The Flora Lighting kit from Linco showed up in four boxes, two of  which where filled with 85 watt CFLs (the kit comes with 18 total) and the other two containing stands, heads, and light boxes. The stands and heads come in these nice padded zipper cases, while the CFLs are packed in Styrofoam. The boxes where handled ruff by UPS but thankfully Linco provided enough packing to keep everything safe.

Opening the case up you’ll see 3 of these very solid Flora heads. Each unit supports up to 6 CFL’s in a very tight pattern. Unlike some of the cheaper 4 socket heads I’ve reviewed in the past, the sockets have nice clean threads and are securely attached to the head. Light bases thread in easily and there doesn’t seem to be any give to the socket itself.

Each head has two power switches which control 3 sets of sockets. The long permanently attached power cord on each unit is thick and stretches out to about 15 feet, reducing the need for extension cords and power strips. One complaint I have about the Flora head is that the gray adjustment handle has to be tightened to the extreme when everything is attached (lights and box). Some of the cheaper heads have teeth on this adjustment point which allow this to lock in more easily and don’t require much force. I could see this being a point of failure down the road.

The softbox is probably one of the easiest to setup I’ve seen for a CFL kit. The design is similar to an umbrella, but in stead of a shaft you have a threaded connector. Simply pull the white string until the plastic buckle snaps into place and the softbox opens up and locks into a hexagonal shape. The Softbox also includes an extra flap of materiel that can easily be cinched up around the back of the head to prevent light from leaking out the back.

Once the softbox is setup it only takes a single thumb screw to lock it into place. The design also allows the rods on the softbox to act as locking support for the whole assembly. The whole thing is much easier to assemble then the units that require flex rods and it only takes a minute to setup. If you plan to travel with your lighting kit this the Flora lighting kit is a much more durable option then cheaper 4 socket heads used on other units.

The quality of the light stands included in the Flora lighting kit are much better then anything you would get from Cowboy Studio. On the left you can see the solid build and quality hardware of the Linco stand, while on the right you see the thin tube and low quality hardware used on a cheaper light stand. A heavy duty stand can make a lot of difference in how stable your light are.

Over all, the Flora Lighting kit from Linco is worth considering if you plan to upgrade your lighting kit. If you travel with your own light rig a kit like this is probably one to consider, especially at the sale price. At the normal price of $1066 I would consider cheaper options, but at the sale price of $408 it’s a great buy. According to the listing the sales price only lasts for 3 more days so if you want one, now is the time.

On a side note, my kit did not come with a counterweight for the boom stand. I ended up using some water bottles and a reusable grocery bag attached with a carabiner. Not a huge deal but something you’ll need if you want to make proper use of the boom arm.

 

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