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12/21/2009 06:08:41 PM · #1 |
Hello again.
I'm planning in buying my first strob/flash. I'm used to shoot in a friend's studio with square and rectangular softboxes, but I never worked with an octabox.
I'm having dificulties in choosing between a 150cm octabox and a 80x120 cm softbox. Both of them are with front grid for a bit more contrasty/directional light when neede.
The major shoots that I will do will be on location (hotel, home) and some kids photos for a school. The flash unit will be a 600w one (Wallimex Pro)
Could you give me your opinion and share your experience? |
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12/21/2009 06:57:46 PM · #2 |
An octabox will give nice round catchlights vs rectangles from a traditional softbox.
A softbox can provide more vertical coverage for full length portraits. I have had some issues with this though when the middle of the softbox is a little hotter than the ends and that hot spot end up on somebody's chest or waist rather than on their head.But, by the time you get an octabox bigger enough for a full length portrait you may have more unwanted spill going onto your background.
I've used a medium octbox on my last three 4 or 5 studio sessions and can provide links to contacts sheets if you are interested. The contact sheet may reveal more about the original lighting than the final images. |
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12/22/2009 02:33:54 AM · #3 |
I have a 47" octabox and a 6ft softbox. They both rock. I personally prefer the look of the softbox, it looks more 'painterly' to me as it doesn't wrap as much as the octa. I use the softbox more than the octa in a studio since it's so big it easily covers a bigger area than the octa and the coverage is even top to bottom. I find that with an octa and it's reasonably close there will be falloff at the calves where the light doesn't quite reach. Of course, I can move it further away but sacrificing some of the softness.
I use the octa all the time outdoors though since it's about 10x quicker to set up/down. |
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12/22/2009 03:39:03 AM · #4 |
Tank you both for your feedback.
Nusbaum if you could post the link it would be great.
I've heard about the hot spot, but it was more to the octabox rather than the softbox. I've heard that if you have a big octabox (what I had in mind was 48 inc.) and it is not a very good one with double difusion pannels the centre will have more light than in the far corners, and this could be an issue.
I've never though that an octa would be quicker to set up. This is certainly something to think about when you're planning to shoot on location. |
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12/22/2009 04:27:42 AM · #5 |
| I have a large rectangular softbox and a Beauty Dish. When I do get to use my strobes which isn't very often lately because of space limitations. I usually set the rectangular up to one side of my subject and use the beauty dish as the front light. I put a reflector to the opposite side of the subject. The beauty dish is quite nice for the catch lights in the eyes and gives very nice soft light coverage. |
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12/23/2009 09:18:29 PM · #6 |
Originally posted by Nuno:
Nusbaum if you could post the link it would be great.
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This series was shot with an AB octabox and a reflector for fill. In the 3/4 and full body shots you can see the dramatic falloff on the model's legs, yes the round box was wide enough to light my reflector and spill onto the background. This isn't all bad, it's just a different pattern than I would have from a rectangular softbox.
This series used the same AB octabox, but I was using a reflector below for fill and I was only trying to light the model's head. In this case the falloff wasn't an issue and I like the round catchlights in her eyes.
I don't think there is one right answer, just try to understand the light you are looking for and then look for the modifiers to help get that light.
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