12x12 Overhead question: Single black or double black net?

[Stephen Pruitt]

Hi there all. . .

. . . quick question.

I have a 12x12 frame and currently have a white silk, a single white net, and a double white net.

I was wanting to add a black net of some sort to use to knock down windows and for overhead lighting control, but I only want to buy one of them. Which one is likely to prove more useful? The single black (0.6 stops) or the double-black (1.2 stops)?

My original thought was to buy the single and to use two. . . the single white on top and the single black underneath, but I'm not sure if that makes any sense or not.

Any thoughts?

Thanks.

Stephen

[Jeremy 0sbern]

Hi Stephen,

In the 12x12 size, if you were only to buy one new rag, I think a 1/4 silk would come in handy in more instances than a single or double net. It's nice if you want to do an overhead and want to take the intensity of sun down a touch but you think a full silk is too much.

But as with everything, you need different tools for different situations, and everyone has a different approach to any lighting situation.

[D Fuller]

if it were my decision, I'd go for the double. I often use a double net over a practical window, where it's a lot less fussy than gel, and almost always invisible. In that situation, a single isn't often enough. I have never doubled up a white and a black, but I expect you'd see it if you used it on a window that appeared in a shot. Also, if you double two black singles, you get moire. Again, I don't know for sure if that would be a problem with a white and a back, but I'd want to test it before committing the cash.

[Joel Kaye]

Double for windows. I use single + double lot in bright light. It's hard to know exactly because different windows may have different coatings applied. Houses are often clear but commercial buildings are often treated where I am.

For overhead I like a single but I want the light quality to change so it would be a silk. Also, painters clear drop plastic is pretty good if you're not worried about sound (music videos?).

[Stephen Pruitt]

Then a double it is. . .

Yeah, I doubt if I could use a white and a black both on a window, but I like the slight softening effect that a white gives me on an overhead for a beauty shot outdoors, but it's the darn windows I'm mostly after.

Joel. . . a clear plastic sheet? How would that work?

Thanks guys!!!

Stephen

[Charles Angus]

I've used "clear" plastic sheets on windows I'm planning to blow out, and it's looked great.

I would go for a double net in your case.

[Stephen Pruitt]

Too funny, Charles. . .

I'm not sure what he was referring to the clear plastic, but I'm guessing it must have some sort of a tint to it. I'm sure it's cheap, so I'd love to know what it is and how to use it. These days, cheap is my friend.

Stephen

[Charles Angus]

The clear plastic I'm talking about is sold in huge sheets at the hardware store as "contractor-grade painting dropsheet". In appearance, it is similar to hilite or maybe opal (it's been a while). I double it up, usually.

With that stuff over the windows, it doesn't matter what's outside - it all just goes white. And the quality of light inside is gorgeous.

[Kip Kubin]

Get the double net and then an ultrabounce or grifflon and you'll be set.

[David Mullen ASC]

For darkening windows, a double -- a single only cuts down light by a half-stop, a double by one-stop (and generally if you are going to go through the trouble of gelling a window, most people start with ND.6 or ND.9, which are two and three stops). What's nice about a double net is that it not only takes some of the hotness down (just a bit though) but it softens the view. And it doesn't ripple in the wind like ND gel can...