Double edge transfer Beauty Dish

Sheldon N wrote in post #11566495
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Sheldon, do you happen to know the diameter of the central deflector in your Mola? The one in the Speedotron is a full 8" which, I believe, is larger than most. The Elinchom maxi deflector is 14cm which is a measly 5-1/2".

Dave F.

I misspoke earlier and have the aluminum (painted white) deflector in my 22" Kacey BD. In any case, I tried to duplicate the OP's arrangement of BD and subject, trying to maximize the double-edged shadow. Mine didn't seem as pronounced, but it was definitely there. Without changing the setup, I tried adding a grid to the BD and then a sock to see what difference it made. Both seem to reduce the effect somewhat and moreso with the sock that softened shadow transitions into more of a blur. The first picture (and closeup) are with the bare BD and deflector.

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This version uses the Kacey grid.

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And, lastly, this version is with the sock on the BD.

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tetrode wrote in post #11567548
Sheldon, do you happen to know the diameter of the central deflector in your Mola? The one in the Speedotron is a full 8" which, I believe, is larger than most. The Elinchom maxi deflector is 14cm which is a measly 5-1/2".

Dave F.

hi Dave, i can't say for sure but i believe the Mola opals are all the same size diameter,

that would be 7 1/8" and the standoffs (4) are 6 3/8" apart . here is a size comparison between the speedo and the setti

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FJ LOVE wrote in post #11568527
hi Dave, i can't say for sure but i believe the Mola opals are all the same size diameter,

that would be 7 1/8" and the standoffs (4) are 6 3/8" apart . here is a size comparison between the speedo and the setti

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That Setti would make one helluva Jello mold! Thanks much for the measurements.

It's interesting to me that the Mola Demi, Speedotron, and Kacey dishes all share a very similar contour yet each uses a distinctly different deflector design (and size). The translucent 8" stock central deflector of the Speedotron does ameliorate the double shadow effect but I think it also ameliorates the very beauty dishiness that BD buyers are looking for. No doubt that's why many choose to cover the translucent material with foil or similar.

I don't know the answer to this but I wonder if there would be a perceptible difference in images produced by the Mola, Kacey, and Speedotron (with opaque deflector) dishes. I'll bet they'd be hard to tell apart.

Dave F.

tetrode wrote in post #11568690
That Setti would make one helluva Jello mold! Thanks much for the measurements.

It's interesting to me that the Mola Demi, Speedotron, and Kacey dishes all share a very similar contour yet each uses a distinctly different deflector design (and size). The translucent 8" stock central deflector of the Speedotron does ameliorate the double shadow effect but I think it also ameliorates the very beauty dishiness that BD buyers are looking for. No doubt that's why many choose to cover the translucent material with foil or similar.

I don't know the answer to this but I wonder if there would be a perceptible difference in images produced by the Mola, Kacey, and Speedotron (with opaque deflector) dishes. I'll bet they'd be hard to tell apart.

Dave F.

i doubt in the 22" showdown you suggest there would be much difference,

i like the look of the blocked center of my speedo for it's dishiness

I'm looking at selling my Tokina 11-16 and getting the Kacey Dish / Grid / Bag Combo, from what I've read in this thread the phenomena sounds as though it's the same with all contoured dishes.

Basically, if you decipher the above mess, the Kacey dish should still be the dish to buy for Quadra users?

extremely interesting comparison...

I may pull the limiting "C clip off one of my Elinchrom translucent deflectors and see how things look getting it closer to the bulb on my A head. I also wonder what of the look gets lost going this route.

Anybody have an opinion on how close is to close too get the deflector to the strobe bulb? Also, anybody interested in comps of the different set ups (socked, gridded, deflected) of the dish and\or the 100cm DO?

windpig wrote in post #11570171
anybody interested in comps of the different set ups (socked, gridded, deflected) of the dish and\or the 100cm DO?

anytime somebody spends the time to do comparisons they are always worth looking at

I would like to thank all who contributed to this thread, I learned something very worthwhile. Mucho obrigado!

After reading this, it appears that it is best to use the translucent deflectors in order to minimize the double shadow. I'm curious if users of the solid deflectors have switched to translucent deflectors based on this thread?