Lencarta 150 folding octa box (piccies)

JonathanRyan

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I have a new toy :) It's a Lencarta 150cm folding octa box. I used it seriously for the first time yesterday and thought I'd post a few thoughts along with some pictures.

This isn't a review - just some nice stuff to look at.

First off, the octa box is huge. Like really big. 150 cm doesn't sound that much until you realise that's wide as well as tall. You'd have to be really stupid to try to use one of these on your own on location. Which is of course exactly what I did.

Although it's very big and bulky, I was extremely glad I had the folding version. Set up it's hard to fit through a doorway and it was nice to be able to collapse it quickly and get it from one room to another.

All pictures are straight out of camera (for lighting shots there's really no point showing edited pics). I didn't use the "circular mask" or the grid. i did use the double diffusers for all shots. In all cases (apart from the marked one) the octa is the sole light source in the picture.

No comments on the models please. These are totally unretouched images of amateur models and I'd never normally present them like this. Tell me my light sucks if you like but don't critique them.

First up- Magic Max

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A 150 is plenty to light a full length subject. You can see a small amount of light coming in the window but it's not really contributing to the exposure - just a bit of colour in the b/g.

Red shoes

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This is really just to show the size of the octa and the spread of the beam. It's feathered up and back - note the shadow lines on the floor and ceiling.

[Extra light here from the right on the shoes.]

Feathers.

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Often I'd use a clamshell approach for embellishments like this. Or a beauty dish and triflector. This is just the octa shoved in close to make sure the shadow under her chin is filled.

Jewels

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More embellishments and again I'm tilting the box up and back so that it lights both the model and the background. It's feathered to her so she gets more light and then the spare light hits the wall and ceiling.

Coco

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(Yes this is SOOC - I use a custom B&W profile in the camera to shoot straight to B&W)

A little bit blown on the earring and slightly softer than I'd like but I can fix both of those in post. In fact I probably won't use this shot at all - there are a couple shot in colour that I much prefer but if I converted them to B&W it would be cheating ;)

Tough carrying a big octa around. But not as tough as it would have been carrying 2 lights or using a reflector :)
 
That isn't fair - can't I even make positive comments on the models? Especially one of them:)

Have you tried it with the circular mask and/or the grid yet?
 
Let me guess.....is it Max?

Not tried the circular mask or grid yet. I'll have to play some more :)
 
I have a new toy :) ... You'd have to be really stupid to try to use one of these on your own on location. Which is of course exactly what I did...

Not even close to being potty. There was a bloke on here that took a couple of wedding dresses for a swim! :lol:

The light quality has got a great look to it!
 
I was expecting some pictures of the octo' :)

I would have looked on the Lencarta site, but last time it felt as if it was powered by budgies (slooooow) - which seem to have since died.

Paul
 
Nah - I leave the boring product shots to Garry ;)

This is the guy who thinks he's working on the Lencarta stand at Focus next week, but what he doesn't know yet is that he's going to be giving demos on how to photograph softboxes:)
I was expecting some pictures of the octo'

I would have looked on the Lencarta site, but last time it felt as if it was powered by budgies (slooooow) - which seem to have since died.
Paul

The website can be painfully slow sometimes, it's driving driven me mad, but it's all moving to a brand new Ferrari type server which I'm told will do 0 - 62 in 3.14777r seconds:) The move was planned for last weekend but didn't happen because the new server wasn't ready, the move will now take place either immediately before or immediately after Focus.

The 150cm folding softbox is here, shown with the included removable round mask that produces perfectly round catchlights - Jonathan didn't use it in his shots. Without the mask, it's an octa.
 
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How does it attach to the flash head? I use Multiblitz Heads and this size of standard brolly but would like something I can get closer to the subject for better 'wrap'. Hate standard softboxes - well setting-up and stripping down - I am considering a Lasolite Megalite at the moment.

Paul
 
It's Bowens s-fit compatible - so it hangs on the front of Lencarta lights (including the Safari) really nicely.

I'm pretty sure Multiblitz use their own mount :(
 
It's Bowens s-fit compatible - so it hangs on the front of Lencarta lights (including the Safari) really nicely.

I'm pretty sure Multiblitz use their own mount :(

They do, but maybe one of these will do the job if it's a Multiblitz flash gun, but if it's a Multiblitz studio head I don't have an answer
 
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They do, but maybe one of these will do the job if it's a Multiblitz flash gun, but if it's a Multiblitz studio head I don't have an answer

Studio heads - in the past I have made adaptors to utilise other makes of reflectors (when I've found an absolute bargain - like a beauty dish for £5) and it probably wouldn't be too much of a problem to graft the front of that unit onto an old speed-ring plate - but given the cost, time...other solutions would make more sense. Thanks anyway.

Paul
 
Just grabbed a folding 1200mm Octobox after a very helpful chat with Garry.

I love it, soft portable portrait lighting without a central hotspot and beautifully complimented by a camera mounted 430 ex11 with a Lastolite mini softbox as fill.

A very portable little portrait set up when used with a collapsible Lastolite folding background - don't buy the single background stand though, slow to assemble, difficult to reach the top to fit the background, much better a cheap light stand, a simple homemade hook for the top loop and a couple of plastic clamps to lock the bottom off to the stand legs.

I hope the umbrella release gets easier over time though, it's currently tough on the fingers.
 
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Just grabbed a folding 1200mm Octobox after a very helpful chat with Garry.

I love it, soft portable portrait lighting without a central hotspot and beautifully complimented by a camera mounted 430 ex11 with a Lastolite mini softbox as fill.

A very portable little portrait set up when used with a collapsible Lastolite folding background - don't buy the single background stand though, slow to assemble, difficult to reach the top to fit the background, much better a cheap light stand, a simple homemade hook for the top loop and a couple of plastic clamps to lock the bottom off to the stand legs.

I hope the umbrella release gets easier over time though, it's currently tough on the fingers.

John, are you using the bowens speedlight adaptor garry advised? how are you finding it?
 
Just grabbed a folding 1200mm Octobox after a very helpful chat with Garry.

Did the conversation go "yeah, you'd have to be really stupid to try to use the 150 on location..."? :D

Re collapsing them: take the box off the light and put it mount side down on a firm surface. Then put your hand and some weight on the ring you slide to push it up. That frees the lock and makes it much easier to collapse.

Watch your hands though - I did one shoot with blood running from my hand from a feisty strip box.
 
Kieran, sorry been away. Yes The bowens adaptor fits the Elemental head perfectly if that's what you needed to know.
 
I thought the idea of the octa and large light sources in general was to give SOFT light.. these look quite hard to me..
 
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