Strobes and Light Shapers - How Do You Choose?
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A Parabolic REFLECTOR - NoTE THE ROD THAT HOLDS THE LIGHT TO FIRE INTO THE PARABOLA
I am very thankful that my friend and faithful reader, JC sent me a video this week talking about marketing BS as it pertains to lighting. JC has been a working professional photographer for a long time and knows his stuff. Like me, he also has a very accurate and sensitive BS detector.
I am a lighting geek. I know it and accept it. Lots of students, readers and listeners know it too, and while most of them tend to questions or help with the how to do challenges, some also ask, what should I buy. In the latter case, these fine people have been perusing Youtube videos, reading posts on the Internet from “influencers” aka paid shills, and on rarer occasions venturing into camera stores where uninformed and untrained staff lie to them outright because they want to close a sale right then and there and perhaps even earn some spiff dollars. For those of you who have never worked retail, spiffs are sales incentives to push stuff that has massive margins, like clear “protection” filters, or goods that no one is buying. Study your Latin in every case and caveat emptor.
Let’s start with speed lights and strobes. There is no doubt that you can spend a lot of money on either. I could buy a Canon flash that does all the things expected, or I could buy four or five Godox flashes that do all the same things for the same spend. One can argue all day long that one is better than the other. I prefer to look at the results. A subject lit properly from the same position with either unit looks the same in the image out of the camera. I’m not picking on Canon, I used them as an example because the company comes early in the alphabet. Canon flashes are excellent, but if I can get the same outcome with the same functionality for one fifth the cost, why would I spend extra?
When I was a constantly working professional, there were not a large variety of strobe makers out there. I used Bowens, Elinchrom and finally Profoto. All worked very well, and in the same conditions, with the same kind of light shapers, no one could tell what maker of lights was involved as gear for the shot. I set on Profoto because no matter where I went, every decent rental house had more Profoto gear than other brands and it was easy to rent gear that I trusted and already knew how to use. Bowens is now gone but Elinchrom and Profoto are still around, and make excellent products that are very expensive. If I were buying strobes today where I am not travelling all over the place and even if I were, I would be more likely to look at Godox AD Pro strobes. I am not paid by Godox, I’m not a paid influencer for anyone, but I was once paid to field abuse Godox gear to see if it would stand up to professional demands and it did. It also cost a lot less for the same functionality and so did the accessories.
When it comes to light shapers, I always recommend that you go with light shapers that survive set up and teardown. I have certainly seen some really crappy light shapers, where the stitching separates in a gentle breeze, and where the reflective material leaves dandruff like flakes all over the floor. I have also seen high reliability light shapers for a lot less than some “name brands”. Again, I look not at the name on the product but at the effectiveness of the tool as seen in the final images. I cannot tell the difference between a $100 Octabox and a $500 Octabox in the final image. I don’t think that anyone can and blind random tests because I am that guy, have proven this many times.
I’m also cautious about misuse or misrepresentation of one thing over something else. In the video that JC sent me, photographer and trainer Karl Taylor was on a rant about parabolic softboxes vs octaboxes. A parabolic softbox is different from a parabolic reflector. Paras of either kind are larger and bulkier than octaboxes. What makes a parabolic reflector special is that the light is positioned inside the reflector firing back into the reflector on a rail that allows you to position the light at the locus of the parabola to achieve highly directional light output whether you use the internal or external diffusers or not.
The images above are of a “Parabolic Softbox” and an “Octabox”. They look very different, but the light on the subject will be effectively identical, so what’s the point?
The whole point of a big parabolic reflector, a softbox or an umbrella for that matter is to take a small source and make it behave like a big source. As we move from umbrellas to softboxes to parabolic reflectors, the directionality of the light becomes more focused. That’s what you see in the finished image and can help you achieve your goals. However if you are paying 3x to 5x more for a softbox that forms a parabola over a softbox that is formed by an octagonal structure with the same diameter, you are getting nothing more for your extra expense. If space is a consideration, note that a parabolic softbox will typically be between 2x and 4x deeper than the same diameter octabox for no appreciable difference in the light on the subject, although because the light source is firing at the subject, and because the parabolic softbox is deeper, you will need more output from the strobe to achieve the same exposure on the subject. The inverse square law is physics and marketing does not change physics. If the parabolic softbox costs the same as the octabox in the same diameter, you should choose based on your available space and your comfort level. I have heard “pros” argue that the catchlight from a para looks better than a catchlight from an octa. It will be more circular, but the real question is who that matters to. Will you get paid more or get more satisfaction from a more circular catchlight and have the space to handle the additional depth and bulk required to get it. If so, go for it, and if not, why bother?
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