Anyone use Fotodiox octobox & strip box?

[shankarhokie]

I work on a small space, but I do not use a grid.

Here is a recent show with ungridded 28" BD & QBOX24

It maybe a different deal with a 60" octobox


IMG_9655 by shankar_hokie, on Flickr

[7D_Sniper]

So I got the 70" softbox in today and jeeeez this thing is HUGE! I would think it would get most use in a studio or if you have assistants to set it up and break it down for you.






Here is what came in the box



Very suprisingly the box lights very evenly with one speedlight. Here is a shot with my YN 565EX. No light stands yet. Keep in mind the room was pitch black so I missed focus but it lit the room up nicely.

[Mark1]

I have the 70" as well. Love it. Just wish it had grids . I have used it a few times with a speed lights. And it does light even enough. But when I am doing that I usually have it like 2 feet from the model and looking to shoot at 2.0 or bigger. Its also pretty easy to set up and break down.

[silent_20]

Originally Posted by Dave Jr

I have one of their Pro Studio Solutions Beauty dish EZ-Box 32x48" softboxes. The Pro Studio line is collapsible, umbrella style and comes with a Beauty dish deflector that is adjustable. There is a strip version as well but it is smaller at 12x56. If you plan on frequent assembly and tear down, you'd be much better off with the Pro Studio collapsible. That 12x80 box you have linked would likely be very challenging to set up.

I like the box, and having the deflector is nice. I purchased mine with a grid, but had to return the grid because it was terrible. Grid was way too long for the box, all bunched up at the bottom.

BTW, they have EZ Box Octas too, grids are sold separately with the EZ Box stuff.

I rather get this one because it seems a lot easier to set up unless of you have the space to leave it set up.

[Dave Jr]

Originally Posted by silent_20

I rather get this one because it seems a lot easier to set up unless of you have the space to leave it set up.

Me too.

[shankarhokie]

Originally Posted by 7D_Sniper

So I got the 70" softbox in today and jeeeez this thing is HUGE! I would think it would get most use in a studio or if you have assistants to set it up and break it down for you.

Very suprisingly the box lights very evenly with one speedlight. Here is a shot with my YN 565EX. No light stands yet. Keep in mind the room was pitch black so I missed focus but it lit the room up nicely.

Thanks for the review. Great to hear that it works with the speedlight. I might get the 60" pro series that opens & closes like an umbrella.

[7D_Sniper]

Originally Posted by shankarhokie

Thanks for the review. Great to hear that it works with the speedlight. I might get the 60" pro series that opens & closes like an umbrella.

Yeah it would be more convenient and not take up as much room. Post back if you get it.

[Mark1]

No argument that the umbrella boxes are easier to set up. But I can have my 70' set up in 2 1/2 -3 minutes. Its not really a big deal. The first time may take you longer, but once you figure out what you need to do. It is quite simple.

[7D_Sniper]

Mark do you have any setup shots with your 70"?

[7D_Sniper]

Do the umbrella style soft box cause shadows from the hardware inside them when shooting a speedlights from the rear of the box?

[Mark1]

NO shadows, The light bounces around so much and then you have 2 layers of difusion to go through. buy the time the light exits the softbox it is fine.

No I dont usually take set up shots, as every shoot is different so I dont have a need for them other than to post here. But my daughter happed to take this one at a shoot I did on location in a store with my iPad. You can just see the corner of the 70" box. The top is at about 7 foot. and pointed at about the models waist. We wanted the background to have a fall off, so no lights on the BG and if the 70 was straight it would have been to much light on the background. Then the BD with grid to keep the back side of the model from blending in with the fall off.



And a final from almost the same time...

[Dave Jr]

^^ Very nice.

[shankarhokie]

Originally Posted by Mark1

NO shadows, The light bounces around so much and then you have 2 layers of difusion to go through. buy the time the light exits the softbox it is fine.

No I dont usually take set up shots, as every shoot is different so I dont have a need for them other than to post here. But my daughter happed to take this one at a shoot I did on location in a store with my iPad. You can just see the corner of the 70" box. The top is at about 7 foot. and pointed at about the models waist. We wanted the background to have a fall off, so no lights on the BG and if the 70 was straight it would have been to much light on the background. Then the BD with grid to keep the back side of the model from blending in with the fall off.



And a final from almost the same time...

The Magenta cast on the BG is intentioanl I take it? The reason I ask is because I have been having this magenta cast on my recent white BG shots and I am trying to figure out if it is the adjacent red walls or an artifact of the siftbox+speedlight

[Dave Jr]

Originally Posted by shankarhokie

The Magenta cast on the BG is intentioanl I take it? The reason I ask is because I have been having this magenta cast on my recent white BG shots and I am trying to figure out if it is the adjacent red walls or an artifact of the siftbox+speedlight

I think in this case, it is from her dress.

[Mark1]

A bit of both. The light from the BD is reflecting onto the BG with the color of the dress. But also, I let it do what it wanted to. We wanted "white" but not the blown out look. And a small trend at the moment is to not light the background and have the shadow. So I bought the "Super White" Savage paper background as it is a touch whiter, then left it alone. I corrected for the model and let the BG slide through post.