Photek vs ebay vs elinchrom softboxes

[DocFrankenstein]

I'm just starting to ponder this. There's some actual technical justifications to owning a high end strobe vs a budget strobe - quality of components, service, reliability, how components are made... etc.

But I just found out about photek USA. Apparenty they have a 60 inch softlighter which pretty much parallels Elininchrom's octa box but at 10x the price.

There's also some ebay store which sells giant boxes for 100 bucks or so.

I understand elinchrom promises 1/3 of a stop brightness difference across their softboxes and others usually vary by a stop or so...

My question is, if it was shot with the same light, would one be able to tell a difference in the photo?

Any experience out there? Anybody upgraded from cheap boxes to chimera/chrome/profoto stuff? Did you notice the difference?

I've only shot with either self made diffusion panels or the good stuff.

[abdul10000]

I just got the Photek umbrella. If I get a chance I will tell you how it compares to the 53" Octa.

To answer some of your other questions:

1. I get about 1 stop difference from center to edge with my 53" octa

2. you can't usually tell a difference between modifiers like that unless there is a visible color temperature difference, but the main difference is practicality.

Is the modifier convenient to use? I find the 53" octa very convenient. The Photek might be easier to transport, but harder to work with.

3. The one thing you want to look for in big cheap boxes are internal diffusers. Look for one that has an internal diffuser to minimize the light difference from center to edge.

[m3rdpwr]

But I just found out about photek USA. Apparenty they have a 60 inch softlighter which pretty much parallels Elininchrom's octa box but at 10x the price.

I'm gonna' guess this thread is going to get interesting... :)

(I have the 60" and 46" Photek Softlighter as well as the Elinchrom 39" Deepthroat, but haven't made any comparisons.)

-Mario

[[godfather]]

Sir Rob would be coming here soon :)

[m3rdpwr]

;8612767']Sir Rob would be coming here soon :)


Hehe :)

[doidinho]

For what it's worth Annie Leibovitz used the softlighter in her Mad Men Shoot.

http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2009/09/mad-men200909

I know she has the octa as well.