Got a Mola Demi? Would you do me a small favor?

I'd very much like to see what the light pattern thrown against a white wall/backdrop by a Mola Demi looks like. There's an active thread over on FM that has aroused my interest. Specifically, I'm curious if the Mola dish projects the same ring pattern produced by the Speedotron 22" dish. This is what you get from the Speedotron dish with the stock central diffuser and with an opaque central diffuser:

Dave it seems your getting no love, i would have liked to see where you were going with this

FJ LOVE wrote in post #12256355
Dave it seems your getting no love, i would have liked to see where you were going with this

I'm gettin' ZERO love And after all I've contributed to this forum (I'm hoping laying on some guilt might help).

Several highly negative comments about the Speedotron dish were posted in this thread:

http://www.fredmiranda​.com/forum/topic/10011​27

Someone even posted one of Rob's images to make the point that the Speedo dish is inferior to the Mola. However, no one posted a similar image produced using the Demi so making a fair comparison wasn't possible.

I'd just like to see if the Mola Demi generates the same bright donut pattern as the Speedotron or if it's pattern of illumination is "smoother" as claimed over on FM. That's all.

Dave F.

i would assume it's true just based on the central diffusion being the screen instead of an opaque material, but what do i know, that's why we need the comparison right

You might want to ask Kacey if he has time....I'd be curious how his dish is as well...

Wow, I'm surprised you're not getting a response with an image, Dave.

You're asking all the questions that I've been asking myself recently.

Dave,
I can send you my test Dummy I mean Demi... I assume you would want Chimera/Eli mount attached?
PM me and we an work out the details. It will take me a few days to get it ready because I'm waiting on some Chimera inserts. Your welcome to use it for a while.
How's that for love?

^^ Pretty lovely.

kenyee wrote in post #12256514
You might want to ask Kacey if he has time....I'd be curious how his dish is as well...

Since I'm a manufacturer I do not want to get into any testing or comparison. I own just about every quality dish made and all of my research is HIGHLY CLASSIFIED
I will offer this test image of our dish on a thunder gray background. One thing to keep in mind is by adjusting the elevation of the center diffuser you can greatly alter the pattern.

J Kacey wrote in post #12257243
Since I'm a manufacturer I do not want to get into any testing or comparison. I own just about every quality dish made and all of my research is HIGHLY CLASSIFIED
I will offer this test image of our dish on a thunder gray background. One thing to keep in mind is by adjusting the elevation of the center diffuser you can greatly alter the pattern.

nice of you to help out Jerry, and judging from the differences between your dish and Dave's, there is going to be some tinkering going on

J Kacey wrote in post #12257243
Since I'm a manufacturer I do not want to get into any testing or comparison. I own just about every quality dish made and all of my research is HIGHLY CLASSIFIED
I will offer this test image of our dish on a thunder gray background. One thing to keep in mind is by adjusting the elevation of the center diffuser you can greatly alter the pattern.

That is some beautifully smooth light

RX600 with Mola Demi with stock Perforated Aluminum Diffuser

metered with Sekonic at f/16 and shot at f/16

I don't have a wall open enough for your test but when I originally got mine and tested it I got a nice drop off toward the edges of about a half stop and looked like Jerry's pattern.

It does depend where you place the diffuser. On the Molas you can choose what type and how far away. My big deal especially with table top is that I often pan (feather) the light so far over that I use the edge of the reflector to cut the edge of the light off. I know that's why I went with the satin glass dome on the Elinchrom strobe and the opal glass. This works out best for me but if I take the Demi outside, I may switch to the PAD because I'llmbe pointing it straight at the person and want the extra snap.

If you use Profoto I think you can move the bulb in and out which will focus and spread the light from the Mola.

The pattern from the Speedotron must have something wrong in the way it's set up!

Dave,

I'm not in the habit of doing test shots with my dishes against plain walls but still I'm sure my speedotron doesn't project that ring pattern. Looks like the deflector needs to be moved in a bit and/or a diferent insert used. Possible the distance to background is not ideal too, this dead spot in the centre will appear with any beauty dish if it's too close to the subject.

I know it's natural to be curious about the molas given their pricetags and the hype about them but these wall-shots really don't tell you much worth knowing.

J Kacey wrote in post #12257243
I will offer this test image of our dish on a thunder gray background. One thing to keep in mind is by adjusting the elevation of the center diffuser you can greatly alter the pattern.

Thanks, Kacey. I was wondering how your dish worked compared to the others as well. Appreciate you putting up the photo.

FWIW, I still think this Speedo thing is a non issue. I've used mine in lots of shoots and never noticed rings in the final image...

p.s., I see a ring halfway through the image of the Mola Demi w/ perforated deflector. And those support lines are ugly. Doubt you'll see it when used on a person though...