Umbrella softbox from Steve Kaeser review!

[eduardofrances]

First of all my sincerest apologies since I had planned to use them in a production last week and it got delayed (grrr economic downturn...) and I asked two friends that model to come over in order to test them and see how they worked in a photoshoot, in advance I have to say that I haven't shot to a wall, nor do I have measured the front baffle, I prefer to give a honest opinion on how I worked with them and how they behaved during the photoshoot :). Big kudos to my friend Roberto because he let me borrow his umbrellas to do this review.

The review covers the reflective umbrella softboxes from Steve Kaeser's store.

Let's get it on! :D

The first thing I have to say is the materials used are really good, I felt very confident of mounting and dismounting them without worrying that they were going to fell apart, the umbrella shaft was strong as the whole mechanism of the umbrella, the quality of the sewing is pretty nice and the materials used are very sturdy, they are comparable or equal to my Softlighter II with the added benefit that these umbrellas can actually be used with monolights that doesn't have the umbrella shaft near the flashtube like Profoto, Elinchrom monolights, which is great for the rest of the mortals using any other brand, talking about profoto and Elinchrom I have to say in advance that the umbrella shaft is too big for these brands, another thing to consider is that the umbrella softbox from Steve Kaeser is like the Lastolite it is only umbrella softbox.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2459/3555638744_e22395d9f3.jpg
Umbrella softbox above, big reflector to the right and
a flash shooting through a window to create a pattern in the
bg with a orange gel.

You get 2 umbrella softboxes with their own bags (really nice bags BTW) carefully packaged for $30.45 (Steve Kaeser's Amazon store as of today May 22 2009).

The interior lining is silver material with a white diffuser in front of the umbrella, the quality of the light is hard to describe is a diffused punchy lighting, I really love it and I may dare to say that prefer this ones over the softlighters white lining -although you can use the silver disc to give the soflighter a bit more of punch in terms of contrast-.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3592/3554774105_9635e8cc43.jpg
Umbrella softbox in Rembrandt position camera left reflector
camera right, hair light is a bare SB-800 behind her to the right up and pointing down.
vignetting added in PP.

Close to the subject the light is soft, soft and contrasty too, weird huh? this setup is for me super nice for shooting models :), at least in the umbrellas I used there's no color cast or other color degrading phenomenon (fluorescence as an example) the light gets a lil bit colder but that's natural of the interior silver lining it has.

For me one advantage of this umbrellas will be a boomed key, either if you are using hot shoe strobes or monolights you are using less weight so if your boom arm isn't that strong then you will be putting less stress to it :)

You will need a bracket to position the flash inside:

DIY:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/supertsai/2151149364/
And here you can find the whole explanation on how to do it
http://www.supertsai.com/photo/2007/12/home_depot_umbrella_bracket_mo.html

And if you aren't much of a DIYer http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&sku=32079&is=REG&Q=

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3316/3555584182_4ec1ced09f.jpg
Boomed monolight with softbox umbrella pointing down above the model,
strobe firing through window to create a pattern in the bg with a orange gel.

In all I think they are pretty great package, I shouldn't compare the lighting output between the Softlighter II because they are different designs, the Softlighter is shallower and has white lining, these umbrellas are deeper and have silver lining, the soflighter is a "transformer" umbrella (octabox-ish, shot through, reflective) while this ones are only umbrella softbox, however if your intention is to have only a softbox-like lighting at a good price then buy these ones.

I hope this review was helpful for those eyeballing these umbrellas if there's any doubt shoot your questions below :).

[Redfire_Cobra]

Thanks for the review. Were these the shoot through or reflective ones? Were you using studio lights or hot shoe flashes?

[eduardofrances]

Thanks for the review. Were these the shoot through or reflective ones? Were you using studio lights or hot shoe flashes?
You are welcome! and sorry! I should have specified the review covers the reflective ones!, I will edit the original post :). I used an EXD 200 -almost the twin brother of the Calumet Genesis 200 but sans fan cooling-

[Redfire_Cobra]

Thanks for the quick reply, do you by chance have any pull back shots of the setup?

[eduardofrances]

Thanks for the quick reply, do you by chance have any pull back shots of the setup?

My apologies english isn't my native language :), what are pull back shots?

[Redfire_Cobra]

Where you zoomed out (or stepped back) and got a shot of the actual lighting setup.

[eduardofrances]

Where you zoomed out (or stepped back) and got a shot of the actual lighting setup.
Ah okies!, sorry I didn't took any setup photos :(.

