Mola Demi : No Test Images .....Because?
Last month I introduced 2 pieces of new gear, the Elinchrom RX battery pack with “A: head and the long-awaited Mola Demi (White) beauty dish into my gearbox. I have been wanting the Mola beauty dish for some time and B&H Photo had it on sale for $278. So it was a good time as any to make my purchase.
I was going to write the June blog about these 2, showing test images and my impressions as I introduced this to my work flow, that, of course, turned out to be for another day,
The Mola Demi I received was unfortunately extremely flawed, this was by no means a problem that B&H Photo could have foreseen, nor any of the good folks at Promarks/Mola offices. This was a tooling issue from the factory. Here’s the breakdown for assembly, There are 8 holes drilled at the rear of the Mola Demi, 4 holes are to mount a plate that holds the speed ring in place and the other 4 holes are for the diffuser plate held in place on the inside of Demi.
As I started to assemble the Demi I realized 3 of the eight holes were not lining up with the mounting plate, I tried different ways to set the plate on the back, 45 degrees/90 degrees, but it was the same conclusion each time, the holes were at least 1/8 of an inch from the center.
At this point I am admitting defeat, and trying to put my frustration in check, I locate the go-to person through the Mola website (Herb Pletcher) to discuss a very obvious quality control issue. So I first email Herb then shortly thereafter we spoke by phone; so after several re-attempts to make this work finally we concluded that there were only 2 options left, 1. drill new holes to accommodate the holes that were 1/8 of an inch off or 2. return it for an exchange with B&H Photo.
Of course, I went with option 2. Though I was going to have the June blog about the Elinchrom RX and the Demi, that of course, (sigh) will have to be another day, Now I wait for it to arrive, again.
Here is the contact info if you have purchased a Mola beauty dish and have an issue.:
Herb Pletcher email: herb.pletcher@promarkbrands.com