Octafun! S-Mount Adapter shines again!

You might know about my S-Mount Adapter that I reviewed last year, to say that I'm really happy with it is an understatement. I bought another modifier when I went to the Focus on Imaging show earlier in the month. I got myself a 95cm Octabox from Viewfinder Photography. They sell different shapes and sizes. I'll probably grab a rectangular one in the near future.

It's one of them easy to setup ones with a Bowens S Mount. It takes seconds for it to take shape and about a minute or 2 to put it all together (2 diffusers and egg crate grid). No more messing with metal rods and using all your strength & effort to put one together. It does however take effort to fold it out initially but once you've found your technique and have used it several times, then it should be easier from then on.

I recently tested this with Scott McDonough on a shoot, we compared the build quality with his Westcott Apollo 28" softbox, we both agreed that the octabox was better made. The build quality is actually a lot better.

It's easily mountable on the S-Mount Adapter and you can rotate it while mounted but since it's an octabox you won't really need to anyway.

It came with the following accessories:

Internal diffuser with the silver dimpled backing that bounces some of the light back into the box and evens out the light (it prevents hotspots in the middle of the box).

Outer diffuser and an egg crate (honeycomb) grid.

Here it is when lit without the eggcrate:

Here it is with the eggcrate on:

I know my test is hardly scientific and it's not meant to be (we're hardly talking about quantum physics here after all) but I'm sure you'd agree that the light isn't as widely spread with the egg crate grid on. It helps quite a lot if you want to control where the light falls.

Here's one quick headshot

I'm really happy with this, I think for location shooting it's very ideal as it's more portable than my beauty dish. I love the light it produces. It's built better than some rivals that costs more. It comes with all the accessories you would need for a softbox and I can use it with my speedlites and studio strobes. I wouldn't need to buy 2 octas separately for the 2 systems.

Thanks

Marlon

Back from the dead!

It seems crazy to me that it's been more than 3 months since I last posted. It must have been a busy Christmas!

Just a quick update, I haven't been shooting that much on the streets. The snow in early January really kept me indoors. I arranged a shoot for the London Strobist Meetup Group at the end of January so that took a lot of time and effort too.

I have, however, been busy shopping too! I bought 3 lenses in February 2 of which were macros. I'm cooking up something that almost requires the use of them exclusively. I'm so looking forward to that personal project, of which I will keep you posted.

I attended a group meetup with the Essex Strobist Group yesterday and got to work with my favourite shooting partner, McDonough (he's like Bailey and Madonna - one name wonder). I worked on a theme since the shoot was in an abandoned hospital. Here's the set:

Thanks

Marlon

Shining, Shimmering, Splendid

This is the second item I reviewed over the weekend. The adapter reviewed here, and this beauty dish arrived in time for my sister's graduation shoot. The one of the main reasons why I bought the adapter/bracket is to be able to use a proper beauty dish. So it only made sense that a beauty dish would be the first S mount modifier that I bought. I spent the previous Saturday, looking on eBay for the best deal - I wasn't planning on buying an original Bowens, they're a bit too expensive for my liking for essentially the same thing - especially as it has no moving parts or electronics.

One of the things I looked for while searching was price per cm. Well, postage included, most of the beauty dish available on eBay were between 40-70cms in diameter. The price ranged between £45-£100+. Then I saw this from Bessel Studio Lighting for £51.98 (inc postage). It's slightly bigger than the normal 42cm available and that it comes with a grid! Some 42cm with grids are up to £80 + £10 postage. So I knew price wise, it was a winner! It arrived 2 business days after as advertised. Somehow, measuring 50cm with a ruler and seeing it in person seem to be totally different. It looked so big when I first saw it.

(bare, without the grid)

It's big, I know there are bigger beauty dishes out there, but for now, 50cm is big for me and most important of all, suffice for my needs. Considering its size, it's a little surprising that it's very light too. It's light but it doesn't give off flimsiness. It feels solidly built and it feels that it would last long - with care of course.

(with the grid)

So it's big, light and strong, how about the light it produces?

The shot above was shot with the bare beauty dish, the flash was triggered via Nikon CLS. As far as I remember, the details are f2.8, 1/2000 sec. CLS was one of the reasons why I moved to Nikon. Nothing like shooting wide open in broad day light. This was shot around late morning - midday with strong winds! We shot in Thames Barrier Park.

This next shot was in a cotrolled environment. We were freezing, so we moved indoors. The light was mount on a boom arm and was placed directly above the subject. One light was pointed in the background. Again, triggered via Nikon CLS.

This last shot used the previous set up but with the grid mounted on the dish. I had to open up the lens for about a stop or two. The second flash was used as rim light instead of pointing it to the background.

