Beginners softbox????

  • Thread starter Thread starter MattBoi
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MattBoi

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Can anyone recommend a softbox for a beginner like me? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Just looking for a cheap set up to get me started. Cheers :)
 
At the moment its just a standard slave flash, that auto syncs to the cameras pop up flash. It isnt hot shoe mounted as my camera doesn't have one :/ To be honest I am a complete novice at the whole "lighting" thing as my real interests in photography lie elsewhere. S any guides etc would also be greatly appreciated.
 
best bet may be an umbrella, as you are triggering using onboard flash. The reason being that if you put the flash inside a softbox, it wont pickup the slave flash. Try a cheap umbrella and stand from ebay and see how you get on.
 
Thanks! Didn't think of it not being able to pick up the flash. Ill get FleaBay hunting then ;)
 
There is always the Lastolite Ezybox (and the multitude of much cheaper clones) - the flash is positioned outside of the softbox, so no problems getting it to fire optically. Just type in "60cm softbox" into the Fleabay and there's plenty of choice.
 
Liking the look of that one Carl, looks like they've made some improvements over some of the other cheap versions of this softbox that I've seen. As I'm not quite ready to step up to something like a Westcott Apollo yet, this looks very interesting.
 
angstmann said:
Liking the look of that one Carl, looks like they've made some improvements over some of the other cheap versions of this softbox that I've seen. As I'm not quite ready to step up to something like a Westcott Apollo yet, this looks very interesting.
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Looks well worth the money doesnt it, i think im going to get one.
 
The old mantra of buy cheap buy twice really is true. A westcott apollo 28" will set you back about £90 plus delivery, but you will never need another softbox for your hotshoe flashes again...

I have a cupboard full of crappy ebay light modifiers that I thought would be a bargain, but actually are cheap rubbish that fall apart after a month or so of use, plus they give really bad light distribution etc etc.

Just take the punt and buy a GOOD softbox, trust me.

Also, having a small softbox that you fire a small head hotshoe flash forward into gives a very bad light distribution, get one that fires backwards and spreads the light out, the results will be much much better.
 
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Im in the same situation , just have one flash and have a lightspeare, does the job well and im now wanting to try a 60cm lightbox , will this work ok with just one std flash ? flash im using is the Yongnuo YN-468
 
jamesoliverstone said:
The old mantra of buy cheap buy twice really is true. A westcott apollo 28" will set you back about £90 plus delivery, but you will never need another softbox for your hotshoe flashes again...

I have a cupboard full of crappy ebay light modifiers that I thought would be a bargain, but actually are cheap rubbish that fall apart after a month or so of use, plus they give really bad light distribution etc etc.

Just take the punt and buy a GOOD softbox, trust me.

Also, having a small softbox that you fire a small head hotshoe flash forward into gives a very bad light distribution, get one that fires backwards and spreads the light out, the results will be much much better.
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I have a flea bay one and it tends to droop all the time as all the weight is on the front of the ball joint that attaches it to the light stand. Is one of the advantages of the westcott one that it does not droop because the light stand goes up inside the middle of it?
 
It cannot droop as the Apollo goes up like an umbrella so its mounted on an umbrella adapter, then the hot shoe flash goes on the adapter as per normal. Very sturdy bit of kit, but ensure that you weigh down the base of the lightstand in case of strong winds ;)
 
jamesoliverstone said:
It cannot droop as the Apollo goes up like an umbrella so its mounted on an umbrella adapter, then the hot shoe flash goes on the adapter as per normal. Very sturdy bit of kit, but ensure that you weigh down the base of the lightstand in case of strong winds ;)
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I NEVER use my flea bay one due to the droop. I wish I had bought the apollo one in the first place.
 
dubcat said:
I have a flea bay one and it tends to droop all the time as all the weight is on the front of the ball joint that attaches it to the light stand. Is one of the advantages of the westcott one that it does not droop because the light stand goes up inside the middle of it?
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Funnily enough I replaced the brackets on my Lastolite Ezyboxes with the ones from the "ebay" clones and have never had a problem with them....
 
Flash In The Pan said:
Funnily enough I replaced the brackets on my Lastolite Ezyboxes with the ones from the "ebay" clones and have never had a problem with them....
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Hmm perhaps I just need to man up and tighten it more... :/
 
Umbrellas really are a nice cheap solution.:):thumbs:
 
jockwav said:
Umbrellas really are a nice cheap solution.:):thumbs:
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I use umbrellas after not getting on with the soft box. Never looked back and too unskilled to know any better :) Ignorance is bliss :)
 
I use an intefit softbox, its a great bit of kit with 2 layers of diffusion to ensure it gives an even distribution of light. As it's an S fit design it fits on a dedicated bracket which also holds the flashgun outside of the softbox so there's no issues using triggers or wireless. It's a great box, but a little smaller than the apollo so limited for the size of the subject.
 
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