Fotodiox Pro 24"x80" Softbox Plus Grid/Eggcrate for Studio Strobe/Flash with Soft Diffuser and Dedicated Speedring, for Balcar, White Lightning, Lighting, X800, X1600, X3200 Strobe Flash Light

Disclaimer: This review is long but covers the spectrum from ordering the product, to quality and setup, to dealing with the company.I ordered two of these and have used them for several shoots already. The boxes are decent and perform well, but I was pretty underwhelmed when I opened them compared to the 4 and 5 star reviews and ratings that Fotodiox products have received.There are several factors in the 2 star rating which kind of all go hand-in-hand: quality of the product, ease of setup/use, and customer service.1) The physical quality of the product is great. Nice and durable. (Except for the cheap speed rings they sent. See below)2) Setup is slightly more difficult than it needs to be. There aren't any guide slots for the rods to go into, just the pockets at the end of the boxes. So when you go to put it together, they can tend to bend in different directions.3) Customer service was a joke. Keep reading.They shipped both soft boxes with a different designed Bowens speed ring than the one advertised in the listing. The ones they shipped were in the shape of a gear with a plastic mounting collar. And because of the gear design, there's light leak on the back where the flaps are velcroed shut. I'm familiar with the speed rings originally advertised because I already have a couple of them for different soft boxes, and they're great quality. However, the ones they actually sent were not the ones advertised. They pulled the 'ol switcharoo.I wrote the company the day after I received them (4/2/14) addressing the issue of the switched speed rings and asked for the ones advertised in the listing; in other words, the ones I had purchased. About a week and a half goes by with no response. I had noticed on the listing of the boxes that I purchased they had switched out the photos of the speed ring to the new, terrible geared design. They definitely got my email and switched the photos in the listing without even bothering to respond to my request of getting replacements. I wrote them back after I saw that now addressing the issue of both the replacement speed rings as well as the switched photos. They finally responded with a poorly formatted and poorly worded email two days later asking me for my order number which I had included in both previous emails.Needless to say, I doubt they're going to correct my order. The product is does the job but the lack of customer service makes it not worth it. I'd venture elsewhere to get inexpensive soft boxes.*UPDATE (4/16/14): Karrin from Fotodiox finally wrote me back and resolved the issue. Apparently I was supposed to contact them directly through Amazon and not the company email address. Go figure. They are sending the proper speed rings from the listing and was apologetic about the mishap, thus bringing the rating from 2 stars to 4 stars.

Ok, something's going on here with the reviews - seems these are mainly for an octagon softbox, but (as of now) the item description is for a 12" x 80" strip light, which I purchased.This thing's an amazing value - Fotodiox has really gotten its act together. I'd compare this to the industry standards (Chimera and Photoflex) but neither of them makes a strip light near this size. (Chimera makes a tall strip, but it's like 20" wide). For this look, I've been relying on a Westscott Scrim Jim Frame with a custom-sewn strip light. This is far more convenient, and nothing beats the drama of a big, thin strip of very soft light - and at 6.6 feet tall, this should bring the drama.I purchased my first photoflex softbox close to 20 years ago and I've used all kinds of them in my career. For starters - assembling ANY softbox is a small war, and the larger, the harder. This one is no exception, but it did come with very complete instructions. But it takes strong hands to get one of these together.The build quality of this beats Photoflex's strobe boxes, and is close to their hot-light boxes. The hot boxes use metal rods, as does this - but these are about twice the thickness - my Pflex metal rods look like crushed spiders (and my fiberglass rods are covered in splinters). Fotodiox really wins on the rods. The fabric is thick, the silver is thick, and it's all sewn very strong. On top of that you get a VERY legit grid (a medium photoflex grid costs more than this box WITH its grid). The grid quality is an upgrade from the chinese knockoffs as well - the border is double-thick and sewn very well - it seems equal to my Photoflex grids. That alone is a shock.This sucker's taller than me, and with the thick fabric, I'd think hard about using it with a Bowens mount or on a Novatron or something - for my Speedotron BlackLine heads, it seems fine and sturdy. It came with a good-quality speedring, that's properly sized for the box (I have small strip boxes with speedrings so big, you can't close the fabric on top). Rod-holes in the speedring are standard, not the weird "one is a loop" thing that is a big fail.The instructions rate this for up to 500 watts continuous light, too - I have some mogul-based HIDs at 400 watts (they put out about 1.5k of 5500k) adapted to Photoflex Starlights, so that's a nice bonus, and there are vent flaps on the sides. Only cheap thing about this? The carrying bag is flimsy crap - exactly like Photoflex's flimsy crap bags.The whole thing was a real shock to me - I've bought some ebay special chinese boxes to get sizes I can't find from the pro companies, and they're functional but cheap and likely ultimately disposable - but damn, Fotodiox has really upped their game with this line. Recommended.

