Comments about Westcott Westcott Compact 43" White Satin Umbrella with Removable Black Cover - Collapsible:

This is the umbrella recommended by Strobist. It is lightweight, collapses very compactly, and fits into the recess of the Manfrotto lightstand they recommend. Wescott is now supposedly making this umbrella with a solid shaft tip. That is not what I received. I received the older, hollow shaft model. A pencil inserted into the shaft will prevent it from collapsing from the umbrella adapter thumbscrew. The ribs of this umbrella bend very easily. The rib ends that hold the black cover on are plastic, as are some of the mechanism parts. It's a [$] collasible convertible umbrella. Can you expect more? I think photographers should.The nylon case is tight. To get the umbrella in it, you need to twist the umbrella tightly and then twist it inside the case. A little more nylon and a small piece of velcro on the case would not have raised the production cost of this umbrella. The twisting to get the umbrella into the nylon case is likely what causes the ribs to bend, and will lead to a short life. If you need the ultimate in lightweight and want to bounce a flash, a suitable wall or ceiling might be a better option. If you just have to have an umbrella, there are better ones (although not as compact or inexpensive) out there. My choice is the 36" Photek Softlighter II. It's more versatile, much better constructed, and it also fits on the Strobist recommended lightstand, secured with two ball bungies.If you just have to have this umbrella, order two of them. Keeep a spare on hand. You may need it sooner than you would like.

Comments about Westcott Westcott Compact 43" White Satin Umbrella with Removable Black Cover - Collapsible:

Glad to see this product hasn't changed much. I bought one a couple years back and had to replace a few other umbrellas in my collection. One improvement I noticed was that they capped off the end of the umbrella so you don't dig chunks of skin out of your hand if you're trying to close/collapse the main shaft.

I bring this umbrella with me on every location shoot.

Comments about Westcott Westcott Compact 43" White Satin Umbrella with Removable Black Cover - Collapsible:

Combined with a light weight compact light stand and off-camera flash, this handy umbrella makes for a very compact portrait kit that takes up little room or space. The ability to remove the black cover makes this umbrella extra versatile.

The main problem I have with it is that the wire ribs are very fragile. The first time I used this was on location and I didn't weigh my stand down. It was an ultra-compact stand with a 580ex and this umbrella on top. It fell over from about 6' into soft grass and still ribbing was damaged and the umbrella was destroyed. I attribute this to user error as I should have weighed my stand down and I ordered two more of these because I like the compact design so much.

I have 3 of these umbrellas, 3 - ultra-compact stands, 3 - 580exs and radio remotes and they all fit in a 21 inch gym bag along with a few other accessories to make for a complete studio setup in one compact bag.

Comments about Westcott Westcott Compact 43" White Satin Umbrella with Removable Black Cover - Collapsible:

As a casual beginner, the diffuser/reflector 2-in-1 combo in a inexpensive compact design really appealed to me. As soon as it arrived, I configured it as a flash reflector and tested it using my strangely willing cat - so far so good. I then removed the reflector and setup it up as a flash diffuser and searched for my cat for the second test - again, so far so good. As far as I could tell, both configurations worked well; however, the issue with the product is what happens after its use.

It is impossible to put the umbrella back into the same perfect storage state it was in when it arrived. I am convinced there is a little old lady from the old country with the knowledge and dexterity to do it; unfortunately, she works part time at the Westcott factory, and I cannot afford to hire her to fold my umbrella each time I use it.

On a serious note, I'm not describing my OCD frustrations on how the umbrella folds up. The tips of the diffuser umbrella are rather sharp - share enough to cause damage to anything they may touch. When the the reflector cover is on the umbrella, the sharp tips are covered with the rounded tips of the reflector. No matter what I tried, I could not get the reflector tips to remain covering the sharp tips of the diffuser when the combo was in the collapsed position making it too risky to carry around in my backpack.

Comments about Westcott Westcott Compact 43" White Satin Umbrella with Removable Black Cover - Collapsible:

This versatile umbrella is very compact and easy to carry around. It deserves the good reviews found on[...]. My only negative comment is that the end of the shaft is sharp and so are the ends of the ribs once the black cover is removed (which is mostly how I use it). I will probably try to file the ends to smooth them down.

Comments about Westcott Westcott Compact 43" White Satin Umbrella with Removable Black Cover - Collapsible:

The umbrella comes in a plastic case and a tissue case. The tissue case is useless, and it ripped appart the first time I took it out.

The system for removing the black cover (and thus obtain a shoot-through white satin) is pretty cumbersome, one needs to unscrew a holder at the top of the umbrella that is prone to being lost.

Overall a decent product for the money.