[bladerunner6]

I saw this on sale:

Cheetah QuickSilver 24 inch Softbox

I have a couple of YN560 III and use them with 40 inch umbrellas.(The umbrellas have a removable reflective layer so I can use them as shoot through or reflective).

Would one or two of these add anything useful to my repertoire?

Thanks.

[gatorguy]

I have several Cheetah softboxes (the owner is great at personal customer service by the way) and always choose the silver over the white given the option. Well, always except for choosing one white collapsible beauty dish.

White tends to produce a bit more even lighting but the silver seems to give me more lumens. That said once you add a diffuser or two I doubt it really matters. What can matter is the white will become yellow over time simply from firing a strobe, and somewhat quickly if it's used a lot. That could potentially add a tiny color cast. Cheetah's silver is much more textured (pebbled) than what you'd typically find in less expensive modifiers.

That particular softbox makes a nice relatively compact one for location shoots and mimics what you'd see from light thru a window.

[pschlute]

Would one or two of these add anything useful to my repertoire?

Umbrellas by their nature produce a soft diffused light spread over a wide area. A softbox can be more concentrated and it is easy to ensure where the cut-off point begins. You can add an egg-crate attachment for even more directional control. i tend to use softbox for key, and umbrella for fill

[climbmountainway]

I feel it is a matter of utility. Soft box lights are very even in illumination, but can be hard to tear down and set up for needed coverage size considerations (except for the smallest ones designed for the intimate wedding couple to be framed, or for on location portraits). Quality umbrellas can offer quick light source multiples, softening light source shoot through, or liners of different types for reflection -- and collapse and assemble without much work. As such, they are more flexible for on location set ups. Bigger soft boxes are mounted to my power pack feed for up to 4 Norman system heads when doing in house or in studio preset and predetermined soft trend lighting according to established in house subject occupancy and fill areas (products, small performance groups, interactive human subjects carefully arranged for composition).

Portability has shifted with monolight digitally adjustable heads and extremely portable battery powered light heads. Power illumination and larger area lighting though comes from power pack lighting systems and their arrays. How much contrast or shadow suggestion for the presentation of subject depth do you need for what you shoot (vs flatter subject presentation with certainty of light coverage and depth)? What does one need for shaping and spreading the light source for a captured image presenting more than a flat affect? Another consideration is where one is placing a light on location. I've seen folks coming into a location, where a light is set up with an umbrella, and knock these over by their presence more than I like to see. So trying an orange ribbon to the stand is sometimes vital. Soft boxes never seem to be bumped as much, so end up on the floor less often than umbrellas.

Also umbrellas and soft boxes come in different sizes for different lighting purposes and illumination needs. Hope this helps.

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Last edited by climbmountainway; 11-23-2020 at 05:03 PM.

[pentaxus]

I like small ones for macro work and they have no set up. You have to have the time/patience to use the bigger ones.

[bladerunner6]

I have several Cheetah softboxes (the owner is great at personal customer service by the way) and always choose the silver over the white given the option. Well, always except for choosing one white collapsible beauty dish.

White tends to produce a bit more even lighting but the silver seems to give me more lumens. That said once you add a diffuser or two I doubt it really matters. What can matter is the white will become yellow over time simply from firing a strobe, and somewhat quickly if it's used a lot. That could potentially add a tiny color cast. Cheetah's silver is much more textured (pebbled) than what you'd typically find in less expensive modifiers.

That particular softbox makes a nice relatively compact one for location shoots and mimics what you'd see from light thru a window.

Do you have any issue with the wireless feature of a flash through working through the reflective coating?

Thanks.

[gatorguy]

Do you have any issue with the wireless feature of a flash through working through the reflective coating?

Thanks.

None at all. Only the very front portion of the light will be inside it anyway.

[bladerunner6]

None at all. Only the very front portion of the light will be inside it anyway.

My bad for typing a quick response- I meant do you have any problems with the trigger working properly through the reflective coating?

Thanks

[gatorguy]

My bad for typing a quick response- I meant do you have any problems with the trigger working properly through the reflective coating?

Thanks

That's what I assumed you meant, and no. I use Godox lights and triggers and the softbox has never factored into it working properly. It's of no concern whatsoever.

[bladerunner6]

That's what I assumed you meant, and no. I use Godox lights and triggers and the softbox has never factored into it working properly. It's of no concern whatsoever.

Thanks for the helpful response and understanding my poor grammar and syntax.

[clackers]

Umbrellas throw light everywhere, so they're good for uniformly lighting a scene (including groups of people).

But to sculpt a subject? No. To just hit one side of a model and not the background or ceiling or floor, for example, a softbox does that. And very tightly if you add the grid on the front.

Ultimately, a beauty dish is very narrow, very specific. A good combination is a beauty dish on the person but with an additional umbrella at the front one or two stops under as fill so that the shadows aren't black.

[Angel Perez]

It really comes down to what you like to shoot and if you want another tool. I really love umbrellas but most people describe umbrellas as light grenades dispersing light everywhere. There will be situations where the light going everywhere can be a problem in your image so a softbox will be helpful in controlling the light. You can also control the umbrella but now you would need some type of flag to block the light from going where you don't want it. I noticed that your particular cheetah softbox has the diffuser over the outside. In my opinion I would prefer one that is attached on the inside leaving a lip of material that helps you direct the light. In the present configuration it will behave a little more like your umbrella. As far as the interior material it really is up to you to try it and see if you like how it looks on your subject. The silver material is more specular meaning it will have more highlights than a white material. Also it seems you don't use a shoot through umbrella but a reflective umbrella which controls the light a little better than a shoot through. I have all three and use them as I see fit. I am not necessarily recommending this one because of the location of the diffusion material but, if you have a little G.A.S. and you want to try something new, go ahead and then study how this is different than your umbrella, conduct a few test shoots and see what you like and if will fit your style of photography. If you hate it sell it on ebay.

[bladerunner6]

I thank everyone for constructive inpiy. These were so affordable I decided to buy two. It really is pretty low risk!

[bladerunner6]

They shipped already. That is solid customer service.

[gatorguy]

They shipped already. That is solid customer service.

My order did too.