20" pop-up speedlite softboxes

Posted by Las Vegas Photoshoot Locations under
Talk about portable awesomeness.

I thought this image (taken with these softboxes) would catch the eye a little bit better than a picture of the softboxes themselves.

I picked up two of these on ebay for $80 and definitely glad I did. Packed up, they fit into a 6"x9"x2" bag, and they strap directly onto my backpack.

For me, they're great.






     I've been using umbrellas for ages with my speedlites. However, after one too many umbrellas catching the wind, breaking ribs and flashes, I started looking for an inexpensive alternative that would give me the control of light I want, and mitigating the hazards of umbrellas.


     I like them a lot.The boxes themselves twist and fold into a 6" circle, which packs along with the ballhead bracket into a 6"x9" bag.

     There's a little to be desired, but overall, they're solid pieces of kit. The black sides don't allow any  light to bleed through, like some black umbrellas. The diffusion panel is nice, and I have not noticed any hotspots from the flash firing directly through the panel, the light is even, with a nice dropoff.

     For my needs, they're great. I do a lot of my work on location, and these are more resistant to wind, pack up into small, easily portable cases, set up in seconds, and produce nice light.

I picked them up for $80 from this ebay vendor. There are many vendors, local and overseas that I found, all with similar prices, so I just picked the one closest to me in Southern California, to keep shipping quick.

At $40/$45 for one, it's something that's definitely worthwhile to pick up and try out. If these are something you can use, pick one (or several) up.

Happy Shooting.

1 comments:

On December 10, 2011 at 7:13 PM , Unknown said...

Thanks for sharing the link to this vendor. I'm a huge fan of creatively using speed lights, and making small lights look big. Perhaps all of the Joe McNally books that I've read have contributed to that! Some of my best work over the years has come from the strategic use of multiple speed lights, in conjunction with the creative latitude available using Nikon's CLS. For many applications, it sure beats setting up multiple studio strobes and modifiers when working on-location! I'm looking forward to experimenting with these mini-softboxes!

Ron
www.EtherealPixels.com