We get asked this question a lot and I wish it was something that could be easily answered as my usual response is "it depends" on your shooting needs and stylistic preference.

Statistically the Softwhite coating is the most sold beauty dish coating (about 80%) and then Bright Silver and finally warm Titanium coating. I'm not sure if that personal preference or because the Softwhites cost a little less than the other two.

Below is quick still life I set up to illustrate the difference between the coatings using our 14" dish and a few of the optional accessories like the sock diffuser and long awaited grid spots. I'll probably do another series on a live subject the next time I'm out shooting on location.

Left: Bare Flash zoomed to 105mm camera right and above the still life.
Middle: Lumodi 14" Softwhite beauty dish the flash power is 1/8
Right: Lumodi 14" Bright Silver beauty dish 1/8
Note the obvious hardness of the shadow edge of the bare flash. The softwhite dish has a more even coverage and notice the silver has more dramatic light fall off from the center.

Left: Lumodi 14" Bright Silver beauty dish with optional sock diffuser
Middle: Lumodi 14" Bright Silver beauty dish with soon to be released grid spot
Right: Lumodi 14" Titanium metallic beauty dish
Using the optional sock diffuser on the Bright Silver creates a similar effect to the Softwhite coating but it needs more power to get an equal exposure since the sock diffuser reduces the efficiency by 2 stops. This indoor still life is not good example to show the warming of skin tone characteristic of the titanium beauty dish coating which is best used when trying to balance the light of late afternoon sun.

Somethings to consider:
Softwhite Coating: is the most diffused of the three and has more gradual light falloff. From my experience I'd choose this dish when a I want to light a larger area more evenly such as a small group or for full length portraits

Bright Silver: Has a faster light fall off from the center which creates more contrast and specular highlights than the Softwhite. This may favorite coating for head shoots as the light is very directional and brings out more detail which is great for glamor photography.

Titanium Metallic: Has very similar characteristics to the Bright Silver but adds a warming effect to skin tone. I use this one a lot for my outdoor late afternoon/sunset portrait sessions it also balances well with tungsten lighting like halogen or incandescent indoor bulbs.

Hopefully this info will help shed some "light" on the topic but as always you can always welcome to contact us if need more advice.

Please let us know which ones are your favorites

We get quite a few inquiries a week regarding  flash/speedlight compatibility with our beauty dish mount. Before I tell you how to measure your flash for compatibility it's important to know that if you own a Canon or Nikon flash made within last decade it will most likely fit our standard Universal Mount with the exception of some of the smaller speedlights with fixed heads that don't swivel or tilt.

How to measure you flash so we can check compatibility:
1) Measure the width (W)  of the widest point of the of the front of the flash head
2) Measure the height (H) which is the thickness of the flash head
3) Measure the depth (D) from the front face of the flash to the body of flash.
Measurements can be given in either mm/inches

Please forgive me if the blog doesn't look so polished at this point, my skills as photographer greatly overshadows my skills as a writer and web designer.

My plans for the "Official" Lumodi blog is place to:
1) Share BTS, Lighting tips or things that might interest readers
2) Discus current and future Lumodi products
3) Feature our favorite photographs/projects submitted Lumodi users on our Flickr group

Most importantly I want the blog to offer place for open communication with photographers that we serve. We're listening so let us know what you are thinking. -bc