Fotodiox EZ-Pro Octagon Softbox 60″ with Speedring for Bowens Gemini Standard, Classica Powerpack, R, RX & Pro Series Strobe

3 reviews for Fotodiox EZ-Pro Octagon Softbox 60″ with Speedring for Bowens Gemini Standard, Classica Powerpack, R, RX & Pro Series Strobe

1. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   – February 18, 2024 Elvie Wilderman

   I really wanted to be able to give this a 5 star review but with having to tweak this unit just to get it to work right lost it a star. When I received mine and set it up for the first time I noticed that it wasn’t quite straight. I had to spend some time tweaking the rods a little to get it to be a little more uniform.The features:Beauty Dish: great idea, poor execution. They didn’t bother to include a way to secure it into position. I had to use a couple of clothes pins to hold in place, my other clamps were too cumbersome, clothes pins fit the bill well.Umbrella style: opens like an umbrella and works great as far as that goes.Mine came with the speedring for the bowens and also had an Einstein/AlienBee speedring attached to the setup, so I got both. It was a nice surprise as I needed both anyway. It’s pretty easy to swap out the rings also.This is a nice and easy/quick setup option for those that don’t want to have to spend 10 minutes setting up just one box. Then you can go with the cheaper units but this is about as good as you are going to get for this price range and the purpose these are intended for. I wish they would release a properly fitting grid for it though. If it wasn’t for all the little things that I had to fix I would have given it a higher rating but I didn’t have any other option. Still a good buy though.

2. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   – May 24, 2024 Amiya Gutmann

   I found this while looking for something else but it seems to be great for taking a large softbox on location. It was delivered on time and nicely packaged by both Fotodiox and AMAZON. Fedex delivered with hardly a scratch on the outer packaging. No instructions provided, but everything was straightforward. The metal Bowens style speed ring needed to be attached but a screwdriver took care of that. Next, I opened it up and snapped it open, very much like an umbrella. The Bowens fit right on. I was very happy with the overall kit which includes inner and out diffusers as well as a nice deflector dish to bounce the center of the flash back into the umbrella and block the hot spot. I note that the on-line photo above depicts the deflector installed backwards! Be sure to mount it with the side (with the ridges) you see in the photo facing back towards the flash tube and smooth side facing out of the umbrella. Any number of beauty dishes and some umbrellas use a curved deflector like this to achieve the same effect. None are bowed out like in the photo above. On a heavier duty light stand (westcott), this modifier and a Bowens Gemini 400 work quite well. It is well balanced, not too heavy. My initial results were a wonderful fill against a daytime outside window with just 1/3 power, 125th sec at F11 and about 800 ISO. I was expecting wonderful soft light and easily got it. The finish of this modifier is very good. The umbrella style works well; easy to set up and disassemble. The fabric is on the lighter side as may be expected for this application. Overall, I think it is a good fit for the photographer who cares for their equipment and does not intend it for everyday, heavy use. For a lot less than the price of a great modifier, I have two Fotodiox modifiers for the Bowens Gemini: this 48-in portable, easy to set up, deep octabox, AND a very nice 60-in octabox which, once set up, is quit solid, but much less portable. Note: results after using the deflector dish and the two diffuser panels were excellent. This set up lit up a whole portion of the room like it was a television set, yet the light on subject had a naturally soft, window light like cast. This ones’s a keeper just like the last Fotodiox box I purchased.

3. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   – October 19, 2024 Dr. Yoshiko Swaniawski DDS

   Excellent quality! I am a portrait photographer and all of my light modifiers (except my manfrotto hilite softbox) are from Paul C Buff. They are quite expensive and the shipping hurts. I wanted to try an octobox for so long but the price at PCB was too high for me and I couldn’t find any used one for sale in my area. I am so happy I made the choice to try this octobox because it exceeds my expectations, it is a very close in quality to PCB and the best part is that it comes with a great storage/carrying case! Not a flimsy bag, either! I was shocked and pleased. Grab this modifier, you wont regret. I have my eye set on their strip boxes next.