Umbrella or Softbox

[xxdrakexx]

Just thought id ask what lighting people use.

[JM Tran]

This is a very, very broad question you just asked here. Really need more details. What do you want to shoot and what sort of lighting do you have.

Umbrellas fall under a lot of different types, more so than a softbox.

A softbox will always diffuse the light and light spill can be controlled, and some types of umbrellas can act as diffused sources too, ie. shoot-through umbrellas, or softbox style umbrellas.

I have an extensive set of lighting modifiers I use for work, from a 220cm parabolic umbrella which is 5 grand and very contrasty punchy colours and concentrated light, to a 200cm Octabox which is a giant octagonal softbox for soft, diffused wrap-around light, to a 55cm beauty dish.....to a cheap 10 dollar 80cm shoot-through umbrella.

For all kinds of work

[ricktas]

I agree with JM, what you use is what you NEED to use for the particular shoot. If you are thinking of getting into artificial lighting, it is a huge area of photography, and lots of questions and reading would be in order. But without more specifics of what you want to use it for, we cannot give a definitive answer.

[xxdrakexx]

I should of explained it better lol

I just thought it would be nice to see what kind of lighting people use generally for portrait's and that sort of thing iv already spent the past few days researching which is better and i know the answer for me and what kind of light each poots out. so i just thort id see what other people think

[Rattus79]

I do a bit of product stuff here and there, I tend to use a pair of home made soft boxes consisting of a foam Vege box and some white polyester material. Works a charm for me, I find that it gives a more even light then my cheap ebay shoot through or reflective umbrellas.

Eg: