Paul C. Buff, Inc. Technical Forum

I have a B800 mounted on a wall boom that I've been using with a 51" PLM…works great, love it! I bought a 30x60 soft box w/grid to focus the nice soft light downwards without spilling onto the surroundings too much. This proved to be too heavy for the four spring tabs on the B800 and it popped off a few times while I was setting up, the last time it shattered the flash tube. Does anyone know of a way to better secure the soft box to the B800?

Read through the following thread and you might find some viable options, it is geared towards einstein use, but may work with AB's as well:

viewtopic.php?f=8&t=2520

Thanks Dave Jr! I ordered the speeding from Ebay and will not have to worry about loosing my flash tube to a falling soft box again! Great solution.

You're welcome, but all credit goes to Tetrode :D

Check this out, too. I realize you ordered something (thanks for the reference -- will look) but this (second link) is what I bought:

http://www.kaceyenterprises.com/
http://www.kaceyenterprises.com/?page_id=1054

The bracket and the necessary clamp do add weight as a combination but there is better control of aim. I bought the Matthews bracket shown because whatever clamp you choose must have that 1/2" shaft choice (not sure of the exact diameter). So a bit of a pricey solution but I am glad I have it for softboxes that put a lot of lever moment on the Einsteins I use.

I assume you still tie off up there with a safety lanyard so the whole rig can't drop out f the sky when something fails. Norman heads, for instance, always came with a little lanyard. Long time ago I didn't know what those were for until the first time a light dropped on the tabletop I was working on. Moment of revelation.

jonathan7007

^ Yes, that Kacey option came along well after Dave F's post, and it is a very elegant solution, but it's also $163.00 !

Yeah, I winced. However, everything Jerry Kacey turns out is really well made: strong, thought out, and carefully finished. You have a $500 piece of amazing electronics, a -- what -- $150 softbox, and a lightstand there already. If I client is on the shoot and the box is falling off, sagging, what ever... this is the bee's knees.

I make do with one. So far so good on that.

BTW, Kacey beauty dish is wonderful, too.

I'd like add my kudos to the solution in that older post referenced above! I don't have any of those super good rings for my softboxes, which were Fotodiox oddities but in one case pretty big: 30x40 lit front and bit bigger overall.

I write in again, though, to say that in my lightstand case I have perhaps a three-foot length of that 5/16" threaded stock, longer than shown to allow me to add a cantilever weight out behind a head if I need to set up something a little dicey. The threaded stock goes in the umbrella tube but emerges out the back to allow balancing the load on the front.

I keep some nuts, etc., in the location kit to allow me to pick the amount and location of a weight. An example of a small weight I carry is just a turnbuckle in that thread, which is maybe 1 half pound. Threading that turnbuckle on the outside far end allows something a little heavier to be clamped to the rod.

I love hardware stores. I just wander and see items that should go on location. Darn kit gets heavier and bigger every few months. My wife asked Home Depot to get a restraining order against me walking in the door. Assistants co-signed the request. <joke> <sort of>