Rogue makes some pretty neat products, most of which are actually useful for the average photographer. The 3 in 1 honeycomb grid is designed to fit over a standard camera accessory flash unit, and provides a way to control the coverage of light that falls on the subject. Grids are better than snoots, although the difference is sometimes subtle. check out the photos below.
Grids are used to concentrate light on objects without causing unwanted ‘spill’ light that might over-expose other areas in the scene or cause large, harsh shadows. They can also project a beam of light for quite a distance so you can keep the stands and flashes out of your pictures.
These Rogue grids will appeal to people that want to take their photography to a higher level, and need something with a small footprint for their camera bag that will hold up to constant use. People that are still in the experimental stage of photography can fashion a snoot out of a corn flakes box and get acceptable results. Grids can be made from various lengths of drinking straws glued together and encased in a foam wrap to make them fit over a flash head, although this method may give results closer to a snoot than a grid because of the hole size, length and shape.
The size of the product as mounted on the flash is about 4″ (100mm) long, and 3.6″ (92mm) wide at the front holder. The individual grids are 2.75″ (70mm) wide, and have 11/64″ (4.5mm) honeycombs.
The whole thing inside the carrying bag measures about 2″ (50mm) deep, 5″ (127mm) long and 4″ (100mm) long.
 |
| Rogue 3 in 1 honeycomb grid box contents |
 |
| Rogue grids with holder. Rogue image. |
 |
| Rogue grids pattern. Rogue image. |
 |
| Rogue grid mounted on camera flash. Rogue image. |
 |
| Base image, no additional light used |
This is our “base” image taken at the studio. There is only ambient light from a window. The subject is an orchid arrangement on a table placed close to the wall.
Results using the grids.
|
Bare flash at 85mm, 1/16 power
|
45° grid, 1/8 power
|
 |
 |
| 25° grid, 1/8 power |
16° grid, 1/8 power
|
 |
 |
|
Rogue 16° grid
|
hand made snoot, 2″ (50mm) exit hole,
|
 |
 |
The studio distances are; table center about 18″ (.46m) from the wall with the orchid leaves almost touching the wall. The flash is about 3′ (1m) to the right, 7′ (2.1m) high, 18″ (.46m) from the back wall and pointed down at the center of the table where the plant is. The flash zoom was set to 85mm for all shots. The green tape line means nothing; it was left over from another test.
Top row. The left shot shows a bare flash set to 85mm at 1/16 power. You can see some of the light spill streaking along the wall, and nothing is really being highlighted, it’s just putting out a broad beam of light. The right shot uses the 45° grid, which casts an area of light that’s still too large for our small subject, but it does start to make the plant stand out. I also turned up the flash power as the grid reduced the light output.
Second row. In the left shot I’ve put a 25° grid on, and the subject is nicely lit, with very little light spill on the wall. The right shot has the two grids combined, which produces a very tight spot of light, almost too small an area, but more carefully aligned it may look better.
In the last row you can see the flash set-up in relation to the subject. The left shot shows the 16° grid, the right shot a hand made snoot from a box of corn flakes, wrapped with foil to eliminate the glow from the flash going through the thin cardboard and small openings. If you look carefully, you’ll see the snoot, even though slightly closer to the subject, is casting some stray light onto the wall; the grid set-up focuses the light beam tightly, enough so that you can see the bright spot it creates below the table.
One thing you have to remember about using a narrow grid is that it needs to be adjusted almost perfectly to avoid a complete “miss” of the subject.
Check out the Rogue 3 in 1 honeycomb grid and help support the site!