Which brand you have your money invested in and will you do it again. Why?
I'm looking for soft boxes the alien bee I plan on buying but thethereare many makes of boxes out there and I don't know how to choose the good from the bad.
I bought Photoflex Multidome for their inter-changeable white / silver liners and range of grids and masks for my AB800s. Well constructed and work with AB speed rings.
iseeq4life wrote:
Which brand you have your money invested in and will you do it again. Why?
I have a Westcott Apollo soft box. I bought it because it is designed for use with Speedlites, but it can also be used with monolights like the Alien Bees. (In fact, they make a version optimized for monolights.) They're ruggedly built, and designed for easy transport from site to site. (They fold like an umbrella.)
I would buy from them again, and in fact may do so soon because the latest version has a removable diffusion screen. (The old version I have has the screen sewn-on along the top edge.)
Chimera. Bought my first one in college 25 years ago and that same box is in use today, among at least a dozen other Chimera products. Everything in their huge lineup is fantastic and very well made. I use their banks, strips, lanterns, and panels. All of which are durable and simple to setup. They have never let me down.
I have softboxes from Calumet (I use Calumet Travelites as my monolights), Lastolite, and Westcott. All are good products. But my "go to" modifiers are both Photek: the 53" octa and the 60" Softlighter. The octa requires a speed ring for your moonlights; the Softlighter is an umbrella-mount and works well for speedlites or my Quantum Qflash.
Photoflex Multidomes for construction, versatility, and color balance. I, also, have one Westcott that I got during a close-out and Westcott has good customer support (it was missing a part), but I prefer the Multidomes and own four of them.
I won a Chimera in a photo contest and have since purchased Photoflex and some eBay specials for my 3 Paul Buff Einsteins. If you want it to last forever the Chimera should do it. I think the Photoflex is the best combination of price and build quality. I saw a Fotodiox but it just seemed too poorly made to buy. I found the $20 mounting rings on eBay to work just fine with any softbox and my Einstein lights.
I use Chimera and have for decades. When I started with them I managed a dozen photogs who each had a 4-light outfit with a Chimera per light. They provided fiberglass stays which some of us were allergic to. And the tips tended to snap off if one was careless. When I complained they replaced every stay for every guy on my team with metal stays, no questions asked. I've been a fan ever since.
That said, I often suggest Westcott for people with different brands of lights nowadays because their boxes set up like umbrellas and don't require speed rings. YMMV.
I have a few rectangular Chimera of different sizes and two Elinchrom Octa. I do not feel the construction of Elinchrom can stand to the same abuse done to a Chimera.
I prefer Chimera and Elinchrom boxes. I've had horrible luck with Photoflex boxes falling apart after a couple years. My Chimeras and Elinchroms are still going strong. The silver lining on the Elinchroms tends to peel on my older boxes, but doesn't affect the light quality. I wish they would use the Chimera lining though, it's bulletproof.
As you can see, lots of good products. I have photo flex and use adapters for speedlites and Einsteins. Happy enough that I plan on buying another one.
Also outside for speed lights, 4 square is a great product.
All my modifiers are Profoto, except softboxes. For those, I choose Chimera. The Super Pro Plus line have two (removable) diffusers, deeply recessed fronts for better spill control and secure attachment of addons. The quality of materials (e.g. metal rods) and build are immediately evident. As measured with a color meter, the light is critically neutrality. Last, but not least, is the quick-release speedring option, which is a piece genius.
Chimera and Photoflex are what I use and both have held up equally well. Profoto has modifiers that are every bit as good as Chimera, but you pay a little more.
