How To: My 120J Softbox Rig - Itemized Parts List Included UPDATED!

[Abel]

no other ideas as of yet but i sure would be one that would want to try it... hehe..

[boomerd35]

Can you be more specific on your setup? Haha. J/K. Awesome thread- lots of good info. Can't wait to see what your results will be.

[Abel]

Originally Posted by boomerd35

Can you be more specific on your setup? Haha. J/K. Awesome thread- lots of good info. Can't wait to see what your results will be.

haha.. trust me.. if i just posted a photo i'd get all sorts of questions about how and what did I use etc.

this way i get it documented for my own knowledge as well being able to help others in case they want to make the same kind (or similar) rig of their own...

[The Philos]

Looks more convenient/cheaper than my vagabond and power pack setup.

[Abel]

Originally Posted by ThePhilosopher

Looks more convenient/cheaper than my vagabond and power pack setup.

that you can do...

[boomerd35]

We learned tonight this setup is iced tea-proof Sorry Abel.

[Abel]

hahaa... no problems troy...

[Nikolai]

Originally Posted by canoflan

Frankly, as inexpensive as these thinks are, I may simply pry off the reflector housing and just it barebulb.

What I was thinking.

[Abel]

UPDATE...

I got bit by the "tinkering bug" again this past weekend so I setup one of my extra 120J's to mount to a 22" beauty dish.

The parts list is almost identical to the above setup using the softbox with a couple of different additions... like the addition of a 22" beauty dish of course. :)

I'll see if i can get a couple of photos of it online tonight!

[Lexie]

Interesting.......I'm listening/reading/thinking.

[Abel]

ive seen a ton of DIY beauty dishes but i have never really been impressed with the layouts designs. when i came across this 22" dish on ebay for $110 total i said thats too cheap not to buy and try out.. :)

what i did is found THIS 22" (55cm) beauty dish on ebay BRAND NEW for $88 + $15 Shipping + $7 tax (seller is in texas) so I paid a total of about $110 BUT this beauty dish came with a spot grid which makes it a REAL steal! most of the times the spot gird is close to $200 by itself! i ordered it on tuesday at noon, and it got to me the very next day at noon!

Its a great deal although the guy was a bit rude to me via an email exchange when i asked if the 22" dish came with a front diffusion sock like the smaller 16" (40cm) beauty dish he also sells.

I knew the dish was a regular silver finish inside and i planned on painting it but when i received the dish the outside was not black like pictured on ebay so i decided to also paint the backside as well. the actual color was a greenish grey color which i didnt care for so since i knew i was painting the inside white i figured id throw some black on the outside. i used a rustoleum all purpose all material style spray paint.

here's the completed setup:



I have the 120J TTL with a cold shoe mount



another overall



another tight shot on the layout, notice how i slid the main rail all the way to the right in order for the dish to rest on it serving as a 3rd anchor point. nothing added to that intersection, once everything else is nice and snug, then that area is kept in contact by itself.







Here's the magic... I detached the aluminum mount disc from the chimera speed ring i used in the softbox setup listed above. I then unscrewed the front reflective panel and centered the chimera disc as best i could making some reference marks on both the beauty dish and the chimera disc. i then used a two part multiuse LocTite epoxy form home depot and applied it to the back of the chimera disc. realigned the disc with the reference marks i made earlier and applied pressure while it dried. i wanted to use the plate so that i had one more anchor point to support the weight of the dish. i also chose to use the extension piece listed in the softbox setup in order to help place the bare bulb out into the body of the dish.. you can see the chimera plate in this photo below. using the disc not only helps add support but it also helps keep light from spilling out the backside of the dish through the fairly large bowens adapter.





as another added anchor point, i drilled and tapped a hole into the bottom of the stock bowens adapter on the back side of the dish. I used a 1/4"x1" hex head bolt and washer to screw down into the brass coupling thingy in order for a good solid tie down.



shot taken into the beauty dish with the spot grid attached.



shot with the beauty dish about 40" from the wall WITH the spot grid attached.



shot with the beauty dish about 40" from the wall WITHOUT the spot grid attached.



there ya go... a quick rundown...

Extra notes:

1. i have both the 120J Pro and the 120J TTL and opted to use the 120J TTL in this configuration since its overall height along with the cold shoe was easy to place in the center of the beauty dish which was set by the 3 brass coupling thingys i mounted to it.

2. prior to gluing the chimera disc in the dish besure to to a test mount with your flash since the chimera disc has notches cut into it in order to mount to the 120j flash head completely. thats where those reference marks came in handy

3. when placing the chimera disc on the beauty dish be sure to check to to see if the tightening screw on the flash heads clears the inside wall of the bowens adapter. mine was a bit off and i had to remove the plastic portion of that screw in order to get the flash head to fit in and mount to the chimera disc nicely.

[luis_relampago]

Pretty nice Abel. I am selling my lumedyne system but this looks very interesting and tempting maybe I'll keep it a little longer.

[z-monster]

Abel you are one sick (cough...cough, hack...) ahem, very innovative strobist!

Awesome post!