If you are considering buying a piece of equipment, I am sure that you are like myself, and will look at some equipment reviews and then maybe even try the piece of equipment if you can before committing to buy it. I have written this short blog article after such a process. It will cover what a parabolic reflector actually is as well as potential benefits, and it will also look at two of the best parabolic reflectors in the current market place, and give as objective a review of both as possible.
A parabolic reflector is basically a large reflective dish. They are constructed in a similar manner to an umbrella that one would usually use for lighting, but much deeper and often a lot larger. There are some very large parabolic reflectors available, but these also come with a very large price tag and take up a lot of room. I have seen a lot of forum posts where people have said these are just expensive umbrellas, period. I would disagree with that, as they are a cross between an lighting umbrella and a deep dish thereby creating a large focusable light source that is fairly soft and focusable. The lighting given out from these reflectors is best described as three dimensional and is very similar to directional sun light. The amount of shadow and fall off of light is also controllable.
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| Model light by one parabolic reflector showing a three dimensional look with soft shadow. |
The light used in a parabolic reflector should be pointed inwards and best move in a linear fashion around the centre of the reflector the distance the light is from the reflector allows for some focusing the tighter the focus the tighter and more edgy the shadow. The optimum distance of the reflector from the subject is said to be the same distance as the the width of the the reflector however they will also work at distances much greater than this.
The two parabolic reflectors I looked at were around the same size and are about the right size for a small to medium sized studio. These are the "Westcott Zeppelin 47-inch" and the "Broncolor Para 133". The Broncolor has been recently modified but has been in the market for a long time and is considered the benchmark for this type of lighting. The Westcott is new to the market, and I was one of the first to have one of these to try in the UK.
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| Broncolor Para 133 |
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| Westcott Zeppelin Para 47 |
To evaluate these two lights, I shot the same model (Sophie Wilson) with the same set up on the same day. Both Para's can be used as conventional soft boxes with lighting source going into the back of them and then diffused using panels, for this comparison I however used them both as pure parabolic reflectors with the light source directed inwards and then bounced off the dish.
These two reflectors are almost identical size, although the Bron does easily collapse for storage the Westcott doesn't and therefore it depends if you have the space for the Westcott to store when not in use. One of my concerns with the Broncolor is that the very neat linear rail it has to focus the light with also supports the whole weight of the light and my Broncolor studio heads are mono blocks which therefore means they are fairly heavy. I have too say although this looked a little awkward as you will see with the very top picture, in practice this worked fine with suitably heavy weight stand. The Westcott by comparison has a second stand to support the weight of head which is better in one respect but isn't as linear a movement as the Bron for focusing. Overall I found the Para 133 far better for fine tuning the lighting because of this linear movement and also larger range of movement of head from from to back of the reflector. However on comparing the actual image results there was no real noticeable difference in the shadows although the catch light with Para 133 was slightly more visible in the models eyes.
I found that the overall best result from both reflectors was to use it as part of lighting set up rather than totally on their own and that at times working directly in front of the reflector or slightly to one side was a bit restrictive when I was at the the optimum distance from the model so moved the light back slightly to give myself more space. The one thing I really didn't like about the Broncolor is the spokes. Being proud of reflectors, I know this is to allow for diffusors to be fitted but they kept getting in the way of my actual shots when working close to the reflector. My final decision has been to purchase the Westcott, partly on price because the difference between these two reflectors is significant, but also although I know the Westcott is a bit more difficult use because of not having the linear sliding rail. I also believe this gives more flexibility in how it can be used.
Below are some image capture examples and comparisons:
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| The Broncolor Para 133 gives a very even punchy catchlight not dissimilar to a ring flash |
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| The Westcott Para 47 gives a more "broken" softer catchlight in the eyes. |
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| Lighting from the Broncolor Para 133 slightly off set to the models left, with two additional strip lights to either side as slight "kicker" light against the black background. |
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| Westcott Para 47 fully directed at the model close to a white wall with no other lighting used proves a soft but still edgy light perfect for beauty and fashion. |
I hope you found this photo tips article of some use, even if it was only to get a better understanding of how light can be modified using a parabolic reflector. In an earlier blog article I had my first look at another exciting product from Westcott - the "Icelight" there will be more on this great bit of kit in the very near future so keep an eye out for this.
