14Jul 4 socket CFL Soft box head – First impressions
The 4 Socket CFL Soft box head showed up yesterday and I had just enough time to dig it out of the package and test it out. Build quality seems decent, light sockets are made out of ceramic and the casing feels pretty solid. The mounting base is made out of thick plastic and has a clicking lock system that makes it feel like it’s made out of nicer material then it really is.
The back of the light head has a large grip handle across the top which gives you something to hold onto while making adjustments to the heads position. Below that is the normal power indicator light, switches for each of the light sockets and a large vent screen to release any extra heat. There is also the umbrella mounting in the center.
Installing the soft box is kind of like building a tent. The 4 Socket CFL head comes with 4 flexible rods made out of what appears to fiberglass. You insert the rod into a sleeve on the soft box then shove one end into a socket on the outside edge of the head.
Once you’ve done that, you flex the rod outward until the other end of it slides into the little Velcro pocket. Then you have to hold that position while you attempt to pull the Velcro tab over the numb at the end of the rod. If that sounds like a pain, that’s because it is. If you need to be able to quickly setup and tear down your lighting kit, you might want to consider using umbrella instead of the included soft box.
Wait to install the lights until you have the soft box put together or you’ll have an even harder time with the soft box instillation. Once you have the soft box put together and the lights installed it seems like a pretty decent setup. With 4 200 watt equivalent CLF’s installed the unit puts out a very generous amount of light. I’ll put together some test results once I’ve had a chance to use the head a little bit more, but it seems like it should be pretty handy as long as you don’t need to pack up and tear down the soft box on a regular bases.
