Painting 5-in-1 reflectors

QuickHitRecord

QuickHitRecord

Veteran
I use 5-in-1 reflectors regularly, but I never use the gold side. I'm thinking that it would be much more useful to me if the gold was kind of an off-white/unbleached muslin color instead. Has anyone successfully modified theirs? I was thinking of taping over the zippers and either using a spray paint or just brushing it on. I think there are several kinds of paint for fabrics. Hopefully I wouldn't end up with an unusable, sticky mess.

The other thing I wish for in a 5-in-1 is that they'd put the black and white together, so maybe if this goes well...
 
Have you looked into slip on covers?

modernstudio.com

4' x 4' Slip-On Unbleached Muslin Floppy | Light Control for Film & Photo | Modern Studio Equipment

Add warmth and reduce light intensity with the 4' x 4' Slip-On Unbleached Muslin Floppy. A must-have for grips and gaffers on professional sets.
modernstudio.com modernstudio.com

I don’t use 5 in 1 reflectors, but if portability is important, instead of an assembled 4’ frames, you could use 4x 4’ frame lengths, as well as cheap connectors.

IDK what the home depot equivalent is, but something like this https://www.bunnings.com.au/metal-mate-2-way-connect-it-corner-joiner_p1138466

It’d fit in a tripod-esque case or none at all. Not better or worse than the shape of a 5 in 1 reflector, just a different shaped option when collapsed.

Re 5 in 1 mod, the paint project sounds cool. It’d be cool though if there was an unbleached mus that stretched as tight as the expanded 5 in 1. Paint that’s getting frequently twisted sounds like it’d be an issue but just try on a cheap version first..
 
QuickHitRecord said:
I use 5-in-1 reflectors regularly, but I never use the gold side. I'm thinking that it would be much more useful to me if the gold was kind of an off-white/unbleached muslin color instead. Has anyone successfully modified theirs? I was thinking of taping over the zippers and either using a spray paint or just brushing it on. I think there are several kinds of paint for fabrics. Hopefully I wouldn't end up with an unusable, sticky mess.

The other thing I wish for in a 5-in-1 is that they'd put the black and white together, so maybe if this goes well...
Click to expand...
I think you're going to end up with an unusable, sticky mess. I'm not aware of any paints that will adhere to the fabric of a 5 in 1 reflector and maintain the flexibility of the 5 in 1 without cracking or ruining it in general.
 
I agree with Dustin and think painting a collapsible reflector would end up as a mess.

Along what Rob says, you could get a square of unbleached muslin at a fabric store and clamp it to your reflector (or better, a frame or something).

Westcott used to have a collapsible 5-in-1 reflector that had an unbleached muslin surface, but looks like it's no longer available: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/501218-REG/Westcott_3700_Bruce_Dorn_Muslin_Reflector.html

But Westcott does have some reflectors with what they call a Sunlight surface. Looks like a soft gold(ish), but I can't tell how shiny it is. They say the Sunlight surface, "Reflects light softly without altering its color, ideal for naturally filling in shadows and maintaining a clean, balanced look." https://www.fjwestcott.com/products/illuminator-quickgrip-5-in-1-reflector-40

I haven't used that, but maybe worth a look?

And I have an unbleached muslin insert/diffuser for an Aputure Light Dome that's pretty nicely made and useful. Available in 90cm, 150cm, and 2x2, bleached or unbleached. With the right size reflector, you could clamp that on pretty elegantly, I'd say: https://cinemilled.com/p/cinerags-muslin-light-dome-2-insert/
 
Same, don't recommend painting. Even on solid surfaces it can be tricky. I tried to hide the white DJI logo on my Mic Mini but found rubbery/soft silicone surface acted like paint repellent. Even on metal it eventually gets nicked and flakes off looking unprofessional. On a flexible cloth surface it would be a disaster.
 
Jim Feeley said:
Westcott used to have a collapsible 5-in-1 reflector that had an unbleached muslin surface, but looks like it's no longer available: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/501218-REG/Westcott_3700_Bruce_Dorn_Muslin_Reflector.html

But Westcott does have some reflectors with what they call a Sunlight surface. Looks like a soft gold(ish), but I can't tell how shiny it is. They say the Sunlight surface, "Reflects light softly without altering its color, ideal for naturally filling in shadows and maintaining a clean, balanced look." https://www.fjwestcott.com/products/illuminator-quickgrip-5-in-1-reflector-40
Click to expand...

And the great thing about the westcott diffusion fabrics is they'll turn super yellow, maybe even giving you an unbleached muslin effect.
 
Sounds like the consensus is that paint will crack if stretched. That was a concern I had as well. How about a dye? Or even getting a cheap black/white collapsible (which I believe may be bleached muslin on the white side) and just soaking them in something like black tea before allowing it to dry. Have I gone off the deep end?

I found one seller who still offers that Bruce Dorn unbleached muslin reflector. I'll have to think about that. I wish the other side was black, or just bleached muslin.

As for the Westcott sunlight, I have a 5x7 collapsible in that finish that has proven to be very useful for outdoor interviews and more commercial-looking stuff. But I'm heading into a narrative shoot where we'll be in a coniferous forest with a thick canopy, and it would be nice to have a bounce of something non-white and non-reflective (I actually started thinking about this after the Cinemilled muslin rags were introduced). Unbleached muslin seems like the natural fit for this. I'd just rather not get stuck hauling around a 4x4 that far away from my vehicle.
 
I recently did what I mentioned for a travel job with 4x4, some muslin-esque material, plastic corners and clips. Still a consideration to carry it, but not a big deal.

A dye sounds like it'd work and the best option so far. Maybe a custom cut piece of muslin, clipped to the reflector corners and likely even more on the sides, would get you there, even if not completely tight.


IMG_0041.jpgIMG_0040.jpg
 
I agree that the gold surface is something I'd be hard pressed to use except for a very stylized effect. The closest I've come to using anything like that is the checkerboard lamé, which alternates squares of gold and silver for half the color intensity of a full gold, and even that is still a big choice. What I'd love to see in a 5 in 1 system would be a light blue bounce. It's something I spec when going for a really natural look. Direct sun is always warmer than ambient skylight, so a neutral white bounce reflecting sun will warm the skin tones instead of just boosting the ambient return, which may be up to 2000K cooler. The blue bounce can help neutralize that.
 
You don't have much to lose trying paint. 5 in 1 reflectors are cheap. But, I suspect that the gold side isn't a surface that will take paint well and it would take a lot of paint to cover over the gold. If it works, it works. If it doesn't, you haven't really lost anything but a can of paint (will the paint bleed through to the other side?).

Dye's will give unpredictable results.

Buy a light-weight fabric of the color you want and sew it to the gold side.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top