Anyone used phottix soft box

Yep, I have one - it's well made, easy to use and the "free" grid is a bonus. The only downside is the restricted tilt that in inherited from the Apollo, but there's plenty of solutions to that.

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krisuk2008 said:
do you need triggers or will they be fine without?
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I've used it with ETTL master/slave, dumb optical triggers and radio triggers.
 
I've read some good reports on this soft box, especially at such a low cost. It does lack the lip from the Apollo, which controls the spill really well on the Apollo. Mind you, for the money it'll make a great all-round box :)
 
It does, but you get an egg crate grid with it.
 
I think they're slightly different dimensions (probably to avoid being sued :)) there's a video on YouTube comparing the two, but I think it was the old easyup before the grid. The grid apparently doesn't fit the old one so they must have tweaked the lip.
 
Basically, you get what you pay for - if you're lucky. There's a bit of a war going on with different manufacturers each claiming that other people have breached their patents, and still more manufacturers ripping off the original designs, cheapening the process by using ever cheaper materials and cutting corners - and the result is that some of the copies now available cheaply are nothing more than junk.

Leaving aside the quality of both materials and build, deeply recessed front diffusers are a must. Without deep recesses, the light can't be controlled well and flare is difficult to avoid. Honeycombs don't replace deep recesses, and cheaply made honeycombs are little better than useless, the 'egg crates' need to be small enough to prevent the light going where it wants to and the material needs to be deep enough too. This is a honeycomb that works
softbox_honeycomb.jpg

Just compare it to the 'free' ones bundled with a lot of cheap softboxes.

I'm not saying that all cheap softboxes are a waste of money, just that there are usually good reasons why some products cost less than others
 
Are you commenting on the softbox mentioned in the OP Garry or are you just trolling?
 
SJRobbins said:
Are you commenting on the softbox mentioned in the OP Garry or are you just trolling?
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I'm not commenting on any individual brand, and I'm not trolling either, I'm just pointing out facts that may not be obvious to everyone
 
I was recently in the market for a softbox and considered the Phottix, but in the end opted for one from CotswoldPhoto (on eBay) as I've bought a few bits of kit from them before and not been disappointed. Theirs looks to be... umm... inspired by the Lastolite Ezybox, which doesn't have the same tilt issues that the Apollo and its clones do. After finding some favourable mentions in some of the Strobist-related Flickr groups I ponied up, and I'm very happy.
 
spjwebster said:
I was recently in the market for a softbox and considered the Phottix, but in the end opted for one from CotswoldPhoto (on eBay) as I've bought a few bits of kit from them before and not been disappointed. Theirs looks to be... umm... inspired by the Lastolite Ezybox, which doesn't have the same tilt issues that the Apollo and its clones do. After finding some favourable mentions in some of the Strobist-related Flickr groups I ponied up, and I'm very happy.
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I'm in the market for some Softboxes so i'm looking for the best deal at the moment, would you recommend these over the Phottix boxes? They are priced a bit more... But they do look alott like the lastolites to. So would you say they perform the same or..
 
spjwebster said:
I was recently in the market for a softbox and considered the Phottix, but in the end opted for one from CotswoldPhoto (on eBay) as I've bought a few bits of kit from them before and not been disappointed. Theirs looks to be... umm... inspired by the Lastolite Ezybox, which doesn't have the same tilt issues that the Apollo and its clones do. After finding some favourable mentions in some of the Strobist-related Flickr groups I ponied up, and I'm very happy.
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I've never used the cotsworld ones, but as far as Apollo style vs Ezybox style they both have advantages and disadvantages. It's easier to adjust your flash with the flash externally, and they're easy to tilt, but they're a bit of a pain to put up/take down, smaller and less soft, lose more light (if you use the double diffusion), and are more "unbalanced" on a light stand. On the Apollo side, they're a piece of cake to put up and take down, larger and softer and slightly more efficient, but adjusting the flash can be a pain and tilting them isn't as easy, although there are several workarounds, not least of which is the voice operated light stand approach ;-)

Personally I have no problem with my el cheapo chinese mini-softbox; for what I use it for it's perfectly fine and it cost next to nothing. I'm not sure I'd buy a full sized softbox from A-N-Other manufacturer I'd never heard of though. As Garry said, there's been a lot of tit for tat "borrowing" of ideas between the bigger names/innovators recently, but I'd have more faith in one of those producing a quality product (light wise) compared to something that looks similar.
 
