Octaboxes

nikonal

nikonal

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Why are Octaboxes/Strip Light boxes so expensive?

I'm thinking about the Elinchrom ones in particular, considering what they are and made of, you'd have thought that they'd come down in price a bit by now.

Surely the actual lights/lamps etc is where the more expensive technology is?
 
nikonal said:
Why are Octaboxes/Strip Light boxes so expensive?

I'm thinking about the Elinchrom ones in particular, considering what they are and made of, you'd have thought that they'd come down in price a bit by now.

Surely the actual lights/lamps etc is where the more expensive technology is?
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I think there is certainly a difference in build quality, particularly between the cheapest and most expensive. Also the quality of light they produce also is quite different. However there are a lot of middle ground softboxes that are excellent all round performers.
Also don't forget that the 'folding' variety are very much more expensive again!"
 
I LOVE my Octabox, but I almost cried when I saw a tiny little tear on it the other day.
I then priced replacing it and forgot how much I actually paid for it....I must've just wiped that from my memory!!
 
They do last really well if looked after... I purchased a couple of the 130x50 copies from the net, As soon as they arrived I opened them and attempted to put thm together...one of the corner tabs broke as soon as I placed the rod in it ...They went straight back and I got a refund....

I'd cry too if my Octas got broken or ripped.
 
Why they're so expensive, I've no idea, but I do know, if you're going to use them lots, especially if you need to set up and breakdown each time, getting a bit more quality will be worth it.
 
Why are the elinchrome big octoboxes so expensive? Because rotalux are the very best softboxes on the market, of any brand, so they can almost charge what they want and people will pay anyway, and it'll still be worth it. Theyre just that good.

Look at bessel for budget options :
 
itsdavedotnet said:
Why are the elinchrome big octoboxes so expensive? Because rotalux are the very best softboxes on the market, of any brand, so they can almost charge what they want and people will pay anyway, and it'll still be worth it. Theyre just that good.

Look at bessel for budget options :
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What makes them the best? Haven't used the Rotolux Octoboxes, but their softboxes seem to be no better for light quality than my German or Chinese ones. The things that are different from other designs would seem to be the 'popper' in, internal diffuser and spring loaded struts and the option to use a further centre diffuser. What isn't so nice is that for many of these there is no recessed lip and you have to buy a further front 'hooded' diffuser:thumbsdown:

As for the quality of the light - well I doubt many could even tell the difference in the end result...

Paul
 
I've had a variety of Elinchrom sofboxes in the past and I'd say that most of them are pretty good (I don't include their cheapest single-diffuser ones in that) I agree with Dave that they're good products, and good luck to any manufacturer who produces good products and charges a high enough price to allow the Company to grow and to invest money in future development - but I agree with Paul, I wouldn't say that they're the best.

Personally I feel that Chimera (who AFAIK invented the softbox as we know it today) are the best - excellent design and really good quality materials. Someone asked me once what was so special about them, my answer was that when I shot fashion with them they made cheap clothes look expensive - the light is soft yet crisp, and many of the cheap softboxes just produce soft light with no crispness.

I'd place the Bowens Wafer high on the list too. The concept of a shallow, space-saving design like the Wafer is flawed, because deep softboxes tend to produce much more even illumination, but the Wafer is an excellent design and uses very high quality materials, which helps it to overcome the problems normally associated with shallow softboxes.

Most of the cheap imports are downright poor. Often, the manufacturers have no idea what a softbox is actually supposed to do and they skimp on materials to the point where the softbox barely works at all, with thin materials on the softbox body, which allow light to escape out the back, semi-transparent front diffusers that don't diffuse much and inner diffusers made of the same material but too small and too close to the front diffuser to actually work.

But I have to say that I have enormous respect for the opinions of assistants like Dave - assistants have to turn out consistently high quality work in all sorts of studios with all sorts of different equipment and usually have far higher levels of both skill and knowledge than most of the people they work for. When I did it myself I learned an enormous amount about how to 'make do' with often totally inadequate tools, space etc. It was back in those days that I formed my opinion about Chimera:)
 
I certainly agree with you regarding many Chinese designs - though I did use a very nice South Korean designed box a few months ago - but it was very expensive! For light quality I've always like Larsen Enterprises offerings after I had one of their 'Starfish' designs nearly thirty years ago - not too keen on the newer version but their 'Light Bender' looks very interesting and their soft boxes are superb for quality of light - but then at $200 for a 12" x 12" one perhaps they should be - and that's without the adaptor :eek:

Paul
 
Aha! Indeed, yes... I have a single 2x3' Chimera box that's ex-pro centre, so it's beaten and it is really something magical. Wouldn't swop it for anything :) May have slipped my mind, think I was on the end of a 4 hour train journey at the back end of a long weekend when I posted that ;) Certainly prefer chimera boxes to the similarly priced profoto ones.

I haven't used a chimera octo yet, but either way, certainly in terms of ease of use, I'm sure they won't be quite as quick as rotaluxes. The elinchrom reflector system is pretty cool too.

Maybe it's partly me as an assistant liking the ridiculously easy snap together system of the elinchrom boxes ;)

Garry Edwards said:
I've had a variety of Elinchrom sofboxes in the past and I'd say that most of them are pretty good (I don't include their cheapest single-diffuser ones in that) I agree with Dave that they're good products, and good luck to any manufacturer who produces good products and charges a high enough price to allow the Company to grow and to invest money in future development - but I agree with Paul, I wouldn't say that they're the best.

Personally I feel that Chimera (who AFAIK invented the softbox as we know it today) are the best - excellent design and really good quality materials. Someone asked me once what was so special about them, my answer was that when I shot fashion with them they made cheap clothes look expensive - the light is soft yet crisp, and many of the cheap softboxes just produce soft light with no crispness.

I'd place the Bowens Wafer high on the list too. The concept of a shallow, space-saving design like the Wafer is flawed, because deep softboxes tend to produce much more even illumination, but the Wafer is an excellent design and uses very high quality materials, which helps it to overcome the problems normally associated with shallow softboxes.


But I have to say that I have enormous respect for the opinions of assistants like Dave - assistants have to turn out consistently high quality work in all sorts of studios with all sorts of different equipment and usually have far higher levels of both skill and knowledge than most of the people they work for. When I did it myself I learned an enormous amount about how to 'make do' with often totally inadequate tools, space etc. It was back in those days that I formed my opinion about Chimera:)
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treeman said:
Don't suppose you remember the name by any chance?
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The label said PLThink, but judging by the lime green piping I think they also make the ones branded as Creative Light - the speedring was beautifully made and rotation was was really smooth. Just googled Creative Light for a UK seller - which turned out to be this little known lot :lol:

Paul
 
It's all about the build quality. cheap octoboxes fall to pieces after you've dismantled them a few times. Especially from cheaper places like Elemental.
 
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