Soft/Octa Box for Speedlite

saul01

saul01

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Hello All,

Have recently purchased a Godox TT685N and am now looking for a soft/octa box for it.

This may sound a bit of a random question, what is the biggest size I can use with a speedlite?

I may add either the Godox AD200 or 360 at a later stage.

I will be mainly shooting indoors so thinking about space is also another factor.

Budget is around £50.
 
You can use literally any size (and some people seem to be happy with the results that they get from really big ones) but...
Because your flashguns have a built in, fixed reflector, the light from them only goes straight, it doesn't bounce around off of the walls of the softbox as it should, creating less than even delivery of light at the outer diffuser, and the bigger the softbox, the more obvious the problem.
And, with shallow softboxes, the problem is worse than with deep ones.

Fitting a cheap diffuser over the flashgun helps though.

Lencarta have a couple of softboxes that I have personally tried with hotshoe flashguns and am happy with, they're both at the upper size limit IMO.
https://www.lencarta.com/70cm-octa-hotshoe-flashgun-speedlight-folding-softbox
https://www.lencarta.com/23x91cm-speedlite-flashgun-strip-softbox
 
Thanks Gary,

I was looking at the octabox from Lencarta already. In regards to the cheap diffuser, are we talking one of those white plastic ones to just fit over the head?
 
Yes, the Stofen and its copies
 
Garry Edwards said:
Yes, the Stofen and its copies
Click to expand...

I'm sure I have one of those somewhere. One last question, any pro or cons between a rectangular softbox against the round versions?
 
saul01 said:
Thanks Gary,

I was looking at the octabox from Lencarta already. In regards to the cheap diffuser, are we talking one of those white plastic ones to just fit over the head?
Click to expand...

Stofen type diffuser caps are not helpful in a softbox IMO. They do very little to spread the light around, but reduce brightness significantly. The single most effective thing is an inner diffuser panel, as most softboxes have, and the deeper the softbox, the better. Alternatively, reverse-firing designs are good with speedlights, eg Westcott Apollo style.

Set the flash head to its widest zoom, but without the wide-panel that also eats light for very little benefit in a softbox.
 
saul01 said:
I'm sure I have one of those somewhere. One last question, any pro or cons between a rectangular softbox against the round versions?
Click to expand...
Mainly personal preference, some people like rectangular catchlights, others like octagonal ones. But, square and rectangular ones can also be used to create gradulated light on a background, octa ones can't.
HoppyUK said:
Stofen type diffuser caps are not helpful in a softbox IMO. They do very little to spread the light around, but reduce brightness significantly. The single most effective thing is an inner diffuser panel, as most softboxes have, and the deeper the softbox, the better. Alternatively, reverse-firing designs are good with speedlights, eg Westcott Apollo style.

Set the flash head to its widest zoom, but without the wide-panel that also eats light for very little benefit in a softbox.
Click to expand...
That isn't what I've found myself.
 
HoppyUK said:
Stofen type diffuser caps are not helpful in a softbox IMO. They do very little to spread the light around, but reduce brightness significantly. The single most effective thing is an inner diffuser panel, as most softboxes have, and the deeper the softbox, the better. Alternatively, reverse-firing designs are good with speedlights, eg Westcott Apollo style.

Set the flash head to its widest zoom, but without the wide-panel that also eats light for very little benefit in a softbox.
Click to expand...

I did initially look at the Westcott range, unfortunately their stuff is way over my budget.
 
Garry Edwards said:
Mainly personal preference, some people like rectangular catchlights, others like octagonal ones. But, square and rectangular ones can also be used to create gradulated light on a background, octa ones can't.

That isn't what I've found myself.
Click to expand...

:)

I'll put up some comparisons one day - prolly about the same time you do those parabolic beauty dish comparisons Garry!

Only joking bud ;)
 
saul01 said:
I did initially look at the Westcott range, unfortunately their stuff is way over my budget.
Click to expand...

I only mean Westcott Apollo reverse-firing type design - lots on Amazon/ebay and very affordable, such as a 32in octa for £23 with grid. In terms of light quality this design is very good with speedlights or bare-bulb strobes, and another thing I like is you can push them right up against a wall that can help a lot in small working areas. Very quick to put up/down too, but there are some other practical difficulties. Ideally, the flash head should be on-axis or close to it, and that usually needs a special bracket. Then you can't tilt them much on a regular stand, without some kind of tilt-head extension/bracket.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B017GVB2PM/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=A14BGX6ZX454VU&psc=1
 
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HoppyUK said:
:)

I'll put up some comparisons one day - prolly about the same time you do those parabolic beauty dish comparisons Garry!

Only joking bud ;)
Click to expand...
Well, even though I've theoretically retired, they're still on my list and will get done...
Right now I'm back at Lencarta, whilst people are away, I'll be retired again from next Wednesday.
All the staff assure me that they love me being there, advising them on their priorities etc., how to do their jobs and so on, and I'm sure that they mean it :) :) :)
 
HoppyUK said:
Ideally, the flash head should be on-axis or close to it, and that usually needs a special bracket. Then you can't tilt them much on a regular stand, without some kind of tilt-head extension/bracket.
Click to expand...

