Umbrellas

[Don Kuykendall_RIP]

I presently have two very old Umbrellas that I used last about 25 years ago. I pulled them out recently and although they still work they are pretty sad. I need new ones.
What are some decent inexpensive ones. I will not be using them very often at all but would like to have time for those time.

And in years past I used one silver and one white. What is the accepted way now? Will be using them for the occasional portrait and for 1 wedding.

 

[WayneF]

I'd suggest white umbrellas for human portraits.

Silver is a little brighter, but a harder light, said to work well for furry pets, where we want shiny hair.

 

[skene]

You can usually find good deals on umbrellas through Adorama.

 

[Whiskeyman]

Next time I buy an umbrella, it will be from Paul Buff, and is one of their PLM units: Paul C. Buff - The PLM System . I like that there are white diffuser panels that you can get for these umbrellas. I may get two of their lights, as well.



As of now, I have two, a white "shoot-through" and a black with silver reflector. Both are about 40' in diameter. I believe that one of them is an Eclipse brand name and the other is a promaster brand name.

WM

 

[WayneF]

I have a PLM that I use for the fill light behind the camera, and I do use it, it's OK, but I have mixed emotions about it.

Since my camera is usually about ten feet back, I thought a large one would be just the thing back there. Mine is a 64 inch, and it's about 54 inch actual diameter. I have ten foot ceilings, so it can nearly fit in for my purpose, but I simply can't imagine trying to work around a couple of them for portraits. On the football field, maybe.

It's a little complicated assembling it each time too. Not trivial like regular umbrellas.

If you want it to be a parabolic beam, get the silver one, because the white one is not. I don't think white can be focused. It is incredibly wide angle. I think of it as 180 degrees.

Side spill, all over the room. You can see the flash tube in the top picture, looking in from the side. Any conventional side reflector totally defeats its purpose, no longer even near full width. There must be uses for it, but not sure my use is right. I'm pretty sure a regular large umbrella would suite my use better.