Photek SL-5000 46" Softlighter II, Diffusing Umbrella with Black Cover

2017-04-13T12:08:04

If you're looking for an affordable light modifier that provides great coverage and softest light with minimal set-up effort, this 46" softlighter II is the tool you want to pick up.

Raymond S.

2017-04-04T10:11:43

Love this soft light but do not feather it away from your subject in a portrait as the edge of it will enter your lens causing weird ghost like apparitions.

KEVIN C.

2016-04-15T17:01:15

Good: easy to use, light is nice, fits my profoto b1 head nicely. Big names swear by it. Bad: the fabric used on the outside of the photek is so cheap, the light just goes right through it. You would think a solid black material would not be porous like a lampshade but this one is. Paul buff umbrellas dont leak, they have no excuses. Bottom line: it work as ok, cheap but Photeks design and QA teams are slackers.

James H.

2015-10-01T03:29:55

I've owned Paul buff products, P-buff wins in terms of material quality. Their umbrellas are constructed of considerably better material. That being said the ease of construction and experience using the Photek is much more positive for me. I assembled it for the first time with no instructions in less than 5 minutes. It packs down to a size that would easily be transported in all manners of conveyance, motorcycle/car/plane. The negatives as I see it, is that the backing material bleeds light. I assembled it for the first time and put it on my Profoto B1 head, the light shown clearly through the apparently very porous black backing of the light shaper. Aside from the materials issues, it does give very nice light at a good price point and I hope to get lots of use out of it before it needs replacing.

Homer

2014-01-12T19:00:00

Purchased in 2008 Hardly USED IT BROKEN, one of the spin tip broke off, still usable, I wouldn't have written this bad review if I got some use out of it, used maybe 5 to 10 times. You get what ya pay for sometime.

RUSSELL K.

2013-10-27T21:00:00

I have used this for both studio and outdoor shoots with my Alien Bee strobes and am super happy with the results. Its quick to setup, durable and simply gets the job done.

MIGUEL Q.

2013-03-25T21:00:00

Excellent product thats very good as a large light source for portraits or studio work.

RICK S.

2013-02-05T19:00:00

Great for large source portrait light

FREDDIE B.

2012-08-19T21:00:00

I love the light the sotftligher gives me, better than most cheap softboxes. Since it bounces the studio light before it goes through the diffusion panel it is awesome, soft light. It's easy to set up and use on location and is breaks down to very small unit. It can be used with studio light, qflash like light or even a flash. You have to treat it somewhat carefully, like you would an umbrella. Because it is basically an umbrella, it can easily be damaged if light is blown over outside.

Alliance S.

2012-07-06T21:00:00

I bought this umbrella two years ago, and it has been indispensable. I use it for almost every studio shoot I do these days. Its versatile and easy to use. Theres really nothing more to say. It works and works well. My only gripe is that the price has gone up considerably since I bought mine. I was going to buy a 2nd one, but now I dont know. There are cheaper options out there that might be just as suitable. Having one is a MUST. Having two for the current price? maybe not necessary.

Symon C.

2012-02-05T19:00:00

Great Quality product. Set's up in minutes , easy to take down and produces excellent diffused light

MARK M.

2012-01-01T19:00:00

Great for still life and portraits

Pierre

2011-12-25T19:00:00

it works great came quickly love it

Lynn

2011-12-04T19:00:00

I love the easy set up and take down of the softlighter. I mainly use this as a bounce, but have set up shoot through to get closer to the subject. Super easy, love the look. Just great

MARK M.

2011-01-11T19:00:00

I am a softbox girl, but for on location work these umbrellas work great! The set up and take down time isn't bad at all. I used to use brolly boxes for on location work, and I found that they spilled light. These umbrellas do not do. They work great with my Alien bees.

steph

2011-01-11T19:00:00

Amazing all-purpose umbrella that works like a giant soft-box, a shoot through, or a reflective umbrella. If I had 1 modifier and couldnt bring anything else, I would bring this one.

DANIEL C.

2011-01-11T19:00:00

For use with hot shoe flashes, the sock is not placed properly, it is dead center and should be offset. Using a standard umbrella bracket, the flash sits too high to get proper light fill (and the sock is way too tight, putting pressure on the flash). It is best to buy a Lowel Low-Link L Bracket ($6.92)or similar to get your flash perpendicular to the umbrella shaft. With studio strobes, the sock is way too tight to fit over reflectors and is a serious PITA. Here again, an offset sock would be a tremendous help. Previous versions had an offset sock, but they changed the design, for some insane reason. The whole sock really needs to be redesigned. It actually makes what should be an easy setup quite cumbersome. ELINCHOM USERS: if you are an Elinchrom user, this is the only Brolly box type modifier that I am aware of that will fit the 7mm Eli mount. BUT HERE IS DEAL: you need to buy the 8mm version with removable stem. The 7mm version of this product is actually 6.5mm (or less) and is too loose and can fall out of your strobe. The 8mm version fits in snugly up until the shaft joint (YES, even in the BXRi - which is a tighter fit than other Eli lights). This position works fine. Other users on POTN have shown that to get best fill, use with an SP Studio $9.95 Eli ADAPTER ring only (no reflectors) to hold the sock away from the modeling light. Do a search on POTN for more details. All that said, it's a great modifier for the price.

DAVE B.

2010-11-23T19:00:00

I use two of these with 300 w/s strobes and I get excellent color rendition everytime.

JETAIME G.

