Soft Box Help

[erincarter]

Looking for some advice on this particular soft box. Anyone have any experience using it or does anyone have any thoughts on if it would be any good?

WESTCOTT 28" APOLLO FLASH KIT

I am currently using 2 SB-600 flashes off camera on light stands with shoot through umbrellas. One of my light stands blew over the other day and the umbrella took the brunt of the fall...so it needs to be replaced.

I decided I'd like to get a soft box to replace it and the one in the link above is what the person at the camera store suggested.

What I'm wondering is if this soft box is going to be better than the umbrella I have been using?
One concern I have is I thought soft boxes were supposed to be more rectangle but this one is square.

Any help, thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated.

[OsmosisStudios]

I have a square softbox (most are square) that's 24" per side. It's lovely.

The thing I think you're hung up on though is that neither one is better than the other: umbrellas (shoot-through or bounce-back) and softboxes produce different effects and light patterns. One may be more suited to a shot than another. The one you choose depends on what look youre going for.

[bhursey]

The 28 inch westcott apollo is basically designed for strobist. cant go wrong with it. Its on my list also.

[erincarter]

thanks guys...appreciate the feedback. I have a session this weekend with a 1 year old that I'm going to try the soft box for the first time.

[bhursey]

Originally Posted by erincarter

thanks guys...appreciate the feedback. I have a session this weekend with a 1 year old that I'm going to try the soft box for the first time.

The nice thing I hear about soft boxes is the ability to feather light. So you have a little more control over it.

[OsmosisStudios]

Originally Posted by bhursey

The nice thing I hear about soft boxes is the ability to feather light. So you have a little more control over it.

It's got a tighter spill. A shoot-through is like a light grenade: it shoots it out EVERYWHERE. A bounce-back umbrella is a bit more controlled, but still fairly smooth in terms of falloff. The softbox is a bit more precise, more directional, but still super soft. It hits the subject and falls off quickly.

[GreggObst]

Erin,

As OsmosisStudios pointed out, the Apollo Softbox will give you a much softer, more directional light than the umbrella which scatters light everywhere.

If you get the 28" Apollo Softbox, you may also want to look at a Lastolite three head cold shoe adapter. With that, you can put up to three speedlights in that Apollo for when you really need to do something like over power the sun on location. Two things you should be aware of with the Apollo is that your Speedlights are INSIDE the softbox and so if line of site problems with whatever triggering mechanism you will be using become an issue, you may need to invest in some radio triggers. On my Nikon with CLS, it still triggers the speedlight even though it is in the softbox, no problem The second thing is that there is no inner diffusion panel in the 28" Apollo like there would be in some other brands of softboxes.so you may want to consider draping a silk over the front if you require a much softer light than can be natively found with that Apollo.

I love the 28" Apollo I have and it sets up in no time at all thanks to the umbrella design inside of it. If you can open an umbrella and attach Velcro, you can set up the 28" Apollo in about a minute and a half. No rods or anything to worry about assembling.

[erincarter]

Thanks everyone. I opted to use my umbrella's during my session yesterday with the 1 year old...simply because I haven't had a chance to use the softbox before hand and didn't want to have to try and figure it out on it location considering the window for shooting 1 year olds can be very limited to say the least.

I will be giving the softbox a try this afternoon at home with my kids though...pretty excited to try it out.

[Rentham]

Originally Posted by GreggObst

the Apollo Softbox will give you a much softer, more directional light than the umbrella which scatters light everywhere.

While the softbox is more directional, it is not necessarily softer than an umbrella. That is dependent on the size and distance to subject of your light source.

Originally Posted by GreggObst

You may want to consider draping a silk over the front if you require a much softer light than can be natively found with that Apollo.

You can also avoid a hot spot by firing your flash into the back of the Apollo.