Soft Box vs. Beauty Dish

Hey Guys,

I have been using some softboxes (both a Dlite 4 Kit with 60" octobox, and a 36" softbox), and shoot through umbrellas with the canon speedlites for a while now. One thing I have not tried out is a beauty dish. I see that beauty dish thread, and a lot of those shots, the light looks absolutely amazing.

What are the differences between a softbox and beauty dish? Is it just the shape, falloff, ect? Or is the beauty dish more harsh lighting or pleasant? Sorry I am a total noob, and my flash book doesnt cover this topic (unless im completely not seeing it)

What difference yous ee between your 36" softbox shots and 60" octa? Also have you tried Sb without front panel?

bobbyz wrote in post #12336250
What difference yous ee between your 36" softbox shots and 60" octa? Also have you tried Sb without front panel?

I see a big difference when shooting full body/motorcycle shots. The 36" just doesnt spread the light enough. I do have to bump up the power on the Dlite kits though when using the octobox, but its essential for what I do.

I have tried without the front panel, but the bare bulb shots are harsher then I like

The difference is size of light. What i mean by this is its like having the 24" softbox vs the 50" softbox. Smaller the light source, the harder the light is. So the 24" will be soft of the face but isnt big enough to be soft and bright for the whole body, but if you have the 50", it spreads the light farther and is softer because light spreads more.
In this case, the beauty dish is directed softness and is still harsh because its not reflected and lowered before hitting the white translucent screen, its just light and screen so the light on the subject will be harsh up close and soft fall off further away. I hope this helps. I suck with describing things.

The softbox of being able to only do face with 24" and not body thing, thats just an example. You can do body with a 24" i was just trying to make a point to show the difference.