[Redfire_Cobra]

No big deal, still very useful information and good pictures. Of course I didn't mind looking at the models either! :lol:

[eduardofrances]

No big deal, still very useful information and good pictures. Of course I didn't mind looking at the models either! :lol:

hahaha thanks a lot :) I'm glad to know it is useful :D.

[tetrode]

Thanks for the review, Eduardo. I'm very glad to hear you're as happy with your set of Kaeser umbrella boxes as I am with mine. The second sample shot you posted (the B&W shot) is sensational. Very, very well done.

Dave F.

[eduardofrances]

Thanks for the review, Eduardo. I'm very glad to hear you're as happy with your set of Kaeser umbrella boxes as I am with mine. The second sample shot you posted (the B&W shot) is sensational. Very, very well done.

Dave F.
You are welcome Dave my pleasure to contribute with this awesome community :), I am really enjoying them and I'm glad too that you are too!. Thanks for your kind comment about my photo I appreciate it a whole lot :).

BTW, I wanted to ask you! yesterday I found your photostream at flickr while searching info about Visico monolights and I saw a couple of photos you had there! whenever you can please write about them, they really look like an interesting option :).

[mufutau55]

For readers who did not know the umbrella softboxes being reviewed by Eduardofrances in this thread, below is the original discussions with pictures:

http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=689693

Thanks for the review Eduardofrances, beautiful pictures.

Mufutau

[eduardofrances]

For readers who did not know the umbrella softboxes being reviewed by Eduardofrances in this thread, below is the original discussions with pictures:

http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=689693

Thanks for the review Eduardofrances, beautiful pictures.

Mufutau
You are welcome and thanks for your kind words :), please call me Eduar all my friends call me like that :)

[Speedlighter]

Images look great!
They also look processed. Can we see them right out of the camera?
I'm interested in some of these

[eduardofrances]

Images look great!
They also look processed. Can we see them right out of the camera?
I'm interested in some of these
Thanks a lot :), well they have skin PP, levels and contrast correction and that's all to tell you the truth, nothing stellar or radical in terms of pp (no Dave Hill effects or the such) :), as far as posting non processed shots sorry but I can't comply as my good friend Don Giannatti says "never let into the wild a photo you aren't proud off" and certainly non post processed photos are a no, no ;).

[xblindx]

After reading your review i just ordered the umbrella softbox and their lightstands :)

[Jannie]

Well they make a lot of sense, and considering I've yet to be convinced on a softbox like the Ezybox 24 due to the cost, not knowing even what it looks like in real life, this gives me a more controlable unit for my two speedlights and at the price and the convenient way they go together it's worth a try.

So I just placed an order.

[eduardofrances]

After reading your review i just ordered the umbrella softbox and their lightstands :)
I hope you enjoy them! :D

Well they make a lot of sense, and considering I've yet to be convinced on a softbox like the Ezybox 24 due to the cost, not knowing even what it looks like in real life, this gives me a more controlable unit for my two speedlights and at the price and the convenient way they go together it's worth a try.

So I just placed an order.

My biggest gripe about the Ezybox is that the hot shoe strobe version doesn't come with the inner diffuser baffle :|... only the monolight version has it, although it has the velcro there but you have to buy the inner baffle separately... I think that for the ones with a short budget these umbrellas are pretty great, the only thing I would love are smaller versions (30" would be nice too :D)

I really hope you enjoy them!

[tetrode]

the only thing I would love are smaller versions (30" would be nice too :D)


Eduardo, smaller versions of the umbrella box are readily available on eBay. Here's one that's supposedly 28" in diameter:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Umbrella-Soft-Box-70cm-28-for-photo-studio-lighting_W0QQitemZ110346068234QQihZ001QQcategoryZ7 9009QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I don't know a thing about them but, if you need small, they might be worth a try.

Dave F.

[eduardofrances]

Eduardo, smaller versions of the umbrella box are readily available on eBay. Here's one that's supposedly 28" in diameter:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Umbrella-Soft-Box-70cm-28-for-photo-studio-lighting_W0QQitemZ110346068234QQihZ001QQcategoryZ7 9009QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I don't know a thing about them but, if you need small, they might be worth a try.

Dave F.
:D That's great!! thanks a lot I will be sure to put this item in my wish list :D

[Sauchterlonie]

These look great, shame you can't get them in the UK, typical!!

Eduardo, your shots look great!

