I recently acquired a 30cm(12") beauty dish for my on-location Godox flash studio set up.
It is a sand blasted solid aluminium Beauty dish, that comes with a 30 degree clip on grid and a diffusion shower cap. The specular surface of the reflector means it gives about an extra stop and a half of light than you would get from a standard double diffused softbox.
Just for comparison, with the watch I wore today:
Pentax 645Z - Pentax HD D-FA 645 90mm F2.8 ED AW SR Macro - 1/125th f/11 ISO 100
60cm Softbox left, 30cm Beauty dish right - the increased reflectance of the beauty dish means that the light from it has visibly greater contrast than a standard softbox, specular highlights really pop.
The 30 degree grid is a real boon, and it is made of metal too. It allows for great control over the spread of light, and it reduces the chance of lens flare if you have the reflector aimed at or near the camera.Too many manufacturers don't make them for their beauty dishes (I'm looking at you Bowens, Mola and Elinchrom) and even if they are available, they are extortionate in price.
Last edited by Digitalis; 11-02-2015 at 05:40 AM.