Cool Cheap Folding softbox fixtures/quick setup - Good Buy?

J

Jackson Miller

Well-known member
Hi, I was about to purchase a few of these cowboy studios folding/quick setup softbox fixtures but I wanted to see what you all thought of them first. You basically unfold the collapsable softbox and the fixture is already in there. Just screw in the bulb and you are good. Seems like a nice alternative to china balls when you want a bit more control:

http://www.cowboystudio.com/product/c09/p0907-31.php

http://www.cowboystudio.com/product/c09/p0907-29.php

Am I missing something or is it a nice buy? The combination of cheapness and speed/portability is looking really attractive.
 
I'm not the most technical when it comes to lights, but it looks like those are strobes (read: flash) for still photography. It also says that they only hold an 85 watt bulb. Not sure if that low wattage is a still photo thing or not... I'd be interested in hearing what more experienced lighting techs have to say.

These are very similar to the Lowell Rifa lights (which are $1000+).
 
They are not strobe's they are continuous for photo and video and only accept flourescent bulbs. The thing is flourescents have low power draw so a 100 watt flourescent (the octagon one holds up to 108 watt bulbs), is going to be about as bright as a 300 watt halogen with softbox.
 
I also noticed the rifa thing. Rifa's are not flourescent though and you can leave the bulb in when you fold them up. These are still pretty cool though.
 
Oh yeah sorry I did hear about those but forgot because we used a rifa on my last shoot and it was the old kind. I think these are pretty damn close though for such a cheap cost. The only thing is I asked if one of the halogen adapted bulb things from filmtools woul work and they said it would get too hot. I am thinking if you extended the bulb farther out however with some sort of adapter it could work since halogens are smaller anyways.

EDIT:

Here is a vid showing how to set up the light:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7_WHBIQ4FI
 
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