Simon

---------------------------------------------------
www.ChurchGreenStudios.co.uk
www.flickr.com/photos/23042130@N06/
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[Jannie]

I just received my two umbrella softboxes - I'm impressed, actually considering the quality of the other umbrellas I've purchased, I'm very impressed. I'm not near my Strobist kit at the moment but hope to give these a test this evening.

[Jannie]

I've been searching the Strobist website trying to find what you mentioned about an umbrella bracket for the Softlighter II and can't find it, can you please come up with a link?

[eduardofrances]

I've been searching the Strobist website trying to find what you mentioned about an umbrella bracket for the Softlighter II and can't find it, can you please come up with a link?

Sure :D http://www.flickr.com/photos/supertsai/2151149364/
And here you can find the whole explanation on how to do it
http://www.supertsai.com/photo/2007/12/home_depot_umbrella_bracket_mo.html

And if you aren't much of a DIYer http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&sku=32079&is=REG&Q= :)

[eduardofrances]

These look great, shame you can't get them in the UK, typical!!

Eduardo, your shots look great!

Simon

---------------------------------------------------
www.ChurchGreenStudios.co.uk (http://www.ChurchGreenStudios.co.uk)
www.flickr.com/photos/23042130@N06/ (http://www.flickr.com/photos/23042130@N06/)
---------------------------------------------------
Thanks a lot Simon for your kind words :), check out e-bay there must be a store that sells them there :)

[Jannie]

Thanks Eduardo, I picked up a couple of brackets and need a few more things but I've already got them into a temporary setup and it's going to be great. Nice lighting by the way, I like it's punchiness yet like what you say, soft at the same time, something I enjoy.

[ovi.dutu]

After reading your review i was wandering if i still need a second softbox ...

[Jannie]

I messed around with one of these last night, didn't have a person so I just shot different scenes in the rather wonderful house I'm living in while my friend is on vacation. I really like it, it's nice straight on and wonderful to feather, I prefer it far over any of my umbrellas and am going to set up to be able to rig both of them.

I had fun, the late sun was streaking it's way through house ( windows all the way down one side) and I tried the umbrella box as straight on fill (with some 1/4 CTO to give the fill a little color contrast to the light coming from outside) and then aiming it down more to flag off the upper part of the walls got some really lovely results. I skimmed it as a key alongside a wall with planters and all kinds of artwork, trying to repeat the look of the late sun and am very pleased. Just messing around, nothing worth keeping but the knowledge but I really feel like these are a very useful tool. These things are really exciting to feather, I might even make up a black cloth to cover one side of the front to block out excess light when feathering in tight spaces where the light will bounce all over the place.

Another thing about feathering these things is with the center circle of light being brighter (without a stofen) I can aim the center of the light past the near subject (I used to do this a lot with motion picture hot lights) so that the feather edge puts a sweet light on the object nearest to the light and then still keeps up much of the intensity as the light works it's way across the whole scene. A frustration with softboxes and umbrellas are that they really do put out an efficient flat light which is what I usually want with people but they seem more limiting when it comes to using the edge of the light. As my daughter might proclaim, I'm stoked.

I love the way they are made, I love the way they assemble (just like an ordinary umbrella but the diffuser is already sewed on) and they pack away with no spare parts to be sure you get in the bag. These things are definite winners.

Shooting back directly at it when the flash goes off, it's got a hot spot covering the middle half of the white surface area which gives it that punch but with still additional spread of the light. I didn't have my Stophen so I hope to try it with that as well but I really liked the way I could control it without the Stophen so I can see it's going to have some versatility. When I did the testing I had the 580EXII diffuser pulled down so the unit was set up for a 14mm spread.

Really easy to set up, so far the nicest modifier for my speedlights that I've used to date but have yet to use a softbox with them. At this point, I'm not going to bother with getting one and will see just how good I can get with these umbrella softboxes.

Using the L bracket idea to mount the speedlight on a umbrella adaptor works really well.

I'm a happy camper, want to side by side compare to my medium softlighter II, it has a much longer shaft which gets a broader spread on the umbrella part, but I can't find the front diffuser to test that as well, I think they are probably not going to be one or the other but two different characters of light which is pretty cool.

I'm a real happy camper.

[TMR Design]

HI Jannie,

I haven't followed your exploration of modifiers too closely so I missed the part where you didn't like the Softlighter II and continued your search.

May I ask what you didn't like about the Softlighter and what makes the Kaeser umbrella softbox a better choice for you?

[mufutau55]

You beat me to that question, Robert. I will also like to know how she prefer the Kaeser Umbrella Softbox to the Softlighter II. I have no preference, I just need to know. Thanks.

