Lighting For My 110

[Joseph A. Benoit]

Hello
has anybody use softboxs made by a company called WESTCOTT
iF so what is you opinon of them
the rep.said the cost $1299.00 for a SET, $699.00 SINGLE size 24/36

joe

[Steve Oakley]

yes. they work fine. you must be getting quoted for the ones with the light in the box. consider picking up a lowell DP head for around $150 and get their softbox. only downside to their boxes is that they only have heat flaps for the vertical position and they don't have velco to hold the back flaps for the long sides so I usually use a C47 to clip it back. if you don't & you use a 1K bulb, you'll be making smoke pretty quick.

[Jack Walker]

It is worth looking at the Lowel Rifa Lights. The Rifa 88 (32x32) is about $670 with stand, etc. There are also smaller units (Rifa 44, 55, 66). These are nice because they have almost instant setup. They open like an umbrella, with the lamp in place:
1Z7602513949884189

As mentioned above, the Lowel Tota light makes a great soft box light with the appropriate ring.

I have the Lowel Tota and the ring for the Photoflex soft boxes. The Tota is 750 watts in general. Photoflex makes many different sizes, including large rectangular ones that can all be used with the same light. These take a little longer to setup than the Rifa lights. The Tota light are nice, too, because they are good broad lights for raising the general illumination. They take several different size lamps and the lamps aren't expensive and they are very compact. They also can be used with the Tota umbrella or gel frame (or gel/filter can be clipped to the light). The point is, in addition to using them in the softbox, they can double in many other situations:
Lowel Tota light:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...en_Light_.html
Photoflex speed ring for Tota Light:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...for_Lowel.html
Photoflex soft boxes:
http://photoflex.com/
Go to the first menu item on the left, then down to soft boxes for continuous (hot) lights

The Photoflex website gives both retail prices and estimated street prices. It has some good tutorials on how the products can be used. The Photoflex softboxes work with their own starlights, but also work with the speed ring with the Tota and other lights.

Here is the Westcott speed ring for the Lowel Tota light:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...peed_Ring.html

Here is a Photoflex article comparing the Photoflex starlight with the Westcott Spiderlight softbox lights:
http://www.photoflexlightingschool.c...ite/index.html
These are both dedicated softbox lights, different than using a Tota Light and speed ring. They are bulkier and the lamps are much more expensive than using a Tota light. It all depends on your use. If located permanently in a studio, the dedicated lights probably provide better light(?). However, for packing up and for changing locations, I think the Tota lights are more versatile and pack smaller. If you just want a softbox, the Lowel Rifa light is hard to beat for portability and setup speed.

(One thing to note is that some soft boxes are only made for strobes and not hot-continuous lights.)

Lowel also makes some popular flourescent lights.

I am going to Europe next week for a documentary and to take still photos. I have to light a rehearsal studio, interviews, the photo shoot and anything that comes up. I'm taking 3 (or 4) Tota lights, 2 Lowel Pro lights, a Tota speed ring and a small Photoflex half dome soft box with grids, and 3 strobes. I'm taking 2 or 3 Lowel stands, several small clamps (to mount lights), Photoflex multi-disc and some accessories -- clips, filters/gels, 2 gel frames, 2 umbrellas, black foil, etc. Everything fits easily into the suitcase and doesn't go over the weigh limit. (a couple of things may have to go into the other suitcase, for weight balance) This should be able to cover everything I need in a very small package.