Umbrella reflectivity for shoot through...

<p>I have a couple of Eclipse umbrellas that have the umbrella frame on the outside so that when you bounce a flash in to them you do not have to contend with the frame reflecting or blocking any of the light. They are also shoot through capable but the frame is a double frame and there is a lot of metal to shoot through. Maybe it works but it just looks horrible. The umbrella also has special lining on the inside I would imagine to better reflect the flash in the bounce configuration.</p>

<p>Finally to my question...</p>

<p>I want to buy new bounce umbrellas specifically to only shoot through. I would like to know if there are any models out there that don't have the reflective coating my Eclipses have because that would seem to be just wasting light by reflecting back what I am trying to push through! So are there any with basic rip stop nylon or a good diffusion fabric that is at least somewhat efficient? I can't seem to find this information in the catalogs.</p>

<p>Thanks for any help you can provide.</p>

<p>Regards,</p>

<p>Jim McMann<br /> San Jose, CA</p><div></div>

<p>I don't think you call a shoot through umbrella a bounce umbrella-- just thinking. White will always reflect back light, and you will always waste light using an umbrella. You have the option of getting a softbox (different light and control) or what some people call a brolly box, like the Wescott Halo.</p>

<p>My shoot-through umbrellas have a reflective outer cover that is in place for reflective use. Maybe yours are missing, or you have a brolly-box kind of thing.</p>

<p>Have you shot a strobe through them? What does it look like?</p>

<p>I find that the ribs don't create shadows in either mode, but still favor softboxes as my most used modifier. In my small studio, the amount of light splashing around from an umbrella isn't useful.</p>

<p><Chas><br /></p>

<p>Take a look at the Westcott Halo's. I think this is more of what your looking for but the price is not a "nice" as just regular umbrellas.</p>

<p>Yeah, if you want to save some cash AlienBees makes a "brolly box" that's a lot cheaper, but also different. First, note that AB gives the size in "arc" and not diameter.</p>

<p>Quick tangent to complain about the very popular Buff brands on here: "effective watt seconds" and size by "arc". Buff has enough supporters that he's doing more harm by using non-standard metrics that favor him (very misleading marketing stuff, IMO). Now back to our program.</p>

<p>The brolly boxes from AB, ironically, are far from working like a box. Their spill is much greater than most umbrellas and the halo. They shoot more like a large "lantern" modifier or half balloon lamp. So the spill is very differnt, and more suited for lighting a room than portrait work.</p>

<p>However the 32" diameter Bee "Box" is about $40, as opposed to Wescott's $108 45" halo. I'd guess there's a quality difference too, but I can't say for sure.</p>

<p>I can see the points about the brolly box and I also can see the point about the difference between Paul Buffs version and the Halo. The Buff version seems to give you 180 degrees of light, the Halo half that and something like the Photek just a flat panel more like a conventional softbox. I am just using speedlights and of course their power is limited so I would like to find the most efficient shoot through umbrella that can still give me soft flattering light. Am I asking for too much?</p>

<p>But my original question was about the special reflective coating that Eclipse has applied to the inside of the umbrella. It would seem that since there is a reflective material reflecting as much light as possible (presuming that is in fact it's purpose) then the umbrellas efficiency as a shoot through device would have to be lessened. So I go back to the original question is ther an umbrella that does not have this special reflective coating applied?</p>

<p>As to the bounce umbrella statement, it was late, I was tired...</p>

<p>Thanks for all the responses!</p>

<p>Jim McMann<br /> San Jose, CA.</p>

<p>I just looked at the umbrellas again and I think that I should not be doing photo stuff at 1am. There is a difference from the front and back of the umberlla but it just might be the difference between shiny satin and something else, not so shiny, on the front.</p>

<p>I wrote to Wescott and asked if there is anything differant betwwen the "Optical" White Satin and their White Satin Convertable umbrellas. After that I'll drop the matter.</p>

<p>Thanks again for all the good informatin!</p>

<p>Jim McMann<br /> San Jose, CA</p>

<p>David Ziser had Westcott make an umbrella just for shoot through use--called a Zumbrella. Don't know if you can get it through Westcott, but you can probably get if from Ziser's website. The material is the same as the front diffusers of such products as Halos.</p>

<p>Having read Ziser's new book, and noticing that he's using both the Halo and the Zumbrell on different occasions, I'm wondering what the collective opinion would be for the best of the two to use at receptions and bar mitzvah parties when I want something to diffuse off-camera flash. Seems like the Halo, since it's reflective rather than shoot-through, would offer more directional control.</p>

<p>Opinions from those who have seen or used both?</p>