Help me understand Grid degrees

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Archive 2012 · Help me understand Grid degrees

bbasiaga
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p.1 #1 · Help me understand Grid degrees

Hey all.

I have a Interfit/Strobies grid for my Canon flashes. It is advertised as a 20Degree grid. The local camera shop had some other grids as well, ranging from 10 degrees to 60 degrees.

Which way do I go if I want a tighter light pattern - high degrees or lower degrees? Unfortunately there isn't a good way to really try them in the shop in a meaningful way. To further complicate the matter, I've seen other grids on the market labeled as 1/8 or 1/4" grids - how do those compare to various degree measurements?

Thanks,
Brian

Mar 18, 2012 at 08:08 PM

cwebster
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p.1 #2 · Help me understand Grid degrees

Smaller numbers (either degrees or inches) indicate a smaller area of light coverage.

The actual amount of coverage will depend on the zoom setting of the speedlight you are using the grid on. You can't get 60 deg coverage from any grid if your speedlight is zoomed to maximum telephoto.

Personally, I don't see the usefulness of a grid on a speedlight. If you want less coverage, just zoom the flash to a more telephoto setting.

<Chas>

Mar 18, 2012 at 08:56 PM

alohadave
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p.1 #3 · Help me understand Grid degrees

bbasiaga wrote:
Hey all.

I have a Interfit/Strobies grid for my Canon flashes. It is advertised as a 20Degree grid. The local camera shop had some other grids as well, ranging from 10 degrees to 60 degrees.

Which way do I go if I want a tighter light pattern - high degrees or lower degrees? Unfortunately there isn't a good way to really try them in the shop in a meaningful way. To further complicate the matter, I've seen other grids on the market labeled as 1/8 or 1/4" grids - how do those compare to various degree measurements?

Thanks,
Brian

Smaller degrees, tighter beam, less spread.

With the 1/8 and 1/4" grids, if you assume that the grids are the same except for the depth of the cells, the 1/4 will have less spread since it is longer.

I use this calculator when I'm making DIY grids for my flashes: http://paulophotoblog.blogspot.com/2008/01/width-at-widest-point-mm-beam-angle.html

Mar 19, 2012 at 12:06 AM

alohadave
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p.1 #4 · Help me understand Grid degrees

cwebster wrote:
Personally, I don't see the usefulness of a grid on a speedlight. If you want less coverage, just zoom the flash to a more telephoto setting.

<Chas>

Using a grid has a different look than zooming the lens head. It's not just about coverage.

Mar 19, 2012 at 12:08 AM

bbasiaga
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p.1 #5 · Help me understand Grid degrees

Thanks guys. That link looks great. And yes, the grid has a lot different effect than just zooming. Rounder profile to the spot, plus some really good fall off from the cener out. I need to play with it more but so far so good.

-Brian

Mar 19, 2012 at 01:20 AM

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