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from Wilmington, DE on 2/4/2011
Comments about Westcott Westcott Photo Basics 17" x 50" Strip Softbox with Silver Interior.:
I used this soft box through an entire season for shooting seniors. We shoot over twenty schools and I never had an issue! I don't know about this whole 'weak construction' thing that others are complaining about. This is just as durable as any other soft box I have used. The problem I think they could have been having is with the old - very old - style of ring adapters. Any of the newer ring adapters that I have used have multiple holes for just this purpose. Use the two narrower holes for your more narrow light modifier - silly!
[1 of 1 customers found this review helpful]
from Tulsa, OK on 1/26/2009
Comments about Westcott Westcott Photo Basics 17" x 50" Strip Softbox with Silver Interior.:
The only thing making 1 star deserved for this soft box (perhaps the entire Photo Basics line) is Westcott's customer service.
When I pay five times the likely cost in materials and labor to produce a given product I expect it will at least hold up to initial assembly and gentle use thereafter. It doesn't. Like the previous reviewer upon attaching this soft box to speedring one of the rods punched right through it's pocket rendering it useless. There is no reinforcement of the rod pockets and the vinyl is rice paper thin. The rods themselves are too rigid for the construction of the shell or perhaps too long. If they were 1/2" shorter or a little more flexible I suspect the rip would not have occured.
The only silver lining is Westcott is warrantying it without question and a new shell is on the way as I type. However, before I try assembling it again I will be taking the shell to my seamstress to sew in reinforcments on all the rod pockets.
For a product to earn Westcott's branding and be sold under their line of Photo Basics (products made for amateurs that might not know exactly what they're doing...) it should at least work. This one does not.
[1 of 1 customers found this review helpful]
from Detroit, MI on 1/20/2009
Comments about Westcott Westcott Photo Basics 17" x 50" Strip Softbox with Silver Interior.:
The soft box ripped where the Velcro attaches at the back of the light even though I bought the ring recommended by Westcott for the TD3 light that I have. In addition, the way the rods attach to the soft box are poorly designed making it hard to setup and one of the rods punched through the end of the soft box requiring a repair. I'm not sure who would need such a cheaply made soft box and I'm surprised that it is a Westcott product.