Help needed......Reflectors and diffusers

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Alan Gibbs
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Hi Folks , I am heading for a Job interview next week for a company that manufactures reflectors and diffusers . I am after any feed back of your experiences good or bad , recommendations of brands and their quality . What would help you ? better sizes, better/more durable fabrics , easier packaging , I have the expertise to make and assemble them but I honestly don't know the market very well so any comments at this point would be incredibly useful. Thanks in advance .
Al
 
I currently use products made by an array of manufacturers. What's important to me is as follows: quick to deploy, durable, does what it is supposed to, sensibly priced not the cheapest but value for money, storage bag included. As for sizes and variations in design I generally have no issue finding what I need.
I have a number of Lencarta, Pixapro, Phot-R, Neewer, ect all chosen as they do what I need them to and don't fall apart after a few uses.
 
If it's a company that actually manufactures them then it might be better if you don't talk about brands, because you may not be telling them what they want to hear:)
Within China, the best ones are made by a firm in Eastern China, a couple of hundred km from Shanghai, and their main competitor (but not as good) is in the same town. I have been to these factories. Then there are an unknown number of other firms that make much cheaper ones.
The best ones are made from materials from Vietnam.

What matters is the quality of the materials, especially the spring steel rim, size/shape and having handles fitted to them, especially on the larger sizes.
[QUOTE="Phrasemaker, post: 8001496, member: 84677"
I have a number of Lencarta, Pixapro, Phot-R, Neewer, ect all chosen as they do what I need them to and don't fall apart after a few uses.[/QUOTE] None of which actually make these products.
 
If it's a company that actually manufactures them then it might be better if you don't talk about brands, because you may not be telling them what they want to hear:)
Within China, the best ones are made by a firm in Eastern China, a couple of hundred km from Shanghai, and their main competitor (but not as good) is in the same town. I have been to these factories. Then there are an unknown number of other firms that make much cheaper ones.
The best ones are made from materials from Vietnam.

What matters is the quality of the materials, especially the spring steel rim, size/shape and having handles fitted to them, especially on the larger sizes.
[QUOTE="Phrasemaker, post: 8001496, member: 84677"
I have a number of Lencarta, Pixapro, Phot-R, Neewer, ect all chosen as they do what I need them to and don't fall apart after a few uses.
None of which actually make these products.[/QUOTE]
What I take from that is that you never know where what you buy is actually made (Why would you want to know). Just go with a seller you trust.



Lencarta. :)
 
What I take from that is that you never know where what you buy is actually made (Why would you want to know). Just go with a seller you trust.

Not entirely accurate, you go with certain brands and you can rely on a certain level of support, i.e. if I bought a Bowens softbox from 20+ years ago I could still get the correct diffuser with the proper colour correction up till the point they were liquidated.

Which might be a good argument that's the wrong priorities but it always seemed to me to be a selling point for the brand versus a lot of Chinese firms on the other side of the argument who will change materials/design almost on a whim because it's convenient for them.
 
Not entirely accurate, you go with certain brands and you can rely on a certain level of support, i.e. if I bought a Bowens softbox from 20+ years ago I could still get the correct diffuser with the proper colour correction up till the point they were liquidated.

Which might be a good argument that's the wrong priorities but it always seemed to me to be a selling point for the brand versus a lot of Chinese firms on the other side of the argument who will change materials/design almost on a whim because it's convenient for them.
Fair point, but the world has changed totally, and there is no longer room for Companies that sell at ridiculously high prices, based on the mistaken belief that their customers will be loyal to them for ever, and on the equally mistaken belief that their products are vastly superior to those of their competitors.
Reflectors are a case in point - it's a low tech market and therefore there are pretty well no entry barriers to it, which means that the market is saturated and it's hard to get sales on products that are obviously better than something that costs just a pound or two less. In addition, just about everyone has one (or several) and because of this the market for them is collapsing, just as the market for cheap, throwaway flashguns has all but died.

And, don't make the mistake of assuming that "made in China" translates to "badly made from crap materials" - that changed years ago!
 
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