Lastolite Ezybox Hotshoe Kit - Portable softbox kit
It offers a solution for studio lighting on the move. But is it easy and practical enough to take out on a day shoot?
For photographers who regularly work on location, the ability to be able to control lighting is an absolute must. Sure, it's possible to get reasonably good results if you kit your Speedlight up with a diffuser or a bounce card but for perfect results you can't beat a softbox.
There are plenty of semi-portable studio kits out there, most offering up a way to light your subjects with budget continuous lighting lamps or fairly low watt flash. However, the prospect of carrying heavy, bulky lamps simply isn't practical if you don't have a base to keep all your kit or don't have assistants to carry all your extras.
Chances are, though, you will already have one, or maybe more flashguns with you, and for many circumstances this will give you enough punch to illuminate portrait subjects.
Lastolite's Ezybox Hotshoe kit allows you to harness the lighting power of any flashgun by fixing it using a hotshoe plate. Available in two different sizes (38 x 38cm or 60 x 60cm) it's either possible to mount the softbox onto an extendable 4-section stand or get an assistant to hand-hold the kit using a 38-80cm handle.
The softbox collapses very easily to be housed in a circular case, no bigger and only slightly heavier than your standard reflector, whilst the stand also has its own dedicated bag that's easy enough to transport thanks to a shoulder strap.
A bit of assembly is involved, but it's fairly straightforward if you check out the instructions. With a little bit of practice it's possible to get everything mounted and put into postion within a couple of minutes at the most.
Folding into a small, flat triangular package the first thing to do is pop open the softbox into a square and affix the white fabric diffuser. As the softbox has a run of velcro along its edge this is a very simple process.
Fixing the adaptor ring is the most complicated part of the procedure and it's vital this is done correctly in order to make sure the kit is secure. This is especially important if working among a crowd. It's also possible to use the mounts with larger Lastolite soft boxes such as the 45 x 45cm but a dedicated larger adaptor ring is required.
Whilst it's not particularly heavy, anybody who doesn't have good arm strength may find holding up a fully extended handle for a longer time a bit weary. Providing a secure alternative though, the dedicated stand can be extended to an impressive height and still remain sturdy.
If lighting a subject from above, it's possible to tilt your flashgun and softbox with an easy circular locking screw. During our tests this held up really well and didn't fall over time.
Of course, we don't have to tell you how much better our shots looked using a softbox. The portability of the kit really helped us to direct our lighting in the most convenient position with very little fuss.
Most importantly, once we'd finished with our shoot we were able to collapse everything and pack it up into its dedicated bag just as quick as.
Summary
The Lastolite Professional Ezybox Hotshoe kit is a perfect addition to any location/event photographer's armoury. Reasonably priced the hotshoe adaptor is compatible with any flash gun and offers you to achieve studio lighting quality without the burden of heavy lamps.
With dedicated carry bags, it's easy enough to keep the kit to one side until you need to use it, and light enough to carry on your shoulder if you're also ladened down with other camera equipment.
Very easy to assemble, you can create a simple studio-style set-up within just a few minutes.
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