Phot-R 40x200cm Bowens S-Type Strip Softbox Umbrella Style + Case Speedring + Inner & Outer Diffusers 16x79” Collapsible Portable for Photo Studio Continuous LED Lighting Flash Video Light Mount

Amazon is full of rebranded chinese made softboxes of varying price. And this is one of those. I recently returned a PixaPro easy open deep parabolic softbox because I thought it wasn't worth the money(given it's essentially rebranded chinese stuff). So I tried this, and this is my initial impressions, not as long term review.Good Points:- Price: I paid £59 for a 30x140cm box. Same box with minor material differences from PixaPro is over 100 quid.- Materials: Unlike the pixapro deep para I returned that cost twice as much, the material of this box is very heavy duty. It's a thick black canvas and the silver reflective foil is of the dimpled type that you find inside Einchrom and Profoto softbox, not the smooth foil that other cheaper softboxes have. So it feels really heavy duty.- Easy of set Up: What I love about these umbrella softboxes is that you can leave both the inner and outer diffuser attached and let up/down the softbox without removing them. It takes literally second.Bad Points:- Umbrella mechanism: There's many reviews that mention these type of umbrella latches (the ones with the thin metal latch) are forever breaking. Indeed, PhotR include a spare in the package so it's not really a good sign but time will tell, so far so good. I think should both rods fail, I could bodge a solution but that's not ideal. Some of the newer deep softboxes from various brands have a newer type of umbrella mechanism that seem much more sturdy.- Inner diffuser fixing: The inner diffuser uses that fiddly little hooks to attach to the softbox, they are annoying but as said above, it only has to be done once.- Locking nut on the bowens mount: There is a screw that is supposed to stop the bowens mount rotating, but as you turn the screw, the nut of the other side simply spins round(it's not recessed) so it can be fiddly and painful tightening this screw- Carrying Bag: The carry bag is rubbish, it has no shoulder strap or handle and is made from cheap nylon with a draw string. Oddly though, it's the reverse of the other softboxes on amazon. In those cases, nylon is used for the softbox and heavy canvas is used for the bag. This is the complete opposite.

I bought the Phot-R 30x120 with honeycomb grid to use on my Bowens as a rim light on low key shots. It is branded with Phot-R so no reason the think it is not the genuine article (as questioned in another review that said theirs had no branding).If you want the grid, ensure you buy the item with "...and honeycomb grid..." in the description, as it is also sold without at approx £7 cheaper. If you decide to buy the grid separately, it is currently £14.99.The quality is better than I expected, and seems good value for the price paid. The overall unit is a little heavier than the Bowens softbox I have of similar size, (due to the weight of the adaptor), but I am surprised to see other reviews mention their lightstands straining. Maybe that issue related to much larger softboxes, or very low budget stands?There is a locking nut on the Bowens adaptor which allows the softbox to be rotated 360 degrees when loosened.The Bowens adaptor fitted onto my lights without any modification required (a problem mentioned in another review).The internal baffle is stretched very tight so I am a little dubious as to the longevity of those fixtures, but only time will tell.Once the initial assembly is done (2-3 minutes), the softbox can be put up in literally seconds. It can also be put down in seconds without the need to remove any of the attachments, including the honeycomb grid, but it is quite a snug fit squeezing it into the bag. I'm not sure how long the bag will last as it is quite flimsy.I have only just received the item, so cannot comment on durability, but it seems quite robust on first impressions. I have not done any testing on white balance, but (within reason) it is not critical as I intend to use this mainly as a rim light.

Downside-it's rather heavy when you're trying to fit it to your flash head and you need to make sure all adjusting screws are very secure. The clips on the internal diffuser are tiny, fiddly things (I replaced them with plastic curtainhooks.)Upside- really good value for money and clever design for quick set up. Considerable advantage over the brolly design (where the flash is enclosed) in that you can access the flash controls at the back. Unlike the brolly design It can also angle downwards.

Needed some strip boxes for a particular shoot but was unwilling to spend big on a one-off, so took a chance with these.Fed up with difficult to assemble soft boxes, so the 'easy open' description sounded attractive, and on that score they are great. The umbrella style pin seems robust enough for the job, and the diffusers and grid fit well - up and running without a struggle.There were two big problems though.Firstly, in 7 out of the 8 corners the umbrella rods had pierced the material, so they protruded beyond the intended limits and made the whole box flabby and useless. Easy to fix by wrapping a piece of Velcro across the corners to restrain the tips back into position - but now the box looks a little shabby.The second problem was more serious. I use genuine Bowens lights, and all my existing Bowens accessories fit perfectly. The speed rings supplied with these boxes would simply not fit in the existing slots. I had to disassemble the speed rings, secure them in a vice and file away some of the aluminum to bring them back into line with the standard fitting.So, after some modification, I have a set of easy to assemble gridded strips that I'm quite happy with - but I feel extremely relieved that I took time to do a test shoot before the actual event: turning up with them as supplied would have been disastrous.They could be great, but patchy quality control means that you may have to do a little work.