Alternative to unbleached muslin?

[omar robles]

Hello members:

I love the look of light going through unbleached muslin. However as you may know you lose two stops of light using this method. My question to the experts on this forum is do you know a similar diffusion to unbleached muslin where you don''t lose so much light? Someone told me a LEE 216 would work, however I suspect the light quality would be different. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

 

[Brendan H. Banks]

Yeah 216 is going to be different, but also a great place to jump off from. I use 216 a lot and it works well...especially if you're softening an already soft source. You're losing so much light while getting the quality of light you really want...kind of a natural trade-off.

If you can get some rolls or packs of different diff and play around it could help.

 

[Noah Yuan-Vogel]

Muslin is unlike most other diffusions. In that the threads themselves are fairly opaque and the softness is more from light bouncing off the threads and the hardness comes from direct light passing between the threads. I think in some ways this adds a complexity to the diffusion that feels more common in practical locations but it is highly inefficient because of all the light bounced back from the opaque threads. Gel diffusions have a hard and soft component as well but they are more blended which can be amore simple and artificial feeling perhaps.

 

[Matt W.]

I think 1/2 grid cloth plus a little CTS or a dimmer can get you a fairly similar look with a LOT less light loss. It's cloth so it's quiet, still lets a little hard light through, and has that 3d diffusion soft feel. But you need something to warm it up a bit, too.

That said, people I know who love mus still use mus! 216 is a nice diffusion though but the feel is different. If you like mus stick with mus.