some minor issues with my new Fotodiox modifiers

Just received my new Fotodiox 48" octabox and 32"x48" softbox. These are by far the largest modifiers I've ever used.

For the price I paid, I was really impressed with the quality of material. Aside from one velcro pocket on the octobox that I'm going to have to reinforce, installation wasn't as difficult as I heard it could be.

However, I did run across a couple of minor things.

1) The speedrings did not want to click into one of my Genesis 200 lights. Since I have four Genesis 200s, I eventually found two of them that accepted the speedrings and proceeded to erect the modifiers. It may have just been my light and not the speedrings. They are after all cheapy Genesis 200 lights.

2) These softboxes are heavy, especially with the grids on. Not sure how these compare to pricier modifiers. The weight is really stressing my Calumet light stands to the point that I think I need to counterweight them a little. It is also testing the limits of my veritcal angle adjustment knob on the strobes. I seriously have to tighten them up to keep the light from slowly descending to a low angle. Suggestions?

3) The grid on the octobox went on just fine, is nice and taught, and rests nicely and evenly on the entire surface of the diffusion material. The same cannot be said about the grid on the softbox. It seems like there is too much slack, and it is sagging away from the diffusion material even when in a complete vertical position (i.e. not angled up or down). Will this adversely affect me? In addition, since there is slack, the grid is not stretched out forming a perfect grid everywhere. There are sections of the grid that are more s-shaped then t-shaped.

Interesting news about the speedring fitment.
I've heard, though not experienced, of some of the 3rd party Bowens 'S' fit speedrings being out of tolerance but not until now of 3rd party Elinchrom-fit ones suffering the same problem. However, one mention I did come across recently said that the early Calumet Genesis themselves (ie not the speedrings) had problems with the fitment. Are yours from this early batch?

Place what value you will on this single report (I think it was on a Pentax Forum, not sure now), but this person had reportedly tried genuine Elinchrom rings on his Genesis and had problems fitting them. Ergo the fault may lie with the flash unit and not the ring.

So, unverified reports of problems on the one hand with 3rd party speedrings and on the other with the attachment point on the flash unit itself. While these are possibly apocryphal, your experience seemingly isn't isolated. No idea what the answer would be, apart from what you've already done.

Once you depart from the 'Kit' and start putting heavier modifiers on, you are certainly stressing the umbrella mount. Never been keen on the positioning of that mount, even on Elinchrom. Not that anyone else has a better solution these days. I've a set of old Courtenay studio flashes where the mount goes through the body, much closer to the pivot point of the head, and these are great. Trouble is

• They're w a y out of date and what I have is what I can get. Nothing new fits.
  
• They're s l o w and unfriendly trigger-circuit voltage.
  

Do you have a link to the grid you purchased for the Octa Box?

I own the same 48" Octa and use it on my AB800, I have not noticed any issues regarding the speedring or weight of the modifier. I would maybe suggest adding a couple of sandbags into the equation if you are worried about the light falling over.

Also here is a link to the light stand I use, cheap but I would certainly buy another one in a heartbeat if I needed a decent stand.

http://www.amazon.com …words=ravelli+l​ight+stand

Hope that helps any..