Rogue 3-in-1 Honeycomb Grid Review

Features
Handling
Performance
Verdict
Specification


The Rogue 3 in 1 Honeycomb Grid comes with two stacking grids, a grid bezel, attachment strap and nylon storage pouch. The attachment strap is Velcro fastening and can accommodate most portable shoe mounted flashguns.

3-in-1 Honeycomb Grid: Features

• Portable Nylon pouch
• Heavy duty 
• Spotlight effect from normal flash
• Stacking grids offers combination of three grid angles
• Elasticated Velcro attachment fits most flash heads

The grid attachment strap (Flash Bender) is a Cordura style material with a stud held elasticated strap and Velcro fastener that makes it easy to fit to most portable flash heads. I tried it on a Vivitar 283, slimmer Sunpak PZ42 and on a bulky Pentax AF400FTZ. At a stretch it will also fit a Metz 45 flash head, but it will be stretched, and with this, and the Pentax flash, the tube is not covered at each of the bottom corners so some of the flash will miss the grid and may spill onto the subject.

Once attached you slide a hard plastic grid into the soft plastic bezel and slip the Bezel over the Flash Bender. The whole thing weighs just over 100grams.

Rogue 3-in-1 Honeycomb Grid: Handling

Assembling the Rogue 3-in-1 is fairly easy. The only tricky bit is getting the rim of the Flash Bender into the Bezel so it's aligned correctly and holds firmly in place. It's easier to put together with the Flash Bender detached from the flash. It's not easy to change grid with the bezel attached to the Flash Bender so switching around can be a fiddly process.
 

Attaching the Flash Bender to the Vivitar 283.

Inserting a grid into the Rogue 3-in-1 bezel

Pushing the grid into place in the Rogue 3 in 1 bezel

Rogue 3 in 1 Honeycomb Grid and bezel attached to Flash Bender.

Rogue 3-in-1 Honeycomb Grid: Performance

Because of the smaller size of the grid the light is concentrated quite tightly. It really does give a spot effect (especially when the two grids are combined), where the grid from the Gary Fong Lightsphere Grid is less condensed and arguably more pleasing, especially for front direct light shots.

Also because of the narrower angle it was difficult to ensure the concentrated light was creating the circle over the subject, in my case a mannequin. As the Flash Bender is mounted by the Velcro strap it's not easy to get it aligned central so it may be either pointing slightly up or down, left or right. If you had a modelling light you could adjust to suit, but with standard flash you need to take a test shot to make sure the light is concentrated in the right spot. And it's easy to knock the unit off centre so extra care is essential.

The plus side to this is it's easy to reposition the light beam so it's not central for off centre subjects, making it more flezible than the Lightsphere.

Rogue direct without grid 1/90 sec | f/4.0 | 40.0 mm | ISO 100

Rogue direct with 45 degree grid 1/90 sec | f/4.0 | 40.0 mm | ISO 100
This is looking a little like the Gary Fong Grid

Rogue direct with 25 degree grid 1/90 sec | f/4.0 | 40.0 mm | ISO 100
Light is now much more concentrated

Rogue direct with 16 degree grid 1/90 sec | f/4.0 | 40.0 mm | ISO 100
The light is a touch too spot like now. Okay for atmospheric still-lifes maybe but not so good for portraits at this range.

As a hairlight with the flash mounted on a stand and triggered by slave, the Rogue 3-in-1 really is in its elements. The concentrated light is perfect now for adding a highlight to hair as seen with the before and after illustration below.

Straight shot with built in camera flash and no hairlight 1/60 sec | f/6.7 | 45.0 mm

Rogue 3 in 1 Honeycomb Grid added as a hairlight 1/60 sec | f/6.7 | 45.0 mm | ISO 400

Value for money

£50 mark seems to be the price many manufacturers are placing on their more advanced flash modifiers, so this sits in the same range as several items from the likes of Lastolite, Interfit and Honl. It's cheaper than the Gary Fong Lightsphere with Grid, but its effect is more concentrated. At £24 Honl's grid is less expensive, but is just for one angle, like the Interfit Strobie Honeycomb and Flex mount, so the Rogue with its three angle grid combination is in a league of its own.
 

Rogue 3-in-1 Honeycomb Grid: Verdict

Despite the fiddly Bezel attachment and possibility of unaligned direction I like the look and feel of the Rogue 3-in-1 Honeycomb. It's solid and you know it's not going to break so can throw it in the bag with confidence. I personally don't like the such concentrated spot that the combined pair (and occasionally the 25 degree grid alone) give for direct flash, but the 45 degree grid is pleasing. I do prefer the output from the Gary Fong product, but it's bulky and the compact nature is where this one really shines, along with the fact you can position its spot on the subject anywhere in the frame.

Rogue 3-in-1 Honeycomb Grid Pros
Durable, well made and long lasting
Small and compact
Flexible positioning
Decent price

Rogue 3-in-1 Honeycomb Grid Cons
Not easy to ensure correct position
Light highly concentrated
Not easy to change bezels quickly
 

FEATURES
HANDLING
PERFORMANCE
VALUE FOR MONEY
OVERALL

Rogue 3-in-1 Honeycomb Grid Specifications

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