherwise be a massive loss of light into a loss of light.
 
focs said:
Hi, maybe this will help...

http://roundflash.com
Click to expand...

Really interesting, I've book marked this. Thanks for that links.

I'm leaning towards one of these:-

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Westcott-The-Rapid-Box-26-inches-Octa-/290917151013

to which

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Westcott-Rapid-Box-Deflector-Plate-/230985748606

can be added.

This gives an octobox and beauty dish effect in one unit. Not cheap, but it looks very effective and beats carrying two bits of gear around.
 
I'd want to see some real world results before spending that kind of money, but it looks a good bit of kit.

It'd go brilliant with an atom or similar, although not a cheap set up.
 
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Personally I'd want to see very detailed photos, showing the internal construction, or even better try it out for myself - at the moment all we have is a pretty poor description of what it does.
And for that price, I'd want it to make me a cup of coffee as well, and have a built in satnav and TV set:)
 
Garry Edwards said:
Personally I'd want to see very detailed photos, showing the internal construction, or even better try it out for myself - at the moment all we have is a pretty poor description of what it does.
And for that price, I'd want it to make me a cup of coffee as well, and have a built in satnav and TV set:)
Click to expand...
It's certainly a lot of money, and given the previously discussed limitations of speedlights in BD's I wouldn't be spending it without a bare bulb flash to put in it* and an easy way of fitting it to a studio head too.

*I've just noticed that's exactly what they're using on their own images ;).
 
Just for the record.

I noticed this old thread. I decided against expanding my Speedlite set up and bought strobes. My gut feeling is that beauty dishes are designed to work with strobes.
 
Neil van niekirk uses the wescott, take a look on his site, lots of useful info
 
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