First, I don't own one so take this with a grain of salt. It provides a nice light and a round catch light. But apparently they are pretty fragile and can break pretty easily. I have a Apollo Medium which is smaller, but perhaps built a little better because I don't see as many people complaining about the build quality of the Medium.
If I was in the market for a flash compatible softbox right now, I would probably go with the Westcott Apollo 50" softbox. It is normally $250, but on sale right now for $169. So it is a little more expensive than the orb, but a real bargain at that price. It is much bigger than the Orb, and the build quality is much higher apparently.
Downsides to the 50" - no grid is available from Westcott, square catchlights, large size (think a 50" TV, but a little bigger and square). But the upside is that it provides a nice light and is large enough to do full length portraits or group shots.
sic0048 wrote:
...If I was in the market for a flash compatible softbox right now, I would probably go with the Westcott Apollo 50" softbox. It is normally $250, but on sale right now for $169.
I'm so glad I didn't order one earlier; I've got some extra cash coming today that's not allocated, plus it's on sale, so win/win for me.
sic0048 wrote:
...Downsides to the 50" ...square catchlights...
Square catchlights aren't a big deal to me (and in fact sometimes they're what I want), but if I absolutely needed round catchlights and only had a square soft box available I would just make a square mask with a round opening for the front of the box.
I did just that for my 28" Apollo before I got a 20" dish, and it worked well.
