Elinchrom Rotalux

Hermes wrote in post #8318545
You'd just sew them up again The stitching can be iffy sometimes but at least the raw materials are solid enough that they can always be repaired if a stitch breaks. With the utra-lightweight materials of the Rotaluxes, I found that when they started peeling or coming apart, they were just too flimsy to repair properly.

I'm going to try and do the mod tonght as soon as I've finished adding velcro to another softbox. Should be able to put it up straight after assuming all goes as planned.

In terms of evenness, they're fairly bad unmodified, maybe 2+ stops from centre to edge. An elinchrom deflector alone would probably take a whole stop off that difference. Once they're modified, I'd expect them to be within half a stop all-over based on my other strip-boxes. I may even try modifying it so it's very slightly brighter at the top than the bottom if I have the materials laying around.

I'm most curious to see the mods. My sewing skills absolutely suck! It's funny.. I can cut and drill steel and aluminum but can't sew. How sad is that?

TMR Design wrote in post #8318743
I'm most curious to see the mods. My sewing skills absolutely suck! It's funny.. I can cut and drill steel and aluminum but can't sew. How sad is that?

that's not even a little sad. I bet that comes in much handier than sewing skills....and at least you can pass off the sewing to friends/family/cheap seamstresses. Finding someone who can work with metal is much more of a rarity.

Hermes wrote in post #8318293
I'd be happy to do it but it would be a waste of money

If you want value, the box I linked to is half the price and has a grid included (not the best grid but as good as the Rotagrid), it's taller (78") and it has a photoflex-style speedring so you can swap the bowens insert with a standard Elinchrom one.

http://cgi.ebay.com …rkparms=|293%3A​1|294%3A50

I certainly wouldn't pay double to get a slightly different brand of cheap third-party softbox.

\

Or this one 14"x63 shipped from Canada:

http://cgi.ebay.com …rms=%7C293%3A1%​7C294%3A30

HeadShotz wrote in post #8318850
\

Or this one 14"x63 shipped from Canada:

http://cgi.ebay.com …rms=%7C293%3A1%​7C294%3A30

that's actually the one I recommended to Robert in a PM back when I didn't want to threadjack. HA! look how that turned out.

I was suprised that the quality seemed to be pretty good, and I do think that I'll be able to get quite a few years out of that stripbox.

TMR Design wrote in post #8318394
On these cheap ebay boxes, what do you do if they start to fall apart or the stitching sucks? Aside from being inexpensive, how 'cheap' are these things?

Heck- I had my stitching reinforced on the Elinchrom boxes too- the kit ones anyway.

Cathpah wrote in post #8319016
that's actually the one I recommended to Robert in a PM back when I didn't want to threadjack. HA! look how that turned out.

I was suprised that the quality seemed to be pretty good, and I do think that I'll be able to get quite a few years out of that stripbox.

Depending on the mod and degree of difficulty I may go for something like that. I just want to see what's involved in doing the mod first. Then I can decide.

TMR Design wrote in post #8319030
Depending on the mod and degree of difficulty I may go for something like that. I just want to see what's involved in doing the mod first. Then I can decide.

OK, the DIY is up:- https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthre​ad.php?t=726951

Should be a half-hour job to get it to the stage I got it to. No sewing necessary either

Hermes wrote in post #8321058
OK, the DIY is up:- https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthre​ad.php?t=726951

Should be a half-hour job to get it to the stage I got it to. No sewing necessary either

you are indeed "the man"

thank you kindly.

Just saw the mod and posted to that thread. Thank you very much for taking the time to do that Hermes.

The mod thread is interesting and brought to my attention how severely uneven some softboxes can be. I understand the 74" Octalite is very even, but is it much more even than the Octabox 69"?

abdul10000 wrote in post #8331280
The mod thread is interesting and brought to my attention how severely uneven some softboxes can be. I understand the 74" Octalite is very even, but is it much more even than the Octabox 69"?

I haven't used the new 69" but from my experiences with the 74" and the smaller Rotalux Octas, the big indirect-Octa will be more even.

If you use an Elinchrom solid deflector with the rotaluxes, they will improve and give the indirect banks a run for their money. However, using deflectors inside softboxes which don't open from the back is a hassle and wastes valuable shoot time in my experience as you have to constantly remove and reattach the diffusers to get to the deflector or remove the softbox - not a practical solution for me.

abdul10000 wrote in post #8331280
The mod thread is interesting and brought to my attention how severely uneven some softboxes can be. I understand the 74" Octalite is very even, but is it much more even than the Octabox 69"?

I've done very unscientific tests on the 69" here:
https://photography-on-the.net …hp?p=8135696&po​stcount=51

I have a 53" octa on order. Once it arrives I will test it with and without a deflector using a light meter and post the results here.