EL Octa

TMR Design wrote in post #10428960
You can't discourage me Brendan.

One day I'll have the Octabank and it will be used almost exclusively on location.

Oh Robert, nothing discourages you. You are superman!

Just remember to hire an assistant for using it outdoors. I've seen the thing fly while attached to an Avenger boom. We're talking 30lbs of heavy hardware mid air. Scary stuff.

mumbles wrote in post #10429661
Oh Robert, nothing discourages you. You are superman!

Just remember to hire an assistant for using it outdoors. I've seen the thing fly while attached to an Avenger boom. We're talking 30lbs of heavy hardware mid air. Scary stuff.

I don't think I would set up the Octa is there was wind but I am always very well prepared for a mid to reasonable breeze. In addition to the stands or hardware use to support the light and modifier I always have anywhere between 45 and 90 pounds of dead weight at the bottom of the stand.

rab777 i have the c231 stand and it works fine for the 74" octa, it will be low enough for your 8' ceiling and be tall enough if you get more room.here is link that i have and others have found usefull to better hold the octa
http://www.symbolphoto​.com …tabank-and-modifications/
standing in front of it will also work well

i just realized the credit for the mod goes to mumbles

mumbles wrote in post #10429589
Kelby is a fan: http://www.scottkelby.​com/blog/2009/archives​/4193

Didn't realize he was, great link. Thanks!

mumbles wrote in post #10429661
Oh Robert, nothing discourages you. You are superman!

Just remember to hire an assistant for using it outdoors. I've seen the thing fly while attached to an Avenger boom. We're talking 30lbs of heavy hardware mid air. Scary stuff.

I'll be sure to have some live weight nearby to arrest it's penchant for flight.

FJ LOVE wrote in post #10430306
rab777 i have the c231 stand and it works fine for the 74" octa, it will be low enough for your 8' ceiling and be tall enough if you get more room.here is link that i have and others have found usefull to better hold the octa
http://www.symbolphoto​.com …tabank-and-modifications/
standing in front of it will also work well

Looks like a great mod but I have a rather notorious, and somewhat well deserved, reputation for destroying things whenever I use power tools. =)

Is there a similar stand perhaps that would work well without the mod?

you don't have to do the mod to use the stand, the mod i linked to just holds the octa in place better than the factory mount and all you have to do is drill a hole, if you find your octa slipping out of position that's the solution.

TMR Design wrote in post #10428375
An owner of the 74" Octa will have to chime in with the exact numbers but as a reference, the 53" Octa only measures 48" from side to opposite side and a little more than 49" from corner to opposite corner. I'm not sure where the 53" measurement comes from.

If that's an indicator then the 74" Octa, at best, is 74" from corner to corner and that makes it very usable in a space with an 8 foot ceiling. It's certainly not ideal and you're not going to get more than another foot to a foot and a half of height but it can work.

Like with the older measures of the Softlighter II (they added like 9 inches of size to the 45" softlighter II of course it was until people complained that it wasn´t true when they decided to start saying the real measures).

I am beggining to think there is a special measure tape for lighting modifiers manufacturers that uses some sort of quantic science to add size to things based on worm holes or shifts in time and space =P!!!

FJ LOVE wrote in post #10433554
you don't have to do the mod to use the stand, the mod i linked to just holds the octa in place better than the factory mount and all you have to do is drill a hole, if you find your octa slipping out of position that's the solution.

thanks for clarifying. just ordered one and am going to give the mod a try.

Holy crap I just saw the price of the 74" octa on bhphoto and put my wallet away

ed. wrote in post #10439024
Holy crap I just saw the price of the 74" octa on bhphoto and put my wallet away

It's the only EL modifier that's cheaper to buy here

OK, cool, got the midi octa and the deep octa setup. They take a lot of room

Taking them out for a band shoot on Saturday with the Quadras. Should be fun.

I may be a little late, jumping into this discussion, but I recently to the 74" octa and have it setup in a room with 7.5' ceilings as we speak. It's definitely manageable, although I won't exactly be hanging it from a boom in there! I just received the Avenger D200 grip and will be doing the mod soon myself.

ed. wrote in post #10439024
Holy crap I just saw the price of the 74" octa on bhphoto and put my wallet away

I bought it from b&h. When you add it to your cart the price goes down about 10%, but my wallet is still moaning.

sdipirro wrote in post #10441321
I may be a little late, jumping into this discussion, but I recently to the 74" octa and have it setup in a room with 7.5' ceilings as we speak. It's definitely manageable, although I won't exactly be hanging it from a boom in there! I just received the Avenger D200 grip and will be doing the mod soon myself.

Thanks for replying, glad to know someone has been able to use it with limited height ceilings. Do you happen to have any pics online that you've taken with it?