Which material for diffusion?

[Tiago Pimentel]

Hi guys,

 

I want to replace the cheap cloth that came with my octabox, but I'm undecided between silk or cloth. I want the best possible results on skin tones. Do you guys suggest silk or cloth? 

 

Thanks

Tiago

[Christopher Santucci]

I believe poly silk is what's used for "silks." In terms of durability, I would go with silk. Cloth, like cotton based cloth, will get dirty pretty easily. I would buy an actual silk that's just large enough for your purpose and have a tailor sew it to match the original diffusion.

[Matthew Parnell]

As Chris said, ‘Poly Silk’ is usually what is used. 
 

Gridcloth is also a pretty durable option, with options of 1/4, 1/2 and Full. You can also purchase Magic Cloth, or Halo Cloth, which is the beautiful heavy diffusion used on chimeras. 

[Stuart Brereton]

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.

[David Mullen ASC]

It also depends on what is behind the diffusion, an array of LEDs or a single tungsten halogen bulb, etc.  

[Stephen Sanchez]

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.

[Tiago Pimentel]

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 

[Simon Osaji]

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. 

[David Mullen ASC]

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.

[Ed Conley]

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- 

 

[Simon Osaji]

3 hours ago, Ed Conley said:

Doubling up on Diffusion will not make it Softer- 

 

You’re the first person am hearing this from, why do you say so?

[David Mullen ASC]

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.

[Simon Osaji]

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 May 27, 2023 by Simon Osaji

[David Mullen ASC]

Yes, if there's a hot spot then the second diffusion will help make it spread more evenly.