Westcott 5 Foot Octabank with a Canon EXII Flash

[jims pictures]

<p>Hi All:<br>

I'd love to give this softbox a try but two salesmen were dubious it would give sufficient light using only one flash. (I'd be photographing portraits in my living room.) Also there might be a problem with triggering the flash using the Canon IR system. I just can't do radio triggers: the cost of them alone is as much as the octabox.<br>

Any experience/comments or sugestions? Thanks for your advise.<br>

Jim C.</p>

<p> </p>

[sheldonnalos]

<p>My guess is you'd be somewhere around ISO 100 at f/4-5.6 at 6 feet at full power on a 580EX II. That would mean shooting at ISO 400 or 800 if you wanted decent depth of field and were shooting a larger group. You could run into ambient room light problems if you pulled the flash back enough from the subject, forcing you to open the aperture. You'll also be stuck with very slow recycle times since you'd be shooting at or close to full power.</p>

<p>IR triggering indoors shouldn't be too bad if you can keep the rear of the flash exposed and in line of sight with your tirgger.</p>

<p>Mounting the softbox on the stand would require a speedring as well as some sort of grip to allow you to angle the softbox up/down when the speedring is screwed onto the stand.</p>

<p>Honestly, I'd take the 500 or so this will cost you and put it into a slightly smaller softbox and a proper studio strobe. Heck, even a nice big 60" shoot through umbrella would give good light. I think a 60" Photek Softliter II plus an Alien Bee B400 would be hard to beat for bang-for-the-buck if you want a big soft light source.</p>

[cabbiinc]

<p>The problem with a softbox and Canon's IR system will be the line of sight. If the flash is inside the softbox then it'll be hidden from the master. If it's behind the softbox then you'll have to be mindful of where the master is in relation to the slave, limiting your motion as a shooter. You could shoot with an umbrella instead, it will allow you to not block the master from the slave and still give you the big diffused light you're after.</p>

<p>What do you have now?</p>

[jims pictures]

<p>Thanks very much for your detailed answer. I'm not a pro at all, and have just gotten into portrait photography. I have three 580EX II's bought over a period of time. Up to now all the other ways of lighting are unfamiliar to me and over my head. But, that was true with the lights I use untill I had read a couple of books on Canon flashes.<br>

I'd really like to 'step up' into the full lighting 'thing'. But up to know I didn't know where to begin. Your answer is a real help. I'll do a search right now on your sugesstion. Is there anything else important I need to know about this form of lighting? Thanks again.</p>

[jims pictures]

<p>I forgot to add I have a Canon 5D Mark II with the three 580's...</p>

[devon_mccarroll]

<p>That's a huge softbox to try to use with a speedlight. I agree with the previous poster who suggested putting your money into a studio light and smaller softbox, or even a large umbrella to start.</p>

[jims pictures]

<p>I just did some research and bought the setup Mr. Nalos (above) sugessted. Thanks for the tips.<br>

Jim C</p>

[scott_ferris]

<p>I'd have recommended a 25 ft ETTL cord, and ganged two flashes in the softbox of your choice. You would retain full control of all three flashes even in groups and/or manual as well as ETTL from your camera flash menu.</p>

[sheldonnalos]

<p>Congrats Jim, glad I could be of help. I think you'll really like the light from the AB400/Softliter combo and it will help you decide if you want to dive deeper into studio lighting. If not, both items hold their resale value very well.</p>

[jims pictures]

<p>Hi Mr. Ferris:<br>

I didn't think of ganging two 580's together? Is it a DIT kind of thing?<br>

Jim C.<br>

</p>

[r._nelson]

<p>I have seen a light stand product recently that allows the ganging of two (maybe more) speed lights to be used with a single, large softbox. I can not recall the brand, but I know they exist. Reviewing some of the bigger photog supplier web sites should uncover some type of product like that. It's just a type of stand adapter.</p>

[scott_ferris]

<p>There are loads of multi flash brackets around, Lastolite make several Tri-brackets and the best I have seen is the Four Squared, it can take up to four, obviously, and even two clamshelled umbrellas, but for my use inside 50" Westocott Apollo's I just use a $1 strap bracket from any DIY store. I also made up a 50 ft ETTL cord from a $10 Cat5e cable, works really well if you can live with a cord.</p>