Lighting Test

I was at Robert's the other day and picked up a few new things - notably a Canon 430EXII speedlight and an Interfit Strobies 15"x15" Foldable Softbox.

A few pros, A few cons.

Pros:

• The Canon 430EXII, despite what Andy says, is a pretty easy flash to work with and I think is even easier to use than my Nikon SB600 was. 
• The Interfit Strobie softbox was about 1/3 the cost of a Lastolite kit of the same size/features

Cons:

• The Canon 430EXII doesn't have a PC sync option - but I've already figured out a workaround for that
• The Interfit Strobie softbox doesn't have an internal baffle, but there are small loops for one, so that should be easy to add if I want

So here are some comparison shots between a few different light modifiers. The light used was the Canon 430EXII set at 1/4 power with the 14mm wide angle diffuser in place. The light source (flash) was kept at the same distance from the objects and roughly the same height. The camera was set at ISO 100, f/8, 1/125 for each shot.

Bare (with wide angle diffuser)

Shoot-Through Umbrella (32")

Lumiquest ProMax Mini Softbox (5x7")

Interfit Strobie 15x15" softbox

Outcome? The Interfit Strobie Softbox did quite well - least amount of light loss and nice soft, yet directional shadows. I think I'll keep it, even if it is a bit difficult to fold back up.