__ __ , Jan 07, 2001; 02:01 p.m.
Would anybody who has used any size of the Mola Softlight 'Dishes'
care to
comment on them? How do they compare to the other makes of 'dishes'
from the lights of Speedotron, Balcar, BronColor, Profoto, etc.? Any
advice on the use of dishes in general would be appreciated as well.
For example, Mola Softlights come in four sizes and shapes. How would
each be useful?
I am not plugging the products of this company. I am genuinely
interested to hear the advice of those who used this company's
products and how they compare with others. Please feel free to delete
if it contravenes forum rules.
MOLA SOFTLIGHTS
Ellis Vener 
, Jan 11, 2001; 12:10 p.m.
I have the Demi version and have used it with both Speedotron
102A heads and also the Balcar U head.
It works well with small table top as a top light and for portraits
and fashion as a beauty light. I think the verbage on their website
--and the samples -- do a pretty good job of describing the
product and the quality of light. It's a large, efficient, and
produces smooth yet contrasty light. You can use it with or
without the diffuser cover. the light produced is more contrasty
than the significantly larger http://elinchrom.com rel="nofollow">Elinchrom Octabank and is best
compared to the http://www.plumeltd.com rel="nofollow">Plume
Wafer. It has a definitely different light quality (more even)
than standard reflector designs.
I think it is best thought of as a studio tool. notice too that it is
designed for flash heads where the flash tube projects out from
the body of the flashhead, i.e. designs like the Speedotron,
Balcar, Broncolor, Profoto. I gather from this that it is not as well
suited to heads like the Dyna-Lite 2040, Elinchrom, Novatron,
Norman 2400 or Paul Buff X, Zap or Ultra.
Kevin Connery , Jan 06, 2003; 06:29 p.m.
Any tips on using them?
I fell into a great deal on a Euro reflector ($40 for the dish), and
have finally assembled the rest of the parts--the handle, opal glass,
etc. (The Euro is
Mola's 33" undulated/wavy dish reflector.)
What suggestions as to starting points can anyone make? I figure it's
going to take me a while to get a good handle on how it behaves, but if
I can cut down on some of the initial errors, it'll save a bunch of
time.
I've got zillions of books on lighting (some of 'em are even good ones), but nothing addresses the large beauty light. Web searches for 'beauty light' and 'beauty dish' gave nothing useful.
Feather it or aim directly at the subject? On-axis or off? Close,
medium, or far from subject? With or without fill? I understand that
there's no one answer, but some tips about what works and what pitfalls
you've found would really be appreciated.
I'll be using it with a Speedotron head, if that makes any difference,
and primarily for portraits (at least in the beginning).
ANY help would be appreciated!