Garry Edwards said:
I'm not commenting on any individual brand, and I'm not trolling either, I'm just pointing out facts that may not be obvious to everyone
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Well, I'll disagree as to what your post was and wasn't and leave it at that :)
 
DropDead said:
I'm in the market for some Softboxes so i'm looking for the best deal at the moment, would you recommend these over the Phottix boxes? They are priced a bit more... But they do look alott like the lastolites to. So would you say they perform the same or..
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I can't honestly say as I've never had a Phottix. I looked at a bunch of reviews of the Phottix and Apollo on YouTube and wasn't sure the umbrella style was quite what I was looking for. I did the same with the Lastolite Ezybox and was very close to buying one, then I noticed that CotswoldPhoto sold basically the same thing for half the price and that made up my mind.
 
SJRobbins said:
I've never used the cotsworld ones, but as far as Apollo style vs Ezybox style they both have advantages and disadvantages. It's easier to adjust your flash with the flash externally, and they're easy to tilt, but they're a bit of a pain to put up/take down, smaller and less soft, lose more light (if you use the double diffusion), and are more "unbalanced" on a light stand. On the Apollo side, they're a piece of cake to put up and take down, larger and softer and slightly more efficient, but adjusting the flash can be a pain and tilting them isn't as easy, although there are several workarounds, not least of which is the voice operated light stand approach ;-)
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Agreed that they both have their advantages. I often shoot without the capacity for a voice operated light stand, so being able to set my softboxes up and leave them is quite important to me.

SJRobbins said:
Personally I have no problem with my el cheapo chinese mini-softbox; for what I use it for it's perfectly fine and it cost next to nothing. I'm not sure I'd buy a full sized softbox from A-N-Other manufacturer I'd never heard of though. As Garry said, there's been a lot of tit for tat "borrowing" of ideas between the bigger names/innovators recently, but I'd have more faith in one of those producing a quality product (light wise) compared to something that looks similar.
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That's why I opted for the CotswoldPhoto one, despite it being more expensive than the Chinese clones of the Lastolite. They sell an extremely limited range of kit, and I've been very impressed with what I've bought from them thus far (lightstand and umbrella bracket). It's still a clone (they even admit as much in the description they put on eBay) but I have more confidence in the quality than I would from a random eBay seller.
 
spjwebster said:
That's why I opted for the CotswoldPhoto one, despite it being more expensive than the Chinese clones of the Lastolite. They sell an extremely limited range of kit, and I've been very impressed with what I've bought from them thus far (lightstand and umbrella bracket). It's still a clone (they even admit as much in the description they put on eBay) but I have more confidence in the quality than I would from a random eBay seller.
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Yeah, I have my triggers from him, they seem decent and he gives good service, but I'm still not 100% convinced on stuff that is in the light path, but you pays your money and all that :) I'd certainly try one before I ponied up for a Lastolite though.

A couple more differences sprang to mind:

[PRO-Lastolite] If, God forbid, they come crashing down onto concrete then you're umbrella softbox is pretty much toast, but your lastolite would probably survive, although you might need a new mount (they're plastic on lots of them afaik)

[PRO-Apollo] If you need more umph, or need to use HSS, then sticking another flash inside the umbrella softboxes with a ball bungie is a piece of cake, can't do that with the "flash though the back" style.

