Elinchrom Rotalux Deep Octa Softbox - An ideal light modifier for environmental portraits of outdoor athletes
Assignment-wise, I’m tasked with creating environmental portraits and headshots of athletes alongside action shots so clients have a wider choice of photography they can use for story-telling, to help them influence their customers and engage with their brand.
Nearly all of my photography is conducted outdoors, as opposed to a studio, so when shooting portraits there's a limit to the amount of lighting equipment I want to carry unless it's essential and I've hired an assistant. My focus is on having gear with me that is lightweight, multi-functional and easy to use.
My preferred light modifier is a softbox that has the ability to accommodate a grid. Large softboxes are my preference (the larger the modifier the softer the light) but when you're outdoors it's more difficult to control larger pieces of equipment - especially in the wind - so I'm often looking for something that’s in between.
Elinchrom’s Rotalux Deep Octa is a medium-sized softbox (available in 70cm and 100cm diameters) that allows me to diffuse and direct light but not weigh me down. I find it to be an ideal piece of equipment for shooting at outdoor locations in remote places.
Out of the box it comes with an outer and inner diffuser (both removable). Purchased separately is a speed-ring (Elinchrom in my instance for my ELB 400 strobes but you can buy different versions to suit your lighting brand) plus Elinchrom's Q-Mount to EL Mount Adapter. The latter you can attach to a light-stand but if we’re mobile, it’s easy to mount it on a monopod and an assistant can point it for me where its required (aka the ‘voice-activated light-stand’).
What I like about the Elinchrom Deep Octa Softbox
Ease of use - It’s very easy to set up and I can be ready to shoot within minutes
Directional light - Using a softbox, it's easier to control where you want the light to hit, as opposed to an umbrella which blasts light everywhere
Functionality - I can use the Octabox with both the internal and external diffusers, just one of them (usually the inner) and, with neither but adding Elinchrom’s deflector kit, which enables me to achieve a similar quality of light to that which I’d get from a beauty dish. Purchased separately is the Rotalux Grid, which helps reduce spill and lens flare.
Redundancy - The octabox accepts a single Elinchrom ELB400 strobe head. If I broke this on a shoot for any reason, with the addition of a spigot (purchased separately), it can also accommodate two Nikon SB-910 speed-lights with Pocketwizard TT5 transceivers attached
Packability - It collapses really easily to fit inside the provided packing case
What I would change
Nothing, really. Both the 70cm and the 100cm models are light, functional and enable an excellent quality of light. I value them highly.
Alternatives
Profoto and Bowens are two other manufacturers offering similar light shaping products
For speedlights, Manfrotto’s Ezybox Hotshoe accepts just a single speed-light but it’s also super easy to use