Shooting manual flash w/ 28" Apollo...

[splproductions]

I'm about to upgrade from my umbrella to a softbox, and I'm thinking about getting the 28" Apollo by Westcott. I'm going to be shooting with manual flash instead of E-TTL because I have two 580's and am using the Cactus wireless system.

With the way this softbox is designed (flash is inside the box shooting toward the back), is it going to be a huge pain to have to reach in there and change settings? I can't change the setting via the camera's back menus because my camera hotshoe is actually connected to the Cactus (via a cable) instead of to the 580.

Is this just what you live with when using a softbox? Is it not that big of a deal?

Thanks!

 

[Derrel]

MOST softboxes have the flash mounted on the rear of the box, and the flash controls are visible and accessible with the majority of speed rings or flash mounting rings....

The Apollo is not really a traditional or standard "softbox"...it is its own type of product. So, in answer to the question, " Is this just what you live with when using a softbox?" the answer would be, "No. But it is what Apollo users have to put up with." And no again, it is not really that big of a deal; a great deal of incremental light adjustment can be done by moving the light backward of forward a bit. Some of the exposure will be/can be regulated by ISO value used. Some of the exposure will be/can be regulated by f/stop selected. Some of the exposure will be/can be regulated by the flash power output level.

My guess is that in many scenarios, you will be using the flash at FULL power, or HALF power, and adjusting the aperture,ISO, and distance from flash-to-subject to make minor adjustments. "Major" adjustments will be made normally by getting the flash power and light-to-subject distance into the appropriate "ballpark" for the situation and the desired results.

 

[splproductions]

MOST softboxes have the flash mounted on the rear of the box, and the flash controls are visible and accessible with the majority of speed rings or flash mounting rings....

The Apollo is not really a traditional or standard "softbox"...it is its own type of product. So, in answer to the question, " Is this just what you live with when using a softbox?" the answer would be, "No. But it is what Apollo users have to put up with." And no again, it is not really that big of a deal; a great deal of incremental light adjustment can be done by moving the light backward of forward a bit. Some of the exposure will be/can be regulated by ISO value used. Some of the exposure will be/can be regulated by f/stop selected. Some of the exposure will be/can be regulated by the flash power output level.

My guess is that in many scenarios, you will be using the flash at FULL power, or HALF power, and adjusting the aperture,ISO, and distance from flash-to-subject to make minor adjustments. "Major" adjustments will be made normally by getting the flash power and light-to-subject distance into the appropriate "ballpark" for the situation and the desired results.

Thanks Derrel. That makes sense.

 

[Derrel]

Here is a video showing how the Apollo is set up, for those that are unaware of how it is designed.