Objective differences between different soft- and octaboxes

[Patrick S]

Hi all!

I'm interested in upgrading from my AlienBees brolly boxes to some large soft- or octaboxes. Obviously there are dramatic differences in prices between different manufacturers (Elinchrom versus AlienBees, for instance), but I have found very little objective or quantitative information as to how different brands differ in terms of their performance, e.g. how even the light is across the surface of the box. I assume that in general the more expensive boxes have a higher build quality and will last longer, but for now I am just interested in the differences in the light coming from the different boxes.

Thanks in advance for your time!

[Wilt]

Double diffused sofboxes are more even than single diffused softboxes, since any hotspot is minimized. But it would be extremely difficult to expect POTN members to have done any comparative eveness of illumination. It is rare to see even the same flash unit with multiple softboxes, with comparative flash meter readings!

Chimera used to publish comparisons of different brand and model of lights in a single softbox, and that was so rare to see a comparison like that!