Mufutau

[Jannie]

For starters the way it sets up, the Kaiser is simply efficient and solid. But that wouldn't make a whit of difference if I didn't prefer the look of the light, I am unsure how to explain it but the Kaiser has a character I've not seen out of any of the softbox style modifiers. My highest praise go to the Elinchrom 53" octa with people and the 39" deep octa for product and character when doing tabletop, (this is a freaking fantastic modifier) but neither apply to speedlights. I also have a Elinchrom 17" white Beauty Light and have yet to find a use for it. I love the center silver disc and use it a lot with the other Elinchrom modifiers but I don't photograph young people with flawless skin and so far all I can find from a Beauty Dish is that it really is the enemy of older people unless you are trying to make them craggy and I can do that with the Deep Octa with more versatility. I'm not a fashion shooter, yeah I've done some fashion commercials a long time ago but it was nothing I was very interested in so take what I say with a lot of salt, I've seen fantastic work done with Beauty Dishes and that's why I bought one. Maybe it's just not in my talent lexicon.

The Kaiser when I took a photo of it looking at the front when the speedlight goes off has a definite hot circle that covers the center half of the white panel. Had I tested this first, I probably would have thought no way, a terribly inefficient unit and put it aside. But instead I just started shooting with it around this beautiful home, with lots of glass, cases of cut crystal, cedar plank walls and lots of plants, nice furniture and artwork.

The light right away showed me I had something with a variety of looks, and you can feather it way out to the side and get the most amazing gently fading shadows, like in those moments just before magic hour. And, you can use it anywhere from straight on and work it anywhere in between, much as you can with most lights but this one showe more versatility, I actually caught my heart speeding up yesterday evening because in general I've been disappointed with everything I've done using speedlights beyond using them for table top kickers and accent light and using them for OCF fill, which I still have yet to find myself doing a better job than just using a bounce card.

At one point I simply pointed it at the floor but slightly forward from a height of about 7 feet and mixed that light with light coming through the windows, this put a plane of light on furniture etc. but kept it off the walls in a lovely way. I did some test shots in a very open dining room and it lit up the linen table cloth and furniture gently but different than just flat soft light I'd expect to get. It amounted to aiming that center spot at what I wanted lit and then feathering it away until it got to that spot where it's just barely there but really noticeable if you take it away.

Yes you can do that with any light but quite frankly a softlight seems to be just a softlight and for what it is, it is incomparable.

The Kaiser is the most exciting of what I've seen from modifiers (I repeat, I have not used the Kaiser for portrait type work but from what Eduardo showed us, I actually bought them because of his photos and the fact that they are a simple unit). I see that they are contrasty, but at the same time that punch has a softness to it and fill light will control that ratio, at least that is my past experience.

This is not to negate that a wider, softer, gentler light is not something I'd also want in my kit, Ever since I saw a demonstration video of the Elinchrom 72" Octobox I've felt I simply had to have one. But I don't want to lug it around, I don't want to spend that kind of money on something like that without having a lot of experience with it first. Seriously considering the new Elinchrom 69" Octobox but have been hoping I can come up with a new and more portable way to work using speedlights. I'll be 65 this fall and decades of hauling cameras and lights have taken a toll on my body, or mostly my knees and lower back.

I've decided to re-examine my Softlighter II because by it's offering a visually different look it becomes more valuable. My gut feeling is I would like the front diffuser to be different, I don't know how to translate that but I've played with the idea of a thicker fabric even if a lot of light is lost, I can shoot at a lower f stop if the light is beautiful but anyway, I have never liked the general look I get out of it so I haven't even taken it past the testing stages.

I have never been a person who tried to develop one style and then go with it. The fun for me is to see what I can come up with and not get too stuck an any one method. I am unsure why I don't like the look from the medium Softlighter II but I have yet to say "nice". It seems to do something funny to the skin, it might be just my setup all the way through post and I found in general, a quarter CTO seems to help that a little so there maybe something about the way it worked with how I was setup with my 5D. I've found in the past that using a colored gel can change more than just the color, or at least it gives a perception that that's what's happening and I don't care what the explanation is as long as I like it. I haven't tried it with my MKIII yet, it does offer up a different look than my 5D did.

[mufutau55]

Thank you Ms Jannie. Well laid out, and I quite understood your point.
I am getting a set next week, so I will seeing what you are talking about.
Thanks.

Mufutau

[TMR Design]

Very interesting Jannie. I would have to see the different qualities of light you're describing to know exactly what you're seeing but my curiosity is now piqued.

