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Off Camera Flash softboxes

By Michael Topham

Techniques

15 March 2010 14:10

Years ago, softboxes were most commonly used in the studio and were rarely taken outdoors because they were deemed too cumbersome and awkward. With modern location lighting kits now available, it didn’t take long for these kits to offer softboxes of their own, making it easier for photographers to diffuse the effects of flash lighting outdoors. Most softboxes that come with location lighting systems still have one disadvantage ,though; they’re made up of lots of rods and parts and even if you’ve got the knack of putting one together, they can take a good few minutes to set up, which is less than ideal if you’re working on your own and don’t have the luxury of an assistant.

Manufacturers soon cottoned on to the fact that increasing numbers of photographers were heading outdoors, illuminating their subjects with flashguns wirelessly rather than attempting to use location lighting kits. The development of radio triggers demanded a rethink in the design of outdoor softboxes; Lastolite’s Ezybox was one of the first portable and collapsible softboxes on the market, tailored to support an external flashgun while diffusing the source of light, rather like shooting through an umbrella. The design of the Ezybox is ingenious; simple enough to pull out of its reflector-styled bag and set up in seconds, doing away with those annoying, awkward rods!

Since the launch of the Ezybox softbox, more manufacturers have jumped on the bandwagon and there’s now a range of third-party off-camera flash softboxes on internet sites like eBay, but the two reviewed here are the Lastolite 38x38cm Ezybox and Elemental 50x50cm softbox.

Lastolite Ezybox 38x38cm - £75

The Lastolite Ezybox 38x38cm softbox costs £75, comes in its own carry bag and lets you mount the majority of flashguns onto its bracket. The first series of Ezyboxes came with an adapter, which allowed Nikon users to attach their SB900. Since then, Lastolite has re-designed the bracket so that this popular flashgun can be mounted straight on. The plastic that’s used to create the bracket feels extremely durable and it’s more lightweight compared to the metal bracket used on the Elemental model. The plastic bracket fits snugly into the back of the softbox and there’s the option of increasing the height and the distance from which the flashgun is fired. At the base there’s a hole so it can be propped up on a lighting stand and the plastic screw helps secures it.

Unlike the Elemental softbox, the Ezybox can’t be tilted and is limited to vertical movement on a lighting stand. There is an additional tilt head bracket available but it’ll cost you an extra £17 on top of the £75 asking price.

The design of the softbox itself is excellent; the materials feel slightly more durable than the Elemental and it folds down with ease in a couple of seconds. The velcro that helps attach the front diffuser is very strong, and there are four small velcro strips inside so you can attach a second diffuser if required. Lastolite also offers three other diffuser covers for the box – 2 rectangular and 1 circular – which cost an additional £40.
Lastolite’s Ezybox is an excellent flashgun accessory. It equally softens the intensity of the light given off by a flashgun and it has proved its worth for us on numerous portrait shoots. The only thing to watch out for is it blowing over in the wind when elevated high but a bit of extra weight on the base of the lighting stand can prevent this from happening. Next time you’re at the beach don’t forget to pick up a plastic bag full of pebbles!

Elemental 50x50cm - £50

The Elemental portable 50x50cm softbox comes in a smaller carrying case than the Ezybox, which is surprising when the dimensions are larger. It’s suitable for most flashguns including Nikon’s SB600, SB800, SB 900 and Canon’s 430EX/580EX. The heaviest part of the kit is the metal bracket that’s used to support the flashgun.

The width of the hotshoe mount can be widened with a small sprung screw and, like the Ezybox, it allows you to move the flashgun closer or further away from the box. The bracket is heavier and this is partly down to it offering a ball head mechanism at its base which enables you to move the softbox into any position, something that can’t be done easily with the Ezybox, unless of course you pay more money. The softbox flips out quickly and the metal bracket slots in effortlessly at the rear.

The softbox material feels durable and up to the task, but we’d say the Ezybox offers the stronger material of the two, with slightly better stitching around the corners and edges and the front diffuser attaches with velcro. Unlike the Ezybox, though, you can’t add a second diffuser, so you’ll have to lower your flashgun power if you want a more subtle lighting effect. On our test softbox it occasionally came out of shape, but only seemed to be a problem when we tried to twist it back into its small bag. This was soon resolved by fiddling with the internal metal rods, something that we never had to do with the Ezybox. Physically feeling the internal metal rods revealed that the Elemental’s were roughly half the thickness compared to the Ezybox’s. Elemental’s portable softbox costs £50 and when you consider that it comes with a ball head mechanism, it offers excellent value for money. We used it on a portrait shoot and found it the easiest to manoeuvre. If you want a slightly larger softbox, that’s well priced and fits in-between Lastolite’s 38x38cm and 60x60cm version, then this is an excellent option.

Which would we choose?

Both the softboxes here offer a great means of softening the intensity of your off-camera flash and are invaluable for portraiture in the great outdoors. The build quality of the Ezybox is first class, but when you consider all the optional extras you can end up spending over £100 on it. The 38x38cm size is relatively small, too, adequate for most headshots and small product shots, but as you go larger, the price increases quite significantly. Given the option, we’d happily save £25 of our money on the Elemental 50x50cm softbox. Its all-round manoeuvrability is superb; it’s a handy size, performed well in the field, not to mention it’s easy to pack up and carry around.

For more information on these two off-camera flash softboxes, check out their websites…

www.lastolite.com