I have to say that for the money, this is an excellent softbox, I know one reviewer had issues but to be honest I can't see what his complaint was, this is sturdy, well constructed, easy to assemble, looks the part and does the job admirably.It is just the right size for me and as such I can leave it fully assembled and put it in the loft when not required, it also ha side vents that you can open to allow airflow to the lamp if required, the whole things comes in a slim nylon bag for easy storage. Very pleased with this great softbox.

I like the size for full length rim lighting and the quality of the light is good. BUT this (less expensive) version is one where you manually assemble it up rod by rod. And the larger the softbox is, the more of a pain that is. I'd only go for this version if you can either leave it assembled, or rarely use it and have the time to assemble it each time).Otherwise, my personal recommendation would be to go for one of the quick setup versions. Fotodiox makes another model in the same size called the EZ-Pro version. That's the quick popup (like an umbrella) version that will make your life a lot easier. Keep in mind that it's a choice about the ease of use, as the quality of light is still going to be the same.For most strip boxes you'll probably want to also consider getting a matching grid, as typically, when you choose a strip softbox, you're most likely looking for a narrower strip of light for rim lighting, etc. I hope that helps!

Fotodiox 10SBXBLC2436 Pro Softbox, 24 x 36 Inches with Speedring for Balcar, White Lightning X800... ANDFotodiox 10SBXBLC2424 Pro Softbox, 24 x 24 Inches with Speedring for Balcar, White Lightning X800, X1600 and X3200 Strobe Flash LightThe speedring fits perfectly and is adequately stout. Fotodiox has a video online that shows how to assemble the softboxes. It's pretty straightforward. Construction is adequate. Stitching looks good. Light quality is good. No complaints.

I am very experienced in putting up and taking down softboxes, and have done probably thousands. It usually takes me just a couple of minutes to unpack one and zip it together, whether it's a cheap Chinese softbox, or an expensive Elinchrom. But this thing... it's insanely crazy tight and stiff, to the point where I had to really fight to get it assembled. It was so bad that I actually had to use my foot to brace the speedring in place, to get the posts in; and both to assemble and disassemble, I relied on the material really stretching.Once assembled, the softbox is serviceable; there's nothing obliquely wrong about it.But there isn't particularly anything great about it, either. The speedring is really heavy -- much, much heavier than the original Elinchrom ones (that's the understatement of the century -- think Honda civic versus Sherman tank); unnecessarily so, because why do we need so much metal/weight on a speedring? The rods are similarly "strong" and heavy, neither of which are particularly appealing as a portable solution. Also, the material of the softbox is rhino-hide thick. At least as thick as the average inexpensive softbox, somewhat more so than many.While I suppose you could dubiously call this a "feature", practically, it makes the softbox heavy and unwieldly to pack and carry. One positive is a heat vent, perhaps. These aren't really necessary with most light sources that are used these days, but it's there if you do need it.Will I keep it? I'm not sure. It's okay assembled (if heavy), it's a decent size, and it's not very expensive.

I'm actually not very fond of this softbox, and the speedring is not useful for me (wrong mount). I find the softbox material much too thick, the rods too stiff, and the whole assembly a bit of a battle to get together. My preference is fiberglass rods, over the heavy and super-springy metal ones that ship with this.So why 4 stars?... It was $24. That's an amazing deal, even discarding the speedring -- and for that price, it's perfect as a spare or extra 24x36 softbox to keep around the studio.