Photoflex Litedome Medium

[agresbach]

I have a canon 430ex ii speedlight. I am looking to get one of Photoflex's Litedome products to use with it. Had the fortune that my work coincidentally had ordered the XS sized one for a promotional shoot so i got to play with it for an afternoon and worked pretty well. I am really wanting to get the medium size (24x32") but am hoping thats not pushing the limits of my 430. does anyone have an experience using a speedlight of this size on a softbox in this range?

[agresbach]

no one has experience with this softbox?

[lputman]

I don't have personal experience, but I had been researching and the medium size should be fine with the 430 EX, which is what I have.

[agresbach]

Originally Posted by lputman

I don't have personal experience, but I had been researching and the medium size should be fine with the 430 EX, which is what I have.

thanks for the advice! i'm hoping it will be powerful enough. i think i read that b&h or adorama (cant remember which) was recommending people to not go higher than the small size (12x16") with the 430. once i get it i'll report back how it works

[CaptainNH]

The 430 will fill a 60" umbrella at it's widest setting, it's just a matter of how close you'll need to place the softbox.

Post up your shots - I'm interested in a small portable softbox too!

[agresbach]

Originally Posted by CaptainNH

The 430 will fill a 60" umbrella at it's widest setting, it's just a matter of how close you'll need to place the softbox.

Post up your shots - I'm interested in a small portable softbox too!

awesome good to know! another reason i was curious about this was because the medium size has an internal baffel also so its going to cut the range a little more (its removable but good to use). hopefully i dont have to have the box TOO too close. i know closer is sometimes better for shadows though. it's ordered so i'll post some pics as soon as i can on this thread

[klam]

I have the photoflex medium sized softbox and have used it with nikon sb-600 speedlight. I usually have the softbox just out of the pic frame as close to the subject as possible. I will usually use the speedlight diffuser cap and the softbox baffles, outer and inner.

Here is a pic of a friend and her dog. Used sb-600 in medium softbox. I think the softbox was about 3-4ft away from subject camera right. Both baffles used, no diffuser cap on sb-600

[agresbach]

Originally Posted by klam

I have the photoflex medium sized softbox and have used it with nikon sb-600 speedlight. I usually have the softbox just out of the pic frame as close to the subject as possible. I will usually use the speedlight diffuser cap and the softbox baffles, outer and inner.

Here is a pic of a friend and her dog. Used sb-600 in medium softbox. I think the softbox was about 3-4ft away from subject camera right. Both baffles used, no diffuser cap on sb-600

awesome thank you for the input and example! exactly what I was looking for! how far back have you found that you can have the box before it becomes ineffective with your sb-600?
it looks like your flash has a guide number of 98' and my 430exii has a guide number of 141' so this is really reassuring that this will work out for what i want !

well my dome came in just now but unfortunately i didn't realize that it did not come w/ the basic connector that the XS size did (referenced in another thread but bad customer experience at adorama trying to find this information) so i have to wait a few days now until that part comes in before i can test it out. after it does i'll post some test shots with mine as well.
thank you for everyones help!
great photo by the way!

[agresbach]

ok well i received the softbox and stand. only had a short stretch to play with it so i dont have any sample shots yet but i can say my 430ex ii definately is powerful enough to work with it. it will just depend how far back i can use it.

i am testing so far w/ my off camera 16ft ettl cable and have on order my rf-602 wireless system so i can go wireless .......but now i just have to teach myself how to use the manual mode on the flash lots of learning and practice ahead of me!

[agresbach]

ok I was home with my sick daughter yesterday and while i was playing with my new softbox, she seemed curious what it was and was asking to come up so i was able to get a couple quick shots using it. Granted, i am still pretty new to understanding flash photography but i thought they turned out ok (ignore the poor composition with me cutting off my head.....i was using my wireless remote and i found it to be rather difficult to judge where things line up when i'm not BEHIND the camera
this was using my 430ex ii speedlight on manual using about 1/4 power . I believe i had the softbox about 3-4 ft from us too but i did test it further back w/ higher power and seems to do a decent job further away too.
definately seems to do a good job so if you have the 580 flash you'd be able to bump up to the Large size easily i'd think! thanks for all the help on this.