Ah, memories of my Reflectasol, which I still have. I have a smaller Reflectasol. The Squarebounce doesn't allow you to reverse the fabric, which is just as well, since it was a pain to do with the Reflectasol. I might pay $180 for three: white, silver and black, but it's pricey for just two. One main advantage, rigidity to prevent flutter, is more important to videographers. My round reflectors work just fine at 1/4 the cost.
Perfect for those who have to work alone without an assistant. Just mount it with a knuckle on a stand it's easily adjustible and in line with the stand's center of gravity. No need for a reflector holder arm as you'd need for the circular light discs.
I'm sure they'll come out with one, but in the interim it would be easy enough to gaffer tape a 42x42 piece of black ripstop nylon over the front to jerryrig a black panel.
I still use a set of Reflectasols. I had to laugh when she was talking about hand held flats causing fatique when she said...compared to traditional collapsable...and they showed a round bounce flat. Traditional collapsable is Reflectasol.
Like Doug, been there, done that. I still use the Larson reflectors I got in the 70s. They are build like tanks. Seen below I used them as "kickers" slightly behind the subject...
When you open them the hinged shaft acts as the lock that holds it flat, eliminating the need for an umbrella style lock (which might break). I never found reversing the fabric to be a problem; you just partially open it, and pull the string out of the grooves on the tips, flip it, and reinsert. Takes less than a minute.
I had the Larson and found it to be a pain to use because the shaft WAS hinged and wouldn't lock straight. It also took a lot of pressure on the spring to open it, and I've had it snap back onto my fingers. I haven't bought the new Squarebounce yet, but since it is a regular umbrella-style it should work much better and more easily for my purposes than the larson.
I'm worried how much you can tilt it down, I see way too many reflector shots with ghoul light coming from underneath. To be honest I'd probably just want a black version for overcast days.
A nice feature of the Larsons is that the hinged shaft allows the angle of the reflector to be adjusted without the need for a stand and grip head (in many situations).
I guess the patent must have run out on Larson Reflectasols. I've got at least ten of them--I think they multiply in the dark. But I still have and use my very first pair that are over thirty years old.
Because Reflectasols last so long (and they're dry-cleanable), you can get really good deals used on eBay.
dmacmillan wrote:
The Squarebounce doesn't allow you to reverse the fabric, which is just as well, since it was a pain to do with the Reflectasol.
That's a snap with the new Reflectasol cloth design, using corner pockets instead of the ring-around cord and caps. The corner pocket idea is so simple it's a wonder they didn't think of it first.
I still have mine. You can put a paperclip into each corner, where the string is visible. This assures an easier way to gather it up again as you re-thread it back when you flip the fabric.
