Looking to get some softboxes

[13ulletz]

Hey,

Looking to get some soft boxes for studio work. I will also be doing on location for car/motorbike.
I have never used one before but have used umbrellas.

has anyone used these? Am i being to stingy and wasteing my time? are they actually decent?
reviews on the page make them look good.

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Was looking at getting these as an alternative, i know elinchrom have a name for themselves but if i can get away with a decent set for half the cost then why not Also any comments on this set?

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looking to spend under 1k.

[I @ M]

Confusing question.

Are you looking to buy lights as well as just the modifiers?

If you already own some lights then that will have an influence on the type of modifiers that you buy.

[JM Tran]

those softboxes are pretty small, good for something like portraits and half body shots primarily. If you want to shoot vehicles I would suggest at least a 150cm to 200cm softbox, for better light spread and wrap around effect. In saying so, bigger softboxes require more powerful strobes to make the most of it. I have a 200cm softbox which is great for full body models and small groups of people, and cars - but sometimes I wish I had more powerful lights than my 500ws strobes atm.

[13ulletz]

Confusing question.

Are you looking to buy lights as well as just the modifiers?

If you already own some lights then that will have an influence on the type of modifiers that you buy.

Im confused, thought they come with lights? or are you talking about additional lights for effect?

[13ulletz]

those softboxes are pretty small, good for something like portraits and half body shots primarily. If you want to shoot vehicles I would suggest at least a 150cm to 200cm softbox, for better light spread and wrap around effect. In saying so, bigger softboxes require more powerful strobes to make the most of it. I have a 200cm softbox which is great for full body models and small groups of people, and cars - but sometimes I wish I had more powerful lights than my 500ws strobes atm.

Thanks for your response. already sounds like the ebay softboxes isnt the way to go for what i want it for.

[I @ M]

Im confused, thought they come with lights? or are you talking about additional lights for effect?

By the looks of that ad they come with compact flouro lights that would have a hard time lighting the inside of a dog kennel, I think you would be wasting your money on them for anything more than very very close up product photography.
Anything the size of a person, let alone a car will require a tonne more light than they will put out.

[13ulletz]

By the looks of that ad they come with compact flouro lights that would have a hard time lighting the inside of a dog kennel, I think you would be wasting your money on them for anything more than very very close up product photography.
Anything the size of a person, let alone a car will require a tonne more light than they will put out.

Cheers,
Just wanted another opinion.

[reaction]

if you want a soft light for something, in general the light must be bigger than the thing, esp a reflective thing like a car.

when I was at ferrari showroom they had these light panels above the cars that were the full size of each car. the light was amazing.

[Allann]

Also, a good general rule of thumb, a softbox must be no more than 2x it's diagonal away from your subject. If it is, you loose the wonderful soft effect that a softbox produces.

[kiwi]

Also, a good general rule of thumb, a softbox must be no more than 2x it's diagonal away from your subject. If it is, you loose the wonderful soft effect that a softbox produces.

I hadn't heard that ratio but yes, almost sounds crazy that the closer the light the softer it is

[reaction]

Does anyone know, for a speedlight softbox where the light is facing forwards, is there a difference btwn a softbox where the inside is white or silver reflective material?
The silver reflective would only be reflecting whatever came back off the inner baffle, which should be very little.

[13ulletz]

Looks like im going to need to research into softboxes and my needs more. Cheers for the comments guys.

[Blueywa]

Try talking to Stu from Quality cameras.
He is one of our sponsers and is down your way - Bibra Lakes I think.
Really good, friendly and helpfull to boot.

http://www.qualitycamera.com.au/