Softbox Love
January 31, 2016About a month or so ago I finally purchased a softbox for my speed light. I have several modifiers for my speed lights but it took me forever to decide on a softbox as I wanted something full-featured, easy to use, and fairly large. I finally settled on this Fotodiox F60 Quick-Collapse 24” Hexagon Softbox. Now I can’t judge on how this will hold up over time as I haven’t had it long, there are mixed reviews on that. It’s in the mid-price range and seems well built for the price, it does have several plastic parts that may or may not hold up well over time. But what I like about it so far is that it’s adjustable, I can angle it up, down, wherever I need it. A lot of them don’t have this feature for some reason. It’s super easy to set up and take down. I don’t have to fight with it like traditional softboxes. It’s also adjustable for a variety of speed light sizes, see image below, and has the ability to fully insert the head of the speed light so there is very minimal light leakage.
Finally the light is quite lovely (see test image below), it has an inner baffle (diffusion panel) like traditional softboxes. Another thing missing from many of these types of softboxes. I like the softness it adds but it is another thing between your subject and the light so you will have a little light loss with that. I don’t find that a problem, I think I was only at about 1/8 power on the test image below, with a reflector underneath.