[Jannie]

Please take into consideration that I come from a very different style of lighting with very different tools. When I started into digital stills I thought it would be a no brainer, after all there are so few basic different kinds of light right. Well nothing works the same, someone asked in another thread 'what is your favorite kind of studio light". Well mine is a Mole Richardson 20,000 watt fresnel with a cold lens, simply stunning in what you can create with that light. But I've also been known to use a Brute Arc in the studio with a special fan and ducting system to extract the exhaust out of the studio. I doubt anyone uses them anymore, toward the end of my motion years I didn't either because everyone was willing to pay rental on a 12K HMI but not an arc, bigger generator and one person to tend the arc constantly as well as change the carbon rods every 20 minutes. But there is absolutely no light that can be as beautiful, followed by the 20K quartz.

Everything in stills seems to be tiny or created big by making the light extremely soft. I love soft too but there is so much more and it's just different. Also stills have so much detail that is makes it a little harder.

So what I am looking for may not be what is even acceptable for a lot of what many of you consider as good and I'm okay with that, I'm having fun, lighting has been my hobby for most of my life and it's neat that I get to do photography along side at the same time. Oh yes I've always been a photographer but there came a point where there were so many client/art director, account ex., director, set designer, etc. decisions that had to be made that it was hard to tell in the end what I had accomplished beyond the design of the lighting and if I had a great gaffer then I willingly shared that credit because in my mind that was the most interesting person on the set, the rest of the jobs were for other people but if I hadn't become a director of photography/cameraperson, I would have been a gaffer.

I'm just doing something to please my eye, and trying to find out just where I want to be involved with photography now in my retirement years.

Anyway, many of you have shown really beautiful work with the Softlighter II and I applaud that, I just haven't gotten there yet. I'm amazed how much light will come out of a little speedlight but have no where come close to mastering it. This umbrella softbox is the first inkling I've had that I should keep trying whether anyone else likes the look or not. I am aware I still have a long way to go but at least I'm excited about it again with these speedlights and umbrella softboxes.

That said, I still don't know how these will work with older faces and may still want to go with the 69" Elinchrom Octobox for my 400BX. And with this thinking I'm getting spread too thin, it's like with the questions in the camera threads, should I buy a new body or lens, well for me it's should I buy new lenses, cases, Flash Cards or a new Octobox lol.

[Jannie]

Jeeze I talk a lot...

[Jim M]

Jeeze I talk a lot...
Yeah, but we're listening.

[eduardofrances]

Yeah, but we're listening.
x2 :)

[Jannie]

Well I spent many hours testing these softbox ubrellas on the worst model in the world (me) and the punchy affect they have didn't help me any so I tried the Softligher II medium and it was a little softer but then again it's a little bigger.

The umbrella softbox did improve a little when I used the Stofen diffuser, this Kaeser umbrella softbox does put out plenty of light which is nice. So I kept playing with it and I think it's workable but I even tried putting one of those collapsable diffuser circle things in front of it and it actually didn't seem to help any which supprised me.

Then I went around my apartment lighting things, walls, stuff in the kitchen and even used both of the Kaeser setups to light a couple of pairs of earrings which I needed to shoot for a friends wife who is making some very lovely jewlery to sell on the internet and I was very pleased. I did a lot of the thing I talked about before with feathering way out to the edge on some of the shots and I'm growing to love these Kaeser units.

I got to thinking that the problem I'm having with faces and these umbrella softboxes is their small surface area and the fact that I'm an extremely difficult subject. Last winter I went through this with my Octoboxes and the 39" Deep one didn't cut it but the 53" did after I worked with it a while. It otherwise throws such a gorgeous light and I'm sitting here going yes/no/yes/no/yes about ordering the Elinchrom 69" octa but I've so desperately wanted to see what I can do with speedlights and not have to carry that stuff around anymore, it's not that I have to do it that often, but it does happen.

I can't help but wonder what the Kaesers would be like if he could come out with a larger setup. I know everyone is going to the strobist tiny and portable as I'm wishing to but I can still fantasize.

I'm still not in love with the Softlighter II enough to use it over the Kaeser and it did not do as nice a job with the non-people stuff I was shooting today.

Just my take on things.

[c2thew]

wouldn't you still achieve the even light effect instead of using a stofen on top, just bringing down the plastic diffuser in the flash head to spread the light? that's what I did and got pretty smooth results

[Jannie]

Yes I did all of my other testing with the plastic diffuser.

