Cheetah Qbox 24

LeoLeoLeo wrote in post #9908545
Ah man now I'm stuck plum in the middle of TMR and cXThree...... I guess I could wait till the Q24 arrives and see how I feel with it on the Nano then order something else if I feel it's not right...

- How is the official stand in terms of weight / durability / portability / use for more than just the softbox etc?

It may work but as CxThree says, if it's slightly windy or he's outside in general then there are potential issues without weights of some sort.

Everyone works differently and we all have our own preferences but I prefer a light stand with a wider footprint that has the stability to stand on its own with a Speedlight and softbox. If ultra compactness is an absolute then you'll need weights or sandbags. If you can get along with something not quite as compact then you're much better off.... in my opinion.

My Lowell KS Stands have served me well for all my Still needs

What would you recommend, TMR?

As for compactness / lightweight I'm not massively fussed, but I would like to have my stands / tripods fixed onto a backpack (e.g. lowepro compu trekker)...

I'm also looking at getting a decent tripod for my camera (only got a piece of junk cheap-o aluminium one at the mo, frigging move in the slightest breeze!).... I've heard great things about the manfrotto 190 but I'm 6"1 and I've heard that for us taller folk it doesn't quite foot the bill....

LeoLeoLeo wrote in post #9908901
What would you recommend, TMR?

As for compactness / lightweight I'm not massively fussed, but I would like to have my stands / tripods fixed onto a backpack (e.g. lowepro compu trekker)...

I'm also looking at getting a decent tripod for my camera (only got a piece of junk cheap-o aluminium one at the mo, frigging move in the slightest breeze!).... I've heard great things about the manfrotto 190 but I'm 6"1 and I've heard that for us taller folk it doesn't quite foot the bill....

From his signature...hehehehe..​.

Lover of manual focus Zeiss glass.
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ROB! Sorry

Honestly, I would not trust ANY stand in the wind with an umbrella or softbox on it. If it's windy, you need weight or an assistant.

CxThree wrote in post #9909618
Honestly, I would not trust ANY stand in the wind with an umbrella or softbox on it. If it's windy, you need weight or an assistant.

+1 here, agreed.

Or you will need your one foot stepping on one of the legs of the light stand.

There is a gray zone between ultra-light/portable and stands that weigh a ton. A Nano stand is special purpose at one end of the scale. Perhaps it's good to get a medium weight stand that handles a wider range of gear under varying conditions.

I ordered a Qbox 24 last Friday and received it today. I love it thus far!

Although... the plastic wing nut from the bottom of the hotshoe clamp fell off its hex shaft - I'll have to reglue that, and unless I missed it, there were no instructions. I was able to figure everything out quickly, and since I knew where to order the soft box from, I know where and how to find the instructional videos.

This is my first soft box, and I think I made a great choice. =)

Actually, I do have one regret - I regret not ordering the Qbox 16 at the same time to save on shipping! I suppose it's best that I work and learn with this for now and then try out the smaller one later on.

just got mine too.

I ordered mine on Wed, and got it today, Thursday...wow, thats fast shipping.
Of course I only live a state away from him.

I just ordered one. I'm hoping it gets here mid week so I can get some practice in with it.

I just opened mine up and set it up. Took some sample shots of my wife, but had to delete them as she was not wanting me to post them of her all bummed out. I will take some of my son tomorrow and post them up, to show you all the results. The ones of my wife turned out ok. I need to tinker with more settings and get some other kind of lighting in the shot.

TMR Design wrote in post #9901743
While you may be able to makeshift and find ways to somehow make it work, the answer to the question is the the one significant difference between the Lastolite EZYbox and the Cheetah Qbox is that Cheetah does not have inserts or speedring adapters to use the Qbox with studio strobes. It is intended to be used with hot shoe flashes. For the most part no one really has a problem with that because once you're hauling studio strobes to a location you're not concerned about the compactness of your softbox. Instead, most people will use a medium to large softbox and only use something as small as a 24" box when using Speedlight's.

If you had your Bees and wanted really soft light then you'd be better off with a large umbrella than a 24" softbox. The 24" box will still require you to be very close to your subject to produce soft wrapping light, no matter how much power you have.

Ok Robert, so how should I do some test examples, how should I setup my shot?
I have one QBox24 and one 580EXII, should I take the shot with this on one side and maybe some natural lighting from a window on another side? Or take it with this setup straight on and have some tungsten lighting (room lights) on? What do you suggest?