Paul C. Buff, Inc. Technical Forum

I've got a simple, basement studio. Not a lot of room, either with walls or ceiling.
I've been using the PCB 24x36 (with 800's) softboxes for key and fill. I've read that the octobox is a preferred light for softer looks, with portraiture (mostly what I do inside the house).

Would I gain anything from an octobox as a key light? If so, size is an important issue for me.
The 35 foldable, or the 47? The 35 would fit better in the environment I'm using, but if the 47 would perform better, I would squeeze it in.

All else being equal, the real difference is going to be in the catch lights, with octas giving a closer to circular catchlight, which some would argue is more natural, as the sun is circular.

The square (also including rectangular) softboxes will give a square-ish catchlight. If you were inside, I would expect to see a square-ish light source from a squarish window.

In either case, it is personal taste.

Some claim an octabox has a little better wrap, since it protrudes in more directions, but I would imagine that is splitting hairs and you would be hard pressed to see any real difference. If you need a softer light source and are buying another box for that, I would go for the 47", as the 35'' is about the same size as what you have, and you would not likely see an appreciable difference.