Good shout that, didn't even cross my mind
 
saul01 said:
Hello All,

Have recently purchased a Godox TT685N and am now looking for a soft/octa box for it.

This may sound a bit of a random question, what is the biggest size I can use with a speedlite?

I may add either the Godox AD200 or 360 at a later stage.

I will be mainly shooting indoors so thinking about space is also another factor.

Budget is around £50.
Click to expand...


This answers many of your questions and well in budget https://www.amazon.co.uk/Godox-Univ...=UTF8&qid=1496854331&sr=1-1&keywords=godox+80

Mike
 
HoppyUK said:
Stofen type diffuser caps are not helpful in a softbox IMO. They do very little to spread the light around, but reduce brightness significantly. The single most effective thing is an inner diffuser panel, as most softboxes have, and the deeper the softbox, the better. Alternatively, reverse-firing designs are good with speedlights, eg Westcott Apollo style.

Set the flash head to its widest zoom, but without the wide-panel that also eats light for very little benefit in a softbox.
Click to expand...
I find the opposite and especially using the ultrawide panel spreads the light in the softbox making it bounce around for better "fill" of the front diffuser. The effect of using both at the same time can be discussed though.
 
soeren said:
I find the opposite and especially using the ultrawide panel spreads the light in the softbox making it bounce around for better "fill" of the front diffuser. The effect of using both at the same time can be discussed though.
Click to expand...

I guess I'll have to put up some comparisons then ;) I'm not saying that Soften-type diffuser caps are not helpful, but they do less to spread the light than you might think - less than an inner diffuser panel - and they reduce brightness that you cannot afford to lose with a speedlight. The wide panel is more effective IIRC (don't think you can use that with a Stofen fitted) but also wastes light.
 
I agree w/ Richard that the best choice is a reverse firing dish/octa type of reflector/modifier, preferably textured silver.

Even set to the widest zoom position the light leaves the typical speedlight at an angle of ~ 50*... which means for every doubling in distance it roughly doubles in size (dimensions, 4x area). And the light from a speedlight tends to be quite uneven (due to the fresnel lens) either way. This means that the depth of the modifier is a very significant variable.

The primary effect of any type of diffusion is forward in the direction of light travel. Only the light that is reflected from the backside of a diffuser can travel backwards/sideways, and that is highly inefficient in relation to the light going forward.
I've done the stofen...helps some. Stofen with sides cut out... a little better. WA diffusion screen... better yet (I'd say about equal to inner diffusion panel, but no empirical tests). WA w/ inner diffusion... best of all forward firing options for evenness IMO. But the reverse firing *can be* better than all of those options as it generally increases efficiency (comparatively) as well as providing pretty even fill.
 
soeren said:
One sample.

https://photo.stackexchange.com/que...lash-help-reduce-hotspots-when-used-in-a-smal

I think Ill have a try comparing too :)
One thing to beware of is applying conclusions from one test with one type of box to other types.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure how relevant using a strip-box is for this kind of thing, and in the comparisons it's hard to see what's actually happening to the light distribution because the images are not calibrated and pegged to a fixed brightness reference point. Some are obviously completely blown, others are not - they're all over the place TBH - so you've no idea how they'll work in practise. Basically, I don't think they're helpful, plus there are no pictorial images to support and verify the findings. And no comment on exposure levels either - which is crucial IMHO, because the light losses can be heavy and speedlights are marginal on brightness at the best of times.

Anyway, I've done a set of seven comparisons that show the effects of different methods for optimising speedlights in softboxes. There's quite a lot of it, so I've started another thread here :)
https://www.talkphotography.co.uk/threads/filling-a-softbox-with-a-speedlight.656033/
 
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Sorry to hijack this thread, but instead of starting a new one, can somebody answer this question for me please? I have a Speedlite 430EX at the moment, but will upgrade this in time.

If I am buying this https://www.lencarta.com/redline-pro-heavy-duty-air-cushioned-light-stand

and this https://www.amazon.co.uk/Godox-Univ...=UTF8&qid=1496854331&sr=1-1&keywords=godox+80
(Both recommended in this thread)

Do I need this ? https://www.lencarta.com/flashgun-light-stand-adapter

Even if I don't need it, will it make life easier?

Thanks in advance.
 
Pads1980 said:
Do I need this ? https://www.lencarta.com/flashgun-light-stand-adapter

Even if I don't need it, will it make life easier?
Click to expand...

You don't need the speedlight stand adapter because the Godox softbox you're buying has a mount that holds the speedlight and fits onto your light stand.

I think that Godox can also hold an umbrella but the adapter is very convenient if you quickly want to throw up an umbrella so I'd lean towards getting both even if you strictly don't need both.
 
simonbarker said:
You don't need the speedlight stand adapter because the Godox softbox you're buying has a mount that holds the speedlight and fits onto your light stand.

I think that Godox can also hold an umbrella but the adapter is very convenient if you quickly want to throw up an umbrella so I'd lean towards getting both even if you strictly don't need both.
Click to expand...

Thanks Simon, This confirms what I was thinking.
 
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