Which softbox to get

nog

nog

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Keith
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Thinking of getting a softbox, will be used for dog portraits mainly and often just held by my assistant, though my daughter does not know that yet. Have used flash with our dogs before and they are fine with it.
Would like something easy to use/open and handle and not too heavy as will take it out to locations at times.
Thinking of this lencarta

Or maybe the one below which has a handle which could be handy

From what I've read on TP lencarta seems to be highly regarded, though the one I've linked is 80cm and I'm a bit concerned it might be a bit big to handhold when not using a stand
Will be using a Godox 685 speed light which will be ok hopefully?

Would welcome any thoughts
Thanks
 
If your happy with the speedlight and only for dogs I think I'd go with the neewer.

But if you think there's a chance you may upgrade the speedlight for something bigger or you start shooting humans, I'd go for the 80cm Softbox with an adaptor for the speedlight.
 
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Size-wise, I would say that it's at the top end of what will work with a flashgun, and can only produce even lighting because of its deflector, without which it would be hopeless.
It's a good product, well-designed, well-made from good materials, and one or both diffusers can be removed if required, for different lighting effects. Very good VFM IMO.

Bear in mind that it's designed for a flashhead, not a flashgun, so you'll need an adapter.

Your other real choice is a reverse-firing softbox, these are designed specifically for flashguns and do a good job of evening out the light, but most are quite cheaply made. This article may help https://www.talkphotography.co.uk/tutorials/which-is-the-right-softbox-for-you.154/

As for Neewer, they are a re-branding operation, which means that they sell other people's products, and the quality can be variable, although I have it on good authority that some of their products are now pretty decent.

But the loudest warning bell in your post is that you propose to get someone to hold it, which simply won't work and isn't necessary anyway - put it on a lighting stand,
 
Gav. said:
If your happy with the speedlight and only for dogs I think I'd go with the neewer.

But if you think there's a chance you may upgrade the speedlight for something bigger or you start shooting humans, I'd go for the 80cm Softbox with an adaptor for the speedlight.
Click to expand...
Thanks Gav, like the size for handling the newer but having watched a video and read a few reviews seems quite a bit of force has to be used when opening it which can lead to breaking the clips.
Garry Edwards said:
Size-wise, I would say that it's at the top end of what will work with a flashgun, and can only produce even lighting because of its deflector, without which it would be hopeless.
It's a good product, well-designed, well-made from good materials, and one or both diffusers can be removed if required, for different lighting effects. Very good VFM IMO.

Bear in mind that it's designed for a flashhead, not a flashgun, so you'll need an adapter.

Your other real choice is a reverse-firing softbox, these are designed specifically for flashguns and do a good job of evening out the light, but most are quite cheaply made. This article may help https://www.talkphotography.co.uk/tutorials/which-is-the-right-softbox-for-you.154/

As for Neewer, they are a re-branding operation, which means that they sell other people's products, and the quality can be variable, although I have it on good authority that some of their products are now pretty decent.

But the loudest warning bell in your post is that you propose to get someone to hold it, which simply won't work and isn't necessary anyway - put it on a lighting stand,
Click to expand...

Thanks for all the info Garry. Will go for the Lencarta as it looks good quality, may upgrade the flash but will see how it goes. The idea of holding the soft box was to make it easier/quicker by getting the dogs to sit and then hold the softbox, rather than setting the stand up and having to position the dogs in the exact spot, also saves carrying the stand. Will see how it works out.

Thanks again both
 
nog said:
The idea of holding the soft box was to make it easier/quicker by getting the dogs to sit and then hold the softbox, rather than setting the stand up and having to position the dogs in the exact spot, also saves carrying the stand. Will see how it works out.

Thanks again both
Click to expand...
A counsel of perfection . . . You should position the dog, then work out your camera position, and finally arrange your lighting.
BUT that needs both well-trained dogs and an experienced photographer. If you just set up your softbox in something like a 45 degree position (above and to one side) and at a distance, the light will cover more than the area needed and although that lighting arrangement won't often be perfect, it will nearly always be good enough. Because of the distance, the light will never be really soft but then it doesn't need to be.

You can of course try getting someone to hold the softbox but I can almost guarantee that their attention will wander and the shots that would have been good won't work because the softbox was pointing the wrong way at that time. You'll have quite enough going on to mess things up without having an unwilling human struggling with a softbox to add to the mix:)
 
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I would go with the lencarta to make the transport, assembly and storage easier myself.
 
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