Mola Mantti 43.5" Beauty Dish Soft Lite Reflector (White)

The weight of the Mola Mantti is between 18.07 to 19.5 lbs. THis weight contains the beauty dish, the griff, hardware, and diffusers (everything needed to use the beauty dish). The weight range is based on which speed ring , external diffuser(s), Diffusers( AL, OPAL, or Opal+AL) and spacer combination that are installed. If your purchasing this beauty dish, make sure your grip can handle the weight of this dish, plus the weight of the strobe, the battery or electric cord, and any accessories that would directly add weight. My next review will be about actually using the dish.

This is the second Mola Mantti I have owned(sold last one). This is a very large lighting modifier that cannot collapse to ease portability. The modifier is about 20 lbs (with dish, grifter, aluminumglass disc, mesh diffuser, and fabric diffuser). With the addition of a studio light will increase the total weight to about 22-23 lbs. 22 lbs alone exceeds the load capacity of every boom commercially available at full extension and exceeds many light stand capacities. There are several booms that support this dish but far from full extension, however you run the risk of damaging your boom. In my opinion, If you want to boom this for overhead lighting safely, you will need a jib with a tilt lock and get creative with adapting the grifter to the jib head. Other option for overhead lighting is to ceiling mount but make sure the track and runner can support the weight of the arm, dish, and light along with everything else that is attached to the track. I originally purchased the Mantti to use as a softbox. My studio had limited space and I could not accommodate a large softbox. But I could accommodate this dish. There is still more specular than a softbox, but low enough for normal everyday portraits. I attached the grifter to a junior baby stand attached to a runaway base. the grifter provides enough space to allow tilting down and up. I really like the fact this dish is efficient. If you are familiar with beauty dishes, watt power goes a long way. With Mantti, I am usually parked at least 1f stop lower than I would a softbox of similar size. I do diffuse the light with aluminum and glass bounce plate and utilize both the mesh and fabric diffuser. I once made a makeshift boom-jib with a forklift and position this dish for paramount lighting. It was scary, effective and created a softer light than a 22\