Speedlight softbox

I purchases one of those Cowboystudio 20" Softboxes for speedlites. The product is great, but my real complaint is that because of its small size, it still is quite harsh. So it would seem as though I need to go bigger. I was thinking about getting a Flashpoint unit that attaches a speedlight to a Bowens Speed ring. Then I would just get a large softbox that is compatible.

Any suggestions on size?

I know that a speedlight does not have the same power as a strobe but I figure between full power/wide angle or even putting in two speedlights, it should be usable.

Sizes?

It depends on what you want to photograph. Size matters along with relative distance. If you are photographing cars then you would need a lot bigger softbox than if you were photographing food.

Lots of people are doing great stuff with 20-24" softboxes. But to get a softer light they have to be close to the subject.

How far do you want the light from the subject/object and what size/coverage do you need? 24x36 is a nice size but it is not that much bigger than what you have.

Maybe consider something like - http://www.ebay.com …ain_0&hash=item​1c1610dc96

I will use it almost exclusively for portraits. I was considering either a 36" x 48" softbox or a 60" Octobox.

Get it up close.

I have a 600ws AC/DC Mettle brand strobe (bowels mount) + 150cm Octobox purchased from OEC Camera on ebay. Great quality and for just under $400 I couldn't be happier.

On a side note, I've used my YN560 speelight in the 150cm Octobox and it had plenty of power for portraits. It just took longer to recharge between flashes. The Mettle is like a machine gun with virtually no recycle time.

Move your softbox closer to the subject and bring in a reflector to fill if needed.

dmbpettit wrote in post #13077739
I will use it almost exclusively for portraits. I was considering either a 36" x 48" softbox or a 60" Octobox.

Single person or more. 36x48 and 60" octa pusing for hot shoe flash.

Edited:- What I saw on your portrait gallery shouldn't be any problem with 20-24" softbox. Now if you need something for full body or group shots then it is different. But then low power of the flash is going to be an issue unless you shoot quite later in the day.

bobbyz wrote in post #13078856
Single person or more. 36x48 and 60" octa pusing for hot shoe flash.

Edited:- What I saw on your portrait gallery shouldn't be any problem with 20-24" softbox. Now if you need something for full body or group shots then it is different. But then low power of the flash is going to be an issue unless you shoot quite later in the day.

How many stops do you lose by using a bigger softbox?

J Kacey wrote in post #13079058
How many stops do you lose by using a bigger softbox?

Size doesn't matter for the loss. It is just that filling 60" octa with direct flash is going to be a problem. Indirect octa can be done as show by Robert and others. Same with 36x48 SB.

My boxes have a inner diffuser and fill a large softbox fine. I like using two speedlights to get a extra stop when needed and much faster recycle times when not. My favorite boxes are Chimera because you can get 1/4 stop panels that work great when using them with speedlight configurations.