2 photographic softboxes compared

[angryalien100]

Do you mind telling me the make Octa Box you have there... I liked the vid the by the way...

[ne0rotic]

I appreciate your comparison.

[nyambe]

Great comparison. I have the cheap octa, nice beautiful light, but too even. Makes it too flat indoors. got to try it outdoors. The cheap octa is a nightmare to set up. I mean 20 minutes of fighting the rods.

[andrewbigwood1]

@nyambe

I do agree with this issue - the big advantage with for example, Elinchrom rotalux softboxes, is that they set-up so easily and quickly - especially on location. I'm always looking for set-up time as well as light quality whether it's a studio or location shoot.

[elviscritic]

A very good video.basically you need to purchase the right gear for the job in hand small strobes are convenient for portable work and can yield great results if you understand about controlling light exposure and use manual settings .soft boxes are ace in studio setups .but they are only as good as the light source used and chinese studio lights are rubbish compromise yields good ,quality yields excellence ,knowledge yields masterpieces .A good photographer can take an ace picture on crap gear.

[Photolearncouk]

Basically more clearly define shadows, which provides better edge definition.

Umbrellas (or at least shoot through ones) just produce a very soft light that scatters all over the place and reduces contrast

[Prophit7]

What do you mean crispness? How does it make it crisper? Do you mean Crisper is Sharper? I'm about to buy some new box's I use umbrella ones but wonder if the softboxs are worth the hassle of setting up. Compared to softumbrella Thanks for all your help and great video

[wondnaereh]

Rice Crispies are my favorite cereal, but they are in no way sharp! WHAT'S WITH YOUR ADJECTIVES?

[guitargirlUK]

Very useful video, thank you for posting.

[rmstudio]

That is not a fair comparison. First the light is brighter in the round one because the flash tube is closer to the front panel.. The unit is much "Shallower" than the Chimera. 2nd It has a "Reflective" silver interior.. Big difference in that!.. 3rd I can tell you the round throws more light out but its also not as "Soft" as the Chimera.. Poor way to compare the 2 boxes.

[Photolearncouk]

It isn't designed to be a true comparison - that would require softboxes of identical size. The whole purpose of the exercise was to examine whether cheap softboxes are worth buying.

The Chimera design is better because the inner baffle goes right to the edge, and the outer baffle is much thicker - the question is, do these differences justify 10x the cost?

[Photolearncouk]

Also, Your comment that there is a big difference between the amount of light produced by a white and a silver interior is wrong. I have Chimera softboxes in both versions and the difference is only 1/5th stop.

The big advantage of the Chimera is not in the softness of the light, it's in the crispness, which makes clothes look much more expensive when used for fashion shoots...

[roger767]

does anyone know the brand of the octagon softbox?

[Photolearncouk]

Walser

[Photolearncouk]

The softbox fits to the flashhead via a speedring, specific the the make of the flash, which gives a light-tight fitting and which allows the flash to support the softbox.

It is possible to get brackets that allow hotshoe flashes to be used with softboxes, but of course the hotshoe flash can't support the weight of the softbox, which will need to be supported in another way.

[hivewasp]

Mmmh... a small flash head like a sb800 would have already a built in reflector, with a lower angle of light spread; most likely it'll only go through the two diffusers, with only part of the light reflecting of those on the reflective material. Where a studio flash head has no built in reflector, with light sent almost 180 degrees to the sides. I think for small flashes the best alternative is a shoot through umbrella, softboxes are too difficult to fit and you dont benefit from them 100%

[Photolearncouk]

You're right, softboxes don't work properly with hotshoe flashes because they have fixed reflectors and so don't distribute the light well. Also, the power is nowhere near adequate for use with large softboxes. The answer is to get real studio lights, and to recognise that hotshoe flashes are a very poor substitute for them

[Selukanati]

Thank-you, but I was wondering how you would attach a smaller flash, such as a Niknon SB800, to the hardware?

[ffleischer]

Thanks a lot! It was really helpful, as we were looking for softbox and didnt know whether to by the more expensive one or not :D

[queueupladeez]

Where can we find the octagonal box?

[muziekkamer]

Tnx

[indyola]

The same applies to shining a light on a flat surface from a point source -- the corners and edges will receive less light because they are further away.

One other item that will tend to boost the edge light power on the cheapie eBay light box, is that the internal diffusor doesn't go all the way to the edges and there will be a boost beyond that edge.

[indyola]

Regarding the difference in light level in the two boxes and from corners to center:

On the more expensive rectangular box, the corners are further from center than on the nearly round (octagonal) box. Therefore the falloff will tend to be lower. Even with a perfectly even dispersion pattern of the flash on the inside and the two diffusors, the center of the box will be closer to the lamp than the edges, unless the outer diffusor is spherical with the lamp at the center of the sphere.

[Maxxumless]

Actually, the main reason is due to the first diffuser; it doesn't go all the way to the inner wall which allows more light to reach the outer primary diffuser. Thus, more light is then available at the corners.

[enigmatico29]

thanks

[enigmatico29]

thanks for your videos , im learning with them!

Im interested in starting in studio digital photo and video. But i dont know what to buy that could work in both purposes. What would your profesional advice?

Thanks a lot ! Victor

[Photolearncouk]

Basically, you need studio flash fitted with decent modelling lights. The modelling lights will be fine for video and the flash is the best choice for still photography.