Jump to content

Which material for diffusion?


Recommended Posts

  • 2 weeks later...
9 hours ago, Matthew Parnell said:

You can also purchase Magic Cloth, or Halo Cloth, which is the beautiful heavy diffusion used on chimeras. 

Magic Cloth is great for big, multi lamp rigs like overhead soft boxes, but I think it’s overkill for things like Chimeras and Octos. It cuts an awful lot of light, and it’s not actually any softer than grid cloth.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
  • Premium Member

Does your softbox have a baffle inside? If so, then a heavier front diffusion like magic cloth would be unnecessary. In no baffle, then refer to David's response.

I'd go with a 1/2 grid to start. Most softboxes come with a couple diffusions like 1/4 and 1/2, because realistically, there are different cases for both.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey guys, 

 

I'm using spot leds behind it such as the aputure 300d. I ended up selling the softbox and bought the angler boombox 48inch. I should get it tomorrow and the diffusion material, from the photos alone seemed a lot more convincing. Anyone has any experience with this softbox? 

 

Thanks 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 years later...

Hey guys, still fairly new to lighting.
Lets say I have two 250s diffusion stitched or placed together will I lose the same stop of light and get the same light quality as a 216?
Or two lite grids to get full grid cloth? I assume two lite grids would be softer than a full grid. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Premium Member

Technically Light Grid is the same as Half Grid, so two would make a Full Grid, but it's not an exact science. I would think two 250s would be slightly denser than a single 216 but you'd have to test to know for sure.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

21 hours ago, Simon Osaji said:

Hey guys, still fairly new to lighting.
Lets say I have two 250s diffusion stitched or placed together will I lose the same stop of light and get the same light quality as a 216?
Or two lite grids to get full grid cloth? I assume two lite grids would be softer than a full grid. 

Doubling up on Diffusion will not make it Softer- 

 

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Premium Member

The softness of a light is controlled by the size of the source relative to the subject.

So IF a light evenly fills a 6x6 diffusion frame, for example, it will not get any softer by doubling it up, only by going larger.

The reason we use heavier diffusion or double-up lighter diffusion is to help the light behind it to spread more evenly to fill the frame.  So making a diffusion twice as heavy, for example, does not make the light necessarily twice as soft, not if, for example, it had already filled most of the frame evenly with the first layer.

  • Like 1
  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oh yes yes, I'm actually aware of this, David, i red your old posts about the size of the source relative to the subject. That was the first time I began to understand softness. Maybe I didn't put my question right. So for example I'm shooting a light through a 4x4 250 that is 6' from the subject and I want more softness than what the 250 is giving me without increasing the diffusion size, so instead I add an extra 250 right on the first one or swap the 250 for a 216 wouldn't it then fill the diffusion more than a single 250 that has a hotspot in the middle hence making it softer?

Edited by Simon Osaji
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...