Buyers Guide to Softboxes?

I have a 24x36 Calumet softbox that came with my Genesis kit. I'm very happy with it and would like to invest in a larger one; maybe around 4x5 or 4x6. The variety of offerings and disparity in price is a little overwhelming. Can someone guide me a little with what I want to look for and what makes one better than another?

Also, of course, I'll need it to be compatible with my Genesis lights.

Thanks.

I don't have any direct expereince with Genesis lights. But the Calumet softboxes are probably mid level quality wise. My own personal favorite is Chimera. I have had really good luck with them, and more importantly customer service. The construction is top notch.

Often softboxes in general will pop out the corners the bows will bend or break and mount will become loose. Chimera may or may not do the same. But when you call customer service they replace or repair quickly if they can.

I am happy with photoflex, not top of the line but very good quality for the money. Grids are quite reasonable when you compare cost of the grids of some other brands.

What about softboxes vs octaboxes. Is there a reason to prefer one over another?

Peacefield wrote in post #13213532
What about softboxes vs octaboxes. Is there a reason to prefer one over another?

They are very close. Biggest difference for me is the shape of the catchlights. The octa might get a little wrap but IMO it is not much of a difference.

THe main difference with a octabox vs. a rectangle softbox depends on the subject.

Octabox tends to give a better catchlight on a waist up or closer face shot, whereas the a tall 6 foot softbox is ideal for a full body shot - giving equal lighting from the feet to the head. I don't use an oct on fully body shots, but I will use tall rect softboxes on the body in conjunction with a beauty dish on the face.

Then you have rectangular stripboxes, that give a more narrower control of light, for a more controlled wrap. Very useful on male models when you are trying to accentuate body muscle. Also good for hairlights.

There are no set rules for how you use a softbox... experiment!

One thing I have seen is that regular octas are quite shallow (depth wise) compared to softbox.

bobbyz wrote in post #13223271
One thing I have seen is that regular octas are quite shallow (depth wise) compared to softbox.

That's the kind of insight I'm looking for. I see some of the distictions (depth, shape, silver or white inside, etc.) and am not sure how those difference affect the quality, consistency, and shape of the light produced. Can anyone expand on that?

Peacefield wrote in post #13210346
I have a 24x36 Calumet softbox that came with my Genesis kit. I'm very happy with it and would like to invest in a larger one; maybe around 4x5 or 4x6. The variety of offerings and disparity in price is a little overwhelming. Can someone guide me a little with what I want to look for and what makes one better than another?

Also, of course, I'll need it to be compatible with my Genesis lights.

Thanks.

There are quite a lot of offerings and some better than others, sometimes price is indicative of the quality in this case...

The most common problems with no name softboxes (with some exemptions) are: Color casts and not enough diffusion, the first one could be caused for a variety of reasons (difussion pannels and bounce material not treated against fluorescence, color casts on the materials, etc).

Also you have to factor that each manufacturer uses a different process to treat their materials so you will find slight differences in color from one brand or the other.

The best advice I can give you is to stick to the same brand you already have because that will avoid the problem of different color casts (which are a PITA to remove in PS later).

The only exemption I can vouch for is Viewfinder Photography (UK) foldable octas, those things are REALLY well made and they are pretty neutral, I can recommend them.

Good brands:
Chimera, Photoflex, Calument, Elinchrom, Profoto, Viewfinder Photography (UK).

Avoid like the plague:
Interfit, Visico and no name brands (unless there is some specific recommendation from people around here).

Excellent info; thanks, Eduardo!

One more thing, cheaper variants usually come with crappy grids. Photoflex grids are very nice for the price. Other brands can get quite expensive. Chimera has options for front diffusion material like 1/2 stop 1/4 stop unlike other brands. Elinchrom boxes don't have grid options from what I hear on POTN.

If buying photoflex I would but the ones with silver/white insert options. So you can put silver insert if you need little more punch. I have the basic litedome model of 24x36 softbox. The 5' octa that I have did come with silver and gold inserts. Never used gold but silver is quite nice.

Another good brand is Larson.

The reason I stay away from anything other than Westcott, or Chimera, is that I have had lesser boxes and some umbrellas take a crap during a shoot. I have had Photoflex loose the shiney silver from the inside, and some other brands just not fit as well. You need to know that if a model dumps the lamp and stand over that the softbox is going to take the hit without tearing. Save your pennies get the good stuf used if you can. You can spend all day getting referrals from others, but in the end how many times do you want to buy the gear. I just had a westcott reflector bust the main spring on pop up. I called them, they told me that it was 10 years old and way out of guarentee. They gave me a great coupon to use when I re bought and it came to nearly 40% off. My gear gets used all the time, and in a 40 knot wind it's kind to it. But it keeps on going.