Paul C. Buff, Inc. Technical Forum

Hello I have been thinking about purchasing a Paul Buff octabox for quite sometime. I would like to know if there are any appreciable differences in light quality output etc... between the two sizes. I tend to do a lot of location shooting so I'm guess the 35" maybe best for travel? I have seen the 35 up close in person but was wondering how much bigger the 47" octabox would be in perspective? Also, would the 47" be to much for one person to deal with while on location without any assistants. Lastly, would the 35 or 47" Octabox be able to provide even illumination down and entire body of say a regular 5'8"-5'11" person.? Thanks so much for any help with this purchase decision

Tech support anyone, can you toss me a bone please would love to order this before the weekend. In general would love to know if the larger octa will cover a person from head to toe in light, or will there be fall of by the waist, ankles etc... Thanks

A 47" box will give a foot larger spread than a 35" box at the same distance. It will have a little more wrap. The closer the more significant the wrap will be. I don think there will be a significant difference between the two in lighting a full person, and the ability to do so is more about placement. The further away, the more even the light. You may get nominally more evenness from the 47". Size wise, the 47" should be able to be used by one person, but the 35 will probably easier.

While there will not be a huge difference either way, the 47 will have more spread/wrap at a given distance, and the 35 will be easier to handle.

Tech support thanks so much. I think right now I will start with the 35"octabox /medium paul buff octabox. I look forward to buying and blogging about it. I've checked high and low on info about buff/alienbee octaboxes but never really came across anything to concrete. hope to post some helpful info to share with the alienbee/ photo community. thanks again