Wescott Apollo biting the dust, what replacement?

ding76uk

ding76uk

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Carl
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After many years of trusty service, my Wescott Apollo 28" is beginning to come apart at the seams (literally).

Having moved to Godox AD360 for portable work and planning to add a 200 at some point, I am seeking a replacement. I have seen the Westcott Rapid box, but the price is a little steep to say the least (When I bought by Apollo, it was $2 to the £).

I guess the question is, is it worth it? And what alternative are there in an around 28" Softbox that goes up quickly and folds nice and small. Ideally a grid would be nice, but far from essential. I need it to survive a beating though, prefer to pay for something good rather than pay twice.

So what are my options?
 
There's loads of cheap clones of the Westcott design, IIRC Lastolite do an expensive clone.

I personally find the Westcott style a pain (you need a knuckle on the stand to get an angle) and so I prefer a pop up box with rear mounted flash.

But with a decent budget, have a look at the Lencarta folding BD.
 
If you want to go cheap this time, there are tons of Neewer fold-up softboxes with S-mount adapter on Amazon. They don't come with grids though.
 
simonbarker said:
What was special about the Apollo?
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It was unique when it was launched. But it's been cloned by the boatload. It was better built than all the clones, but I can't see the benefit for the premium charged.

I think the Godox copy (improvement) of the Lastolite pop up is a better product, as well as being a lot cheaper.
 
Cistron said:
If you want to go cheap this time, there are tons of Neewer fold-up softboxes with S-mount adapter on Amazon. They don't come with grids though.
Click to expand...

Most of them don't, however after searching around on Amazon and eBay I found this one back in Feb that does come with a grid. It's a good grid too (there are two basic types of construction for fabric grids: fully sewn joins like this one, or the type where they just cut slits half-way in both strips at the intersections and then put one stitch in. Those come apart very easily - usually while your pulling them off the softbox, and tend to be made from very flimsy, slightly shiny material).

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B016MKKAXI/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Currently out of stock though. The clamp for the speedlight also takes Bowens mount modifiers too which is nice.
 
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Yes.:D

If you can find one with a grid its worth the extra (I bought a Lencarta grid and had to DIY to fit)

Here
 
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