Best SoftBox for Cinematographers and YouTube Creators
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Best SoftBox for Cinematographers and YouTube Creators - In this video, Will shows you the softbox that he uses for most YouTube setups and on set for professional video shoots.
➜GET THE SOFTBOX HERE: https://amzn.to/3X1HMl2
➜Or get the smaller version: https://amzn.to/3CStUTs
In this quick video, I'm going to be talking about this gigantic soft box that's beside me. It is 4ft in diameter, but besides the size of it, there are a few other reasons why I think this is a great soft box. So, we'll talk about that in this video. If you're new here, we have over 200 videography-related videos, so lots of content for you to learn from. If you want to know any of the music or the gear we use to make our videos, all links are in the description. Let's jump in.
To show you actually how large this soft box is, I'll head back and stand in the middle of it. Yeah, so 4ft in diameter, which I believe is the largest soft box you can buy. You can see behind me that is a 3ft one, and then the light source I have directly beside the camera is only a 2ft one. If I wasn't recording this video specifically about the softbox, where I wanted it in screen, then I'd actually have it right here as my key light. The light would be shining on me to actually mount it directly behind the entire camera. Because it's again 4ft wide, I don't need to worry about any of the shadows that are cast from the camera or the microphone. There is more than enough space around the camera to spread the light and create a nice soft light for my talking head.
If you're trying to get soft professional lighting, then you want a really big light source, but you don't want it to be direct. A lot of the times, you can either bounce it off a wall, so that the light is reflected off the wall and it makes a larger spread that will create soft light, or you can get a soft box like this, which essentially has a piece of diffusion that sits a little bit ways from where the light source is coming from. That spreads the light a bit; it softens it because there's a piece of fabric that the light needs to go through.
Quite specifically why I love this soft box is because there's actually two layers of diffusion inside. The front piece here has its large 4ft diffusion, but as the soft box goes around back to where the light source is, halfway through, there's another piece of diffusion. The light will diffuse through that middle piece and then make its way to the last piece. Then it'll get diffused again into a sort of a larger spread, and that creates extremely soft, nice-looking light. If you're not familiar with different lighting techniques, if you have the light source shining at the subject without diffusing it, you're going to get some pretty harsh light, and it's going to be pretty bright. So, I'm a huge fan of softening the light, whether that's putting some sort of large diffusion sheet in front or, in this case, using a soft box.
In terms of how soft boxes are mounted, they can have a few different mounts, but the most popular one by far is a Bowen's Mount. That's what this one is. If you're using an aperture or an amaran light or any other professional video light, likely it has a Bowen Mount, and that allows you a very quick way to attach the softbox or take it off. Besides the industry-standard Bowen Mount that this softbox has, it also has a quick setup feature, which means you don't need to fiddle with all the different spokes inside the soft box. You can simply just use the middle piece, push it all the way down, and it locks, and the whole soft box becomes secure. To release it, you just press the button and pull up, and the whole soft box collapses. Within about 10 seconds, you can set up this soft box, and you're ready to get it mounted.
I can say without a doubt, I own about five or six soft boxes, and one of them is not a quick setup and quick release. It is a pain in the ass to use, especially on set when you have so many things to think about and so much gear to set up. You don't want to be spending all your time frustrated trying to get a soft box setup.
Now, most soft boxes don't come with two layers, so specifically about this one, unfortunately, I don't think it's available anymore. I recently did a search and couldn't find it, but I did find a very, very similar one, so I will link that in the description. That is the one I would recommend. If I needed another one, I would buy that one. It's the same mount, the same two diffusion pieces, the same diameter; it's just a different company. Oh, and also, this is a pretty inexpensive soft box compared to some other ones. If you think a 4ft soft box is too large, then I will link a second one that's a little smaller, and you'll have both those options to choose from.
That's it for this video. Give it a thumbs up and subscribe to see more videos from us in the future. We have over 200 videography-related videos, so lots of content for you to choose from. If you want to know any of the music or the gear we use to make our videos, I've left all links in the description. Thanks so much for watching, and we'll see you next time.
➜GET THE SOFTBOX HERE: https://amzn.to/3X1HMl2
➜Or get the smaller version: https://amzn.to/3CStUTs
SUBSCRIBE ON YOUTUBE (250+ FREE FILMMAKING TUTORIALS):
➜ https://youtube.com/alliandwill
👉GEAR WE USE TO MAKE OUR VIDEOS:
➜FOR VIDEO EDITING: https://amzn.to/3XSlIHj
➜FOR FILMING: https://amzn.to/3EB8DuZ
🎵MUSIC & SOUND FX WE USE IN OUR VIDEOS🎵
➜ https://bit.ly/2NPCjd7
👉GET 50% OFF OUR EDITING PRODUCTS:
➜ https://alliandwill.com/featuredproducts