aputure light dome II or other modifier?

[Joe Cage]

Hello,

I am looking to buy an aputure 300D II or a 600D(when it finally arrives). But I want to buy a softbox for the light as well. And there is always the aputure light dome II. Setup time looks quite good, and the size is ok I guess. The bigger the better, but that would decrease setup times and more of a hassle to lug around.

Any experiences?

Cheers

 

[M Harvey]

I own the 22" mini II, not the 34", so will comment here on the similarities.

I love the quick set-up and breakdown that the rod design allows-- you'll never hesitate to get it out when you need to soften your output and (if you're like me) you may find yourself using it without a front when you want to control spill a bit on a quick-and-dirty set-up where you're bouncing the light or shooting through a frame. It's also a great value, since it includes a grid. It's made me less hesitant to bring the C300D on a shoot instead of a Litepanel, since it now doesn't really take more time or trouble to soften the light.

Other best feature: the gel holder! So much quicker and easier to simply clamp a small square of gel near the light source, compared to a traditional softbox. Why bother with Skypanel.

How robust is it? I do have a couple bent spokes on the mini from a stand tip-over (I know, I know, we were moving too fast...). It's solid, but not hand-it-down-to-your-children bulletproof. The Snapbags for my Litepanels are a bit more robust, but also cost far more.

As an alternative, you could consider the Aputure Lantern. I own one. Great for a lantern, but less compact package for travel (than the mini, anyway), takes a bit more futzing to set up (add the skirt, etc.), and no gel holder. But the spherical shape is nice-- use it like a Gem Ball with built-in light control. (The fact that it hangs from a cylindrical lighting unit means you need some ceiling height if placing overhead-- in a tight spot, it won't replace a Litemat or covered wagon or Chimera pancake. But it is great for this, too.)

 

[michael fetner]

I've had the Lightdome I, Lightdome II, the Neewer softbox and the Godox softbox.

IMO The best out of the bunch is the Lightdome II and the Godox P120L.

Lightdome II
Pros: Super fast setup because it has a quick-release feature for open and close, the rods don't actually have to come out of the Bowens mount to dismantle.
Cons: The stitching on my softbox came apart on one part after about a year of normal use. Its 35 inches which is smaller than the Godox. Only one layer of Diffusion

Godox P120L
Pros: It's bigger - 48 inches. Two layers of diffusion. Cheaper.
Cons: Takes much longer to put together. (Aputure can take 15 seconds, when this is fully taken apart it can take 5-10 min)


I'm about to buy another Godox one, but I think the ease of the Aputure makes it much better, I'm just cheap and don't want to spend the extra 100$ lol