[xblindx]

Sure :D http://www.flickr.com/photos/supertsai/2151149364/
And here you can find the whole explanation on how to do it
http://www.supertsai.com/photo/2007/12/home_depot_umbrella_bracket_mo.html

And if you aren't much of a DIYer http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&sku=32079&is=REG&Q= :)



Here's my try. I didn't get the exact parts but looks similar. it Cost me less than $1

edit: you can find the exact part at home depot in electric wire's aisle.



http://i41.tinypic.com/2z4zdxc.jpg

http://i39.tinypic.com/312er29.jpg

[Jannie]

Perfect!

[Jannie]

I ordered the Elinchrom 69" Octa today but I'm not giving up on these speedlights, I'm really enjoying using them and hope to soon on some people who can take light better than me.

[QuickSilver11]

After reading your review i just ordered the umbrella softbox and their lightstands :)


What did you think of the light stands? Are they worth the money? Did you get their umbrella bracket too?

I'm thinking of ordering these soon for my 580ex II, but I don't have a stand or bracket yet... Any suggestions would be helpful.

Thanks

[xblindx]

What did you think of the light stands? Are they worth the money? Did you get their umbrella bracket too?

I'm thinking of ordering these soon for my 580ex II, but I don't have a stand or bracket yet... Any suggestions would be helpful.

Thanks

Don't buy the light stand. I did not like it personally.It is very light and not easy to use. I have a Lumopro light stand too and it is much heavier and solid build and air cushioned

Here's a pic of the light stand I bought from skaeser.

http://i44.tinypic.com/54g4n6.jpg

go with Lumopro stands. I'm much happier with their products

http://www.mpex.com/browse.cfm/4,4727.html

MPEX has many varieties of umbrella swivel. I bought this one

http://www.mpex.com/browse.cfm/4,9426.html

Other than that you can look at BH, adorama etc sites for light stands

[mufutau55]

I recommend this Impact air-cushioned heavy duty light stand in this link without hesitation, only $38.95 for 9.5 feet:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/253069-REG/Impact_LS_96HAB_Air_Cushioned_Heavy_Duty_Light.htm l

Forget about that ebay filmsy light stand.

Mufutau


What did you think of the light stands? Are they worth the money? Did you get their umbrella bracket too?

I'm thinking of ordering these soon for my 580ex II, but I don't have a stand or bracket yet... Any suggestions would be helpful.

Thanks

[colormaniac]

Hi, may I ask a question between the difference between an umbrella softbox (http://www.amazon.com/Reflective-Umbrella-Softbox-Steve-Kaeser/dp/B001BSQK8Q/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&s=photo&qid=1249516014&sr=1-8) and a shot-through umbrella (http://www.amazon.com/UMBRELLA-SHOOT-THROUGH-SOFTBOXES-Kaeser/dp/B00290E4CO/ref=sr_1_99?ie=UTF8&s=photo&qid=1249516169&sr=1-99)like this? What difference in light effect do these make?

[bobbyz]

Hi, may I ask a question between the difference between an umbrella softbox (http://www.amazon.com/Reflective-Umbrella-Softbox-Steve-Kaeser/dp/B001BSQK8Q/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&s=photo&qid=1249516014&sr=1-8) and a shot-through umbrella (http://www.amazon.com/UMBRELLA-SHOOT-THROUGH-SOFTBOXES-Kaeser/dp/B00290E4CO/ref=sr_1_99?ie=UTF8&s=photo&qid=1249516169&sr=1-99)like this? What difference in light effect do these make?

Shoot through is simple shooting through the diffusion panel. In the photek softliter, you hav ethe flash mounted backwards, so bounce from back and then come from the front diffusion panel. I would say much more diffused light. And with original softliter, you can have silver panels inside to give more specularity.

[colormaniac]

Shoot through is simple shooting through the diffusion panel. In the photek softliter, you hav ethe flash mounted backwards, so bounce from back and then come from the front diffusion panel. I would say much more diffused light. And with original softliter, you can have silver panels inside to give more specularity.
The shot-through umbrella that I linked to also have silver reflective material on the other side of the black piece. I take it that the white material both allow some light to go through with diffusion and get some back to the silver reflective material. In this sense, that shot-through umbrella also can produce a lot of diffusion. Maybe a little less diffusion than the umbrella softbox.

[bobbyz]

Maybe the shoothrough softbox thing allows it to be used as a shoothrough, reflective as well as a softbox with front diffusion panel. Some folks on this forum own it, so can chime in with their experience.