I'm happy with the light it produces, with it bare, it gives the images a nice kick and with the grid mounted, it focuses the beam of light very narrow. I'm now looking for a cover to make the light softer and give me more variation.

As with the adapter, I'm very happy with this purchase. It's big, light, strong and gives that light that only a beauty dish can give!

Thanks

Marlon

A whole new world!

What we have here today is one of the brief reviews of 2 equipments I have acquired recently. After months of waiting for the Interfit Strobies XS bracket, I have finally bought an alternative. I pre-ordered the Interfit Strobies XS bracket right after they made the announcement. I waited with great anticipation for June 2009 – the supposed month of release. Anyway, a few months have gone passed and after a few email exchange with their “sales” team. I have given up hope of ever receiving the bracket before Christmas or even early in the New Year. I have been informed regularly that the bracket would be delivered the “middle of next month”. But it’s now December and I still haven’t received it!

Moving on, last Tuesday, I saw a “Speedlight Adapter” from an eBay store (jscamerastore) for £38.98 (inc postage). I promptly clicked on “Buy It Now” and the following day, it arrived. Opening the box (which was smaller than I had anticipated), I saw the adapter, it was lighter than I expected too, which is a good thing, because I love shooting on location and the last thing I need in my bag or case is something massive and heavy. I gave it a quick test of strength – which involved trying to twist it but it gave the feeling of sturdiness and strength. Again, it was a lot stronger than I expected.



So it’s strong, light and small enough to fit in the top compartment of my Tamrac bag, in any case, I could easily leave it hanging outside the bag with a bungee cord.

After pressing “Buy it Now” and paying for the adapter, there was one thing I had forgotten which worried me a bit. Since moving to Nikon and getting the SB-900, all my hot shoe umbrella adapters are too small to fit my new SB-900. So the first thing I did was to mount my SB-900, what a relief! The SB-900 massive foot can fit in the shoe!

With the strobe mounted, you can move it forwards and backwards for a few inches, which is a good thing, it means it can accommodate most of the popular flashguns. You can also rotate the strobe while mounted, which is good news for people like me who triggers the flash wirelessly via Nikon CLS. You can also tilt the adapter while mounted on a lightstand/boom arm.



It comes with the most popular mount in the studio lighting world, the Bowens S mount. The catalogue of the biggest lighting modifier is suddenly open wide for the “strobists” like me!

Having grown tired of DIY beauty dishes that have never looked “professional” or even proper for that matter or even gave the same reliability (I found it so hard to keep the Tupperware with foil at the bottom, stuck on the IKEA pendant lamp – looked well dodgy), the first thing I did after paying for the adapter was to buy the 50cm beauty dish – I’ll review this next time.


I spent the whole of Saturday shooting with my new beauty dish mounted on the adapter. The combination felt sturdy and strong, I went to shoot my sister’s graduation photos in Thames Barrier Park on Saturday morning – it was very windy. It was so windy that whenever I faced the beauty dish towards where the wind was coming from while hand holding it, I was being pushed back. It was that strong.

But with the lightstand weighted at the bottom, I had no worries that my adapter would suddenly fly off with my beauty dish. It was very secure and my confidence was vindicated when we went home after shooting with no incidents whatsoever.

How I wish I had found this adapter sooner! I’ve given up ever receiving my Interfit Strobies XS bracket but I haven’t asked for my money back so that when/if it does arrive I can compare the 2 adapters side by side.

Now I have a speedlight bracket that’s light, small, strong and secure! I couldn’t be happier with this purchase! I just want to thank jscamerastore for the great service and the fast dispatch!

Thanks

Marlon

Red October

I recently scored a Zorki 4K on eBay. I wanted a Zorki because I wanted to have access to a great range of screw mount lenses available.

My 4K came with a Jupiter 8 which is a post­war copy of the pre­war Zeiss Son­nar 50mm f/2 for the Con­tax. Someone also let me borrow a Jupiter 12 which is a post­war copy of the pre­war Zeiss Biogon 35mm f2.8 for the Con­tax.

I shot a roll each with both lens. I used Tri-X 400 @ EI 1600. Developed in Kodak X-Tol 1:2 @ 20 degrees. I'm amazed that anything came out at all as I mixed my X-Tol in June 2008. I just made sure that I filled the bottles to the brim to minimise the air.

I'm more than pleased with the quality of the KMZ lenses. I also used a dark yellow filter with the Jupiter 8.

Jupiter 12

Jupiter 8

I'm still so amazed that after 16 months, my X-Tol mix is still potent. Now that I've tried the Jupiter lenses with Tri-X, I have now loaded the Zorki with Kodak Portra 400 VC (or was it NC?)

Thank you

Marlon