DIY Beauty Dish?

[AaronLLockhart]

Hey guys,

I've been using a studio light setup for a while now, with softboxes, umbrellas, reflectors, barn doors, ect. I'm proceeding forward in an attempt to play with shooting with a beauty dish. I have no experience in the department. However, everywhere I have seen, for a decent beauty dish, I'm looking to spend over $140.00. However, I come from a mechanically inclined background, having tons of experience in carpentry and automotive fabrication. With this said, it looks as if I can just create one of these things for little to nothing. So, does anyone know of a place I can get some info on the materials needed, even maybe a tutorial to see the direction someone else has taken in doing it? I would like to do one for my B800's, as well as build one to use with my SB-900.

Any info is appreciated.

 

[tirediron]

There are a ton of on-line YouTube tutorials (search "Beauty Dish YouTube" or "DIY Beauty Dish YouTube" or similar). For around $100 you can buy this Cameron unit, which I have in my "portable" bag. It's on the small side, but it does work well for, and will fit pretty much any speedlight on the market.

 

[Derrel]

Basically, you need a "bowl" or "dish", and then a "deflector" and some way to hold the deflector in place in reasonable proximity to the flash tube. Most factory dishes use three small metal supports around 3 to 3.5 inches long, to hold the flash deflector in position....basically, the three arms are screwed or soldered onto the deflector, and then the supports are pop-riveted to the dish. The deflector can also be held on using long, small-diameter bolts and washers and nuts, or hollow tubes and wired on using a simple harness and a few holes drilled into the dish.

"Any port in a storm". I think ideally, the shape of the bowl is important. Probably the most shape-specific thing I can think of is the typical apartment dining room lighting reflector...the kind that is sometimes seen suspended over a dining room table, with the cord that pulls upward or downward; a fairly shallow bowl, with a sort of "nipple" on the top,outside of it, where a 60- to 100-Watt incandescent bulb would be fitted into a light socket. These are often painted white inside with decent-quality, heat-resistant paint.

On e-Bay there are a lot of vendors selling 16-,20,and 22-inch beauty dishes for $59 to $89; some of which can be bought with a nifty honeycomb grid for an extra $30-$40 American.

 

[AaronLLockhart]

There are a ton of on-line YouTube tutorials (search "Beauty Dish YouTube" or "DIY Beauty Dish YouTube" or similar). For around $100 you can buy this Cameron unit, which I have in my "portable" bag. It's on the small side, but it does work well for, and will fit pretty much any speedlight on the market.

Basically, you need a "bowl" or "dish", and then a "deflector" and some way to hold the deflector in place in reasonable proximity to the flash tube. Most factory dishes use three small metal supports around 3 to 3.5 inches long, to hold the flash deflector in position....basically, the three arms are screwed or soldered onto the deflector, and then the supports are pop-riveted to the dish. The deflector can also be held on using long, small-diameter bolts and washers and nuts, or hollow tubes and wired on using a simple harness and a few holes drilled into the dish.

"Any port in a storm". I think ideally, the shape of the bowl is important. Probably the most shape-specific thing I can think of is the typical apartment dining room lighting reflector...the kind that is sometimes seen suspended over a dining room table, with the cord that pulls upward or downward; a fairly shallow bowl, with a sort of "nipple" on the top,outside of it, where a 60- to 100-Watt incandescent bulb would be fitted into a light socket. These are often painted white inside with decent-quality, heat-resistant paint.

On e-Bay there are a lot of vendors selling 16-,20,and 22-inch beauty dishes for $59 to $89; some of which can be bought with a nifty honeycomb grid for an extra $30-$40 American.

Thank both of you!

John, that speedlight dish looks like a stellar alternative! I will probably go that route, at least for my SB-900.

Darrel, how far does the deflector need to be off of the face of the bowl? Any suggestions?

 

[e.rose]

One of the guys I know from back home just did this. Thanks for reminding me that I wanted to get the instructions from him. I'll forward them to you when I get them, haha.

 

[e.rose]

This is what he followed:

How to build the Best DIY Beauty Dish ? www.ishootshows.com

 

[cynicaster]

There's all kinds of neat projects on this site:

DIYPhotography.net | Hacking Photography For The Love of It

I'm certain I saw a beauty dish on there at one point; should be easy enough to find.

 

[2WheelPhoto]

I fell onto a profoto beauty dish for next to nothing, but had I not those simple DIYs would been employed. You're going to enjoy the beauty dish!

 

[kanuski]

I just finished my beauty dish project. Here are a couple pictures. They might give you some ideas.