2010-11-11T19:00:00

This is my first modifier for experiencing with OCF (off camera flash). I have a Canon 430EX and with the recommendation from some people on POTN, I bought the Softlighter II. This umbrella is gorgeous: high quality materials and I'm not afraid to open/close it repeatedly. The only thing I realized after I bought it was that the Softlighter II is made more for studio strobes (ie. Alienbees, Elinchrom, Genesis strobes) rather than hot shoe flashes. Why do I say that? You can't take advantage of the diffuser because the head of the flash is too far from the center shaft. Thus, I use it just as an expensive reflective umbrella. It has worked wonders for me so far, but I need to buy a real studio strobe in order to have stellar results. Annie Leibovitz uses this in a lot of her shoots! Either way, 5 stars for a quality product, even though I can't take full advantage of it yet (my fault).

DTang

2010-07-25T21:00:00

The Photek Softlighter II gives a beautiful diffused and soft light similar to a beauty dish. The ability to remove the umbrella shaft and move the light close gives a beautiful transition between light and shadow for portrait work. Catchlights take on an octagon shape. While I prefer a beauty dish in the studio, the portability of the Softlighter makes it the modifier of choice for traveling. Set-up is a quick and easy one person affair once you learn the procedure. The entire Softlighter collapses into a case no larger than that of a 54" umbrella. The construction is top notch. While many people use the Softlighter with battery powered flashes, I use it with an AB800 monolight. One 54" Softlighter is large enough to light a 3/4 to full figure with no light fall off. The sock opening is just large enough to fit over the monolight.

JIM S.

2010-02-21T19:00:00

Very well made, beautiful soft light. This is the best bang for your buck anywhere!

Chuck

2010-01-12T19:00:00

I use this as my key light, with a regular umbrella as fill. It replaced my other umbrella. It throws a very nicely diffused soft light. I am very pleased with the light quality. It is better than a regular shoot-through or shoot-into umbrella, and almost but not quite as good as a softbox. With a softbox, you can control the spill. However, a softbox is usually bulkier, harder to set up, and eats even more light. The Softlighter does eat into your light output. For portraits I have been running my SB-800 at 1/2 power or greater. The actual power you need depends on how close you get the Softlighter to your subject. Getting the Softlighter close produces the best quality light. I move it to just outside of the frame, as close to the subject as possible. Unlike a shoot-into umbrella where the reflective surface is a shaft away from the bracket, the Softlighter is point-blank with the bracket and thus closer to your subject. The ability to unscrew the umbrella shaft and remove it is huge here. Else the shaft would threaten to poke the subject's eye out (very bad for kid shots). The construction is decent but not at the level of pro equipment. I am gentle with it in fear of ripping any seams. Assembly is so-so. Basically you have to open the umbrella (only with the shaft on) and then put the umbrella cover. That's not too hard. It can be a bit of a nuisance putting it over larger flashes like the Nikon SB-800! The Softlighter has a sock by the hole where the flash head is supposed to go. However, the hole is so close to shaft that most brackets will have the flash head high above the shaft. With the Softlighter mounted to where the flash head can peek through the hole -- the hole is not tall enough! I end up playing some games to get the shaft through the umbrella bracket and the flash fully encased inside of the Softlighter. This can be a problem if you want to adjust settings on the back of the flash. You have to access it through the hole which is covered by the sock. I use Nikon CLS so I can control the manual power level via optical signals -- it works fine with my pop-up flash which acts as the CLS Commander. Doesn't matter that the flash is inside the panel. With the flash inside the panel, there's a bit more of a hot spot in the center of the Softlighter. Some people have rigged up a DIY bracket that allows them to mount the flash so its entire length runs across the top of the bracket (flash is "lying down" with the head pointed straight out). This seems to work well but I haven't gotten around to building my own bracket for this. So it's a bit of a pain to set up. Certainly not as quick as, say, a 50" Westcott Apollo. But the Apollo costs a lot more. The catchlight produced by the Softlighter is round but will have the shadow of your flash and lightstand in it. You'll need to clone it out in post-processing if it bothers you. It's better than a regular umbrella's catchlight, which has the umbrella spokes (most umbrellas). Overall, for the money I think it's a nice upgrade over a regular umbrella. The quality of light is very good and will make a positive difference in your photography if all you use now are umbrellas, bare flash, or modifiers that attach to the flash head.

RedmondBill

2009-12-15T19:00:00

I've used this product once and I'm very satisfied with the results. (Very soft light)

Akousticgroove

2009-11-04T19:00:00

This is a well built and is great quality for the money. It is much nicer and better packaged and accessorized than I expected it to be. I have only used it a couple of times, but I have been very pleased with the results.

Jim

2009-09-30T21:00:00

Really a great light modifier...especially for location work. Set-up is easy and quick, it fits in my lighting case with two monolights and reflectors, and there's no speedring to worry about. Quality of light is very nice overall considering the size and weight. It kinda reminds me of a small and shallow Octobank and just like a true octobank (not an octo box) the light is bounced before going through the front diffuser. The light (with diffuser) is soft yet still has a good shadow edge (depending on distance of light source to subject of course). I typically use it for portraits and find it very versatile...use it with or without diffuser or silver insert. I also like the round catch lights it produces.

KEVIN W.

2009-09-22T21:00:00

Easy to set up. creamy light..does not affect color temp,..sturdy stem, easy to mount.. the included gold reflector adds more variety for the light; tried many others this one works best for me. I use Speedlites..constructions seem will last a while, too

Patrick L.

2009-08-18T21:00:00

Works all right, but the diffuser is loose and sloppy.

Yvonne M.

2009-03-29T21:00:00

shooting portraits with speedlights and you don't have a softlighter? nope that's not going to work :) (no flaming please) this product does wonders to portraits and takes the guess work out. a must have for anyone who shoots portraits with speedlights

FireBALL

2008-10-13T21:00:00

Very nice product. Quality is very good

mindxus

2008-06-20T21:00:00

Good stuff. Someone stepped on it while it was open on the floor; I easily straightened it out and it still works fine. LOVE IT!

Sergi Y.