Overhead Butterflies - what's good?

[Mark K.]

Hey guys,

I've been looking into overhead butterflies recently, and trying to find a good starting point. Matthews Quik Corners or the Avenger Foldaway frames seemed the most readily accessible units - but there's nowhere I can take a look at them locally before making the investment.

Then today I stumbled across the Lastolite "Skylite Rapid" system in a stills photography store. And it looks like a brilliant system, far and away the quickest overhead butterfly system I've ever seen - it packs up and down super fast, and the frame is very rigid and secure, and it uses customised Avenger D200 grip heads to hold the frame (which makes it rather less fuss to manoeuvre than some systems I've seen.

The 'big' lastolite is only a 2m x 2m frame (6.6' x 6.6'), but I think that's the size I want for my kit anyway as it's easier to get indoors (i've been tossing up between 6'x6' and 8'x8' until now).

So on the whole, it looks like a great system. The only downside is that you're kinda locked in to the Lastolite fabrics (unless you customised some regular silks/grids to mount to it).

So it seems like a good choice, I'm just wondering if anyone has encountered the Lastolite 'rapid' systems before? What people have thought of them? And whether anyone has any suggestions on which route to take?

Cheers,

Mark

 

[Ron Steinberg]

Hi Mark,

I'm the product manager for Lastolite in Canada. While the Skylite Rapid system was designed with stills photographers in mind, I've been targeting the 2x2m size towards small video production/run and gun type work, as like you, I think it's a fantastic product for that market. It's very quick to assemble and change fabrics, which clip on nice and tight unlike some other products in this price range. With the addition of a couple of Avenger D200 modified grip heads (note you can't use a regular D200, the hole's aren't big enough) it's very easy to rig this unit. Just be aware that it is a lightweight piece, made of aluminum, so don't expect Avenger or Matthews durability. Treat it right and it will work wonders for you. It's my go to system for that size butterfly. I can also highly recommend the Avenger Modular Frames if you're in need of something bigger, especially the 12x12, as you can size it down to an 8x8 and 4x4 very easily.

Cheers,
Ron

 

[Eric M Hurt]

They look pretty good for very controlled shooting such as indoors. If you want versatility I'd opt for a standard 8x8 or 12x12 and some heavy duty stands and lots of sandbags. You could buy shorter pipe to create a 6x6 from the same corners as well. The upside to having gear that is more standard is if you hire grips they will know how to use it without any delay.

 

[Ulf Krentz]

Don´t forget you might like to use some heavy textiles like black commando or rigg two fabrics. We never regretted to buy the Avenger Foldaway frame. It is set up in seconds, is light and rigid. Go for the 8x8 size and yes, get some good stands for it. If you should consider a 12x12 there is also a collapsable version that folds up to 6ft lenght. The mounting fishpoles also fit into a gobo head and a frame might be used with two c-stands in a controlled studio surrounding.

Cheers, Ulf