50x50" softbox for speedlight issues

[n00g33]

Hi all.

Anybody know where to get a 50x50" softbox with a speedlight bracket?

I want to do it cheaply if I can – ie. avoid the westcott apollo 50x50.

The only solution I've found is to get a speedlight to bowens adapter bracket and stick it on the end a bowens softbox. I'd rather not pay twice though and have the whole thing in one.

Also there is the fact that I can't find a square 50x50" softbox on ebay. They're all rectangular. Anybody know of any B&M stores sell it cheaply?

cheers

[BLWNHR]

A 50" softbox is a big piece of lighting gear to light with a speedlight. Can I ask why you need one so big?

I bought this one off eBay last year and have found the quality more than acceptable. You can see in this photograph that the bracket includes a cold-shoe allowing the mounting of a strobe, the hight of the softbox is then adjusted so the head of the strobe points through the opening.

[ricktas]

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[reaction]

speedlight to bowens adapter bracket would cost around $200 too right?

[Wayne]

Upon seeing the title, I was going to suggest the Apollo 50" which I have, and it produces very nice light, and will light a large group easily. The down angle is the only drawback, and not really an issue as you just choke the bracket on the shaft, or you can buy a mount that will have the speedlite sit further to the front of the softbox.

Example here;

Bicker Group-205.jpg

[n00g33]

A 50" softbox is a big piece of lighting gear to light with a speedlight. Can I ask why you need one so big?

I bought this one off eBay last year and have found the quality more than acceptable. You can see in this photograph that the bracket includes a cold-shoe allowing the mounting of a strobe, the hight of the softbox is then adjusted so the head of the strobe points through the opening.

The bigger the better right? More wrap around is what I'm looking for with control. My shoot throughs do it but spill is annoying sometimes.

How sturdy is that mounting bracket? Just wanna know the quality for a bigger softbox. I could mod it to fit a bowens mount softbox and have an extra smaller one handy too.

[JM Tran]

The bigger the better right? More wrap around is what I'm looking for with control. My shoot throughs do it but spill is annoying sometimes.

How sturdy is that mounting bracket? Just wanna know the quality for a bigger softbox. I could mod it to fit a bowens mount softbox and have an extra smaller one handy too.

Bigger is better yes, but with a bigger surface area and spread you need more powerful lighting though.

Your 50x50 inch box equates to around 127cmx127cm = nearly 5 foot in diameter. Usually anything 5 foot requires strobes of 500ws to 750ws to effectively give it enough light to wrap around the model at 1/1 power.

A piddly little speedlight even at its highest 1/1 power will not have the output required to effectively light up the whole box. Some people try to get around this by getting the tri-plate adapter where you can mount 2 or 2 speedlights on at once, but half the time - its still not enough power.

Softbox size correlates with the amount of power generated by the lighting unit, and this is especially crucial when shooting outdoors when you are trying to overpower the sun and using smaller apertures ie. F11 or so.

I use a 1000ws Bowens monolight with a 7 foot octobox which is massive, but there are occasions in very bright outdoors where I wish I can power the flash up even more, so a 1500ws would have even been better.

[Wayne]

With what JT is saying above, I would add that the Apollo 50x50 eats a stop of light through the diffuser, and with a single SB-900 it produces a reasonably even light across the surface because the speedlite is fired into the rear of the box, and even in daylight outdoors it is enough light for most things, with shooting into the sun being about it's only limitation, which is a speedlite issue, not a softbox one.

[tim71]

Have a look at some the lastolite ezyshoe products at B&H, they also take multiple flashes