Fotodiox Pro 60" Octagon Softbox PLUS Grid (Eggcrate) for Studio Strobe/Flash with Soft Diffuser and Dedicated Speedring, for Speedotron Black Line 202VF, 206VF, 102, 103, 105, Brown line MW3R, MW3U, MW3UQ, M90, M90Q, M11 Strobe Flash Light

Do yourself a favor and go to Fotodiox - fotodiox.freshdesk.com/support/solutions/articles/17000002162-pro-softbox-assembly-use - or to their YouTube channel and watch the softbox assembly video instead of following the manual. It saves time and frustration and you’ll put this thing together with minimal effort. I didn’t do that and wound up wrestling the softbox! Assembly challenges aside, this softbox is a great value for the money. The material is sturdy and the unit is well-constructed. The silver interior reflects light well and the baffle diffuses it nicely. There are vents on the sides to dissipate heat and the included mounting ring is strong, well-made and fits my Elinchrom strobes perfectly. The ring also allows the softbox to rotate, a feature that comes in very handy. One issue is excess fabric extending past the mounting ring which interferes with the softbox coupling to the strobe - just open the hook and loop slits, attach the softbox to the light and then close the slits again. Also, the outer diffuser cover doesn’t quite meet the corners leaving small gaps through which light may leak. Gaffers tape will help, if necessary. Neither of these issues is a deal-breaker for me. Overall, this is an excellent value for the money, especially for a hobbyist, and an Elinchrom-branded 24” by 36” softbox would have cost three or four times what I paid for the Fotodiox. Satisfied customer!

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.

NOTE: I bought 2 different softboxes - but I'm only able to leave one review, so I am combining the 2 products. 36 INCH OCTAGON SOFTBOX REVIEW: See below for my bad experience ordering the 60-inch version. I tried again with a different size and was successful. This is a very well designed octagon soft box - 36 inch. Because I own 4 different makes of lighting gear - what is essential to me is the ability to replace the mounting plate on the speed ring - so that I can switch among light brands. This softbox has that capability. I also like that the front diffusion panel is all velcro and easy to put on and take off. I often shoot with ONLY the inner diffusion panel to get a medium soft look (deeper shadows but still pleasing wrap-around effect). I also REALLY LOVE that this softbox has a removable back vent, and that it is SPLIT - so you can remove some of it or all of it. I like being able to remove just SOME of the vent - because it gives me a secondary light source - since I can bounce the back of the softbox off a ceiling or a nearby wall. This is really smart design. SO, what don't I like? The softbox rods were really a pain to get in, and I could hear threads "popping" trying to force the rods into position. I seriously doubt that I will ever disassemble this softbox, and if I did, I would wonder how long the rest of the threads would last. My second concern is that the steel support rods are considerably thinner than the rods in my other softboxes. I think they will be okay - but just an observation. I am balancing out my review. This I would award 4 stars, but the one below with missing pieces only rates 2 stars - so 3 stars overall. I've included a lot of photos of THIS version of the softbox - which I hope will be helpful to other shoppers.60 INCH OCTAGON SOFTBOX: I purchased a 60-inch Octagon softbox via Amazon Warehouse, and it arrived without the support rods. I could not find a separate listing on Amazon to buy replacements - so I guess I will have to make my own. Other than the missing rods - the construction of the softbox is very good; the materials are heavy weight and should last a long time. The 2 star rating is based upon incomplete merchandise. Since I got a very good price on it via Amazon Warehouse - I decided to keep the item. I did not upload any photos of this softbox - because I'm still trying to figure out how to make replacement rods for it.

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 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.

I finally got around to using this soft box. It worked well and assembles pretty easily. The rods are a bit stiff to put in, but I expect that. The only thing is it is a little heavy and tends to tilt the light down over time. I have older Bowens Travelite 750s and they don't tighten as well as they used to.For the price, I am quite impressed.

Great kit for the price I paid. Extremely hard to put together (octagon design) I wish people would talk about that more online. Like very very difficult to assemble, you’ll potentially need two people to assemble this. Once it’s set up though, it works like a charm.