That's all I can think of for an objective comparison so pick on, pay your money, go shoot something ;)
 
SJRobbins said:
Are you commenting on the softbox mentioned in the OP Garry or are you just trolling?
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it always amazes me how often Gary is accused of trolling , the guy gives out lots of great advice, without his input the site would be a poorer place IMO
 
Brendan Mulachy said:
it always amazes me how often Gary is accused of trolling , the guy gives out lots of great advice, without his input the site would be a poorer place IMO
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Sure, he adds a lot of value with a lot of great posts and great advice, as well as his tutorials etc he's a great asset for sure; I wasn't in any way suggesting otherwise.
 
spjwebster said:
I was recently in the market for a softbox and considered the Phottix, but in the end opted for one from CotswoldPhoto (on eBay) as I've bought a few bits of kit from them before and not been disappointed. Theirs looks to be... umm... inspired by the Lastolite Ezybox, which doesn't have the same tilt issues that the Apollo and its clones do. After finding some favourable mentions in some of the Strobist-related Flickr groups I ponied up, and I'm very happy.
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Hi mate,
Do you have a link to the ones you mention?

Cheers
 
I've never been really sure of the linking policy here, so I erred on the side of caution. The above link is correct though.
 
Is it the one marked Zone 1?
 
@spjwebster - good point, I'll remove the link just in case. Edit - it looks like as long as I have no financial involvement with them it's fine.

@RSMarco - if you're in the UK then yep, the zones are just for different charges of VAT I believe. If you buy one please make sure you video the first time you try and put it away, it's always hilarious watching someone putting a popup anything away for the first time :p
 
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SJRobbins said:
@spjwebster - good point, I'll remove the link just in case. Edit - it looks like as long as I have no financial involvement with them it's fine.

@RSMarco - if you're in the UK then yep, the zones are just for different charges of VAT I believe. If you buy one please make sure you video the first time you try and put it away, it's always hilarious watching someone putting a popup anything away for the first time :p
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lol :LOL:
 
SJRobbins said:
Are you commenting on the softbox mentioned in the OP Garry or are you just trolling?
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Before you start accusing other members of trolling consider the post. No mention is made of any brand, just some general advice from someone who knows what he is talking about!
 
SJRobbins said:
This is a link to the store, not sure if he sells multiple types or not:

http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Cotswold-Photo-Flash-and-Studio
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Is there any difference between the highlighted above and
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/24-60cm-H...trols_Softboxes_Diffusers&hash=item483d56d32b

It's a serious question - I don't know much about strobist gear, and I am looking to get into it. I appreciate there will be a difference between the branded gear and generic pieces of kit. Thanks in advance.
 
commjo said:
Is there any difference between the highlighted above and
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/24-60cm-H...trols_Softboxes_Diffusers&hash=item483d56d32b

It's a serious question - I don't know much about strobist gear, and I am looking to get into it. I appreciate there will be a difference between the branded gear and generic pieces of kit. Thanks in advance.
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Having received mine from Cotswold Photo I can say they look remarkably similar, right down to the screen printed bag (albeit the Cotswold Photo one is branded HoBo Lighting). The only difference I could spot is that mine uses snap hooks to attach the inner diffuser rather than poppers. Other than that they look identical.
 
The silver lining looks slightly different as well but it's hard to tell from pictures. Also hard to say whether the lining being different would be a good or bad thing.
I've had the cotswold version for over a year and had no problems, but it hasn't been used an awful lot.
Think if I bought another I might be tempted by the lower priced version.
 
Thanks Steve and Colin. I'll go for the cheaper one just to check it out. I can't imagine it will get much use, but for the price it's worth a punt.
 
commjo said:
Thanks Steve and Colin. I'll go for the cheaper one just to check it out. I can't imagine it will get much use, but for the price it's worth a punt.
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Well it's arrived - will get a test out this weekend.
 
Barrysprout said:
Great, please let us know how you get on.
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I used it this weekend. I'm. I am not a strobist, so can't judge with other softboxes.

It is well made, easy to pop up and down, seems sturdy enough.

It provided diffused light across a decent range - but as I say, I'm not experienced, so nothing to compare to.

The only issue I had was the lack of sturdiness when it was mounted on a konig light stand - any tips to add sturdiness - I rested the camera bag on the base and that seemed to help.

Off to read strobist101 blog again to help me more ...
 
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