Knock off Lowel Rifa light? Does it exist?

it depends on what quality of the rifa youre wanting...

if youre looking for ease of use, there may be a china knock-off. but ive not seen one personally
if you just want a cheap softbox, id look into either JTL or britek
 
wgzn said:
it depends on what quality of the rifa youre wanting...

if youre looking for ease of use, there may be a china knock-off. but ive not seen one personally
if you just want a cheap softbox, id look into either JTL or britek
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No, I'm actually looking for a similar ultra compact design-not just any softbox.
 
Here's a 2x2 foot softbox for around $100 http://www.ebay.ca/itm/800W-Continu...n_0&hash=item53f4e251e8&_uhb=1#ht_2520wt_1398

Edit: holy crap that includes the light head and dimmer too,,, Im going to pick up one of these to test. One can never have enough smaller source softboxes.

One modification I recommend and have done to a few other soft boxes is sewing some velcro along the outside of the black fabric close to the opening of the softbox, so later you can add blinds on all four sides of the soft box to prevent spill...
 
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yikes, my RIFA is falling apart at a fast enough pace... I couldn't even fathom how instantly a Chinese version would self-destruct
 
Intriguing find Dennis. As for the RIFA, it is in a special category. Build quality is superb, it collapses into the size of an umbrella and sets up in seconds. A lot of people focus on the larger RIFAs but the RIFA 44 comes with me on all my shoots. I use the tungsten bulbs. More punch and more portable which is the whole point of these softboxes.
 
I think if you're careful with some of the cheaper stuff you can make it last, also if you can do minor repairs yourself it also helps to know how. Breakage can happen even with higher end brands.. but yes generally the chinese stuff does self-destruct from time to time.

Andrew, the seller happens to also be in Canada too! Even better! What I like about smaller soft boxes around 20-24" is the versatility as they can be used in a variety of situations from interviews to dramatic light setups.

So salils, what have you decided?
 
starcentral said:
Here's a 2x2 foot softbox for around $100 http://www.ebay.ca/itm/800W-Continu...n_0&hash=item53f4e251e8&_uhb=1#ht_2520wt_1398

Edit: holy crap that includes the light head and dimmer too,,, Im going to pick up one of these to test. One can never have enough smaller source softboxes.

One modification I recommend and have done to a few other soft boxes is sewing some velcro along the outside of the black fabric close to the opening of the softbox, so later you can add blinds on all four sides of the soft box to prevent spill...
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Let us know how it is! Looks not too horrible. lol.

I think I might just build my own rifas. thanks for the comments folks.
 
Guys, you have to get more serious about safety. You gonna burn someone's property down. You get off that you can get a light with a softbox for $100... Even in those pics the softbox material looks awfully thin. Do you really think it's fire retardant? And you gonna put potentially flammable material next to 800w hot light???

My friends career was ruined because a person died on his set, hope it doesn't happen on your $100-per-softbox-with-light set.
 
Patryk_Rebisz said:
Guys, you have to get more serious about safety. You gonna burn someone's property down. You get off that you can get a light with a softbox for $100... Even in those pics the softbox material looks awfully thin. Do you really think it's fire retardant? And you gonna put potentially flammable material next to 800w hot light???

My friends career was ruined because a person died on his set, hope it doesn't happen on your $100-per-softbox-with-light set.
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Haha- that's a bit harsh, don't you think?
There are tons of cheap softlights on Amazon- worst review is that they break over time because they are flimsy. Haven't yet heard of anything starting a fire with one. However, I *have* seen someone use a plastic clip to hold a gel that was made for fabric, it started melting and filling the room with smoke- that was on a "pro" light, not made in china (or, ok, maybe it was OEM from china at some point, but not sold from China at least). I've also had a 500Watt bulb burst on set sending shards of hot glass all over the place. And that was with a reputable bulb and fixture from B&H. So, stuff happens. Be careful no matter what, you know?
 
I'm not sure I think the fabric will catch on fire, but to be honest that dimmer for a 800w tungsten bulb looks a little wimpy. I'd be careful with that dimmer and either use lower watt bulbs or replace the AC cord with a new one and use your own CSA approved AC dimmer.

I've order a couple and will let you know how they turn out.
 
starcentral said:
I'm not sure I think the fabric will catch on fire, but to be honest that dimmer for a 800w tungsten bulb looks a little wimpy. I'd be careful with that dimmer and either use lower watt bulbs or replace the AC cord with a new one and use your own CSA approved AC dimmer.

I've order a couple and will let you know how they turn out.
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Please do, I'm really interested in hearing about this.
 
starcentral said:
I'm not sure I think the fabric will catch on fire, but to be honest that dimmer for a 800w tungsten bulb looks a little wimpy. I'd be careful with that dimmer and either use lower watt bulbs or replace the AC cord with a new one and use your own CSA approved AC dimmer.

I've order a couple and will let you know how they turn out.
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Besides the fact that it's awfully small, it's a stupid idea to have the dimmer built into the cable like that too. What if it's being rigged over a dining room table? Can't reach it unless they placed it several feet into the cable. Plug it into another triac dimmer so that you actually have that control and you could wind up with flickering from having two triacs in series.

Cut it out and replace it with a switch from Cool Lights.
 
mcbob said:
yikes, my RIFA is falling apart at a fast enough pace... I couldn't even fathom how instantly a Chinese version would self-destruct
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My Rifa88 has been my workhorse light for the last 6 years, the only thing that "broke" so far is one of the metal rings in the frost fabrics corner tore...
I always wanted to get a smaller one too, but ended up needing a strong daylight option (at the cost of portability) and went with Kinos.
They updated the Rifa a while ago for usage with CFLs, but that makes packing/transportation more difficult (of course not as difficult as Kinos...).
Cause thats the best part: The Rifa fits into my tripod bag - together with my tripod and a lightstand...

So knock offs? Considering the pricetag I´d say they´re made in the US and that´s sth to support.
They also never made a big impact (at least what I can tell), so there´s less changce of attracting copy cats...
 
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