The much-acclaimed Profoto Softbox line is growing. Five new products complete the line and provide photographers with even more versatility and creative freedom. These light modifiers are indispensable to studio photographers, and one is never enough. Size, shape, material, and color all matter because they influence the qualities of the resulting light, which in turn influences the quality and aesthetics of the photograph. So, let’s take a look at the new Profoto products and see what they bring to the market and how they can benefit your photography.
Key Features of the New Profoto Softboxes
- White interior softboxes with various dimensions: Profoto Softbox 3’ Octa White, Profoto Softbox 2×3’ White, Profoto Softbox 1×4’ White, Profoto Softbox 3×4’ White, Profoto Softbox 4’ Octa White
- Octagonal and rectangular shape options
- All-in-one mount for quick setup up
- Recessed front
- Support halogen continuous lights (max 500W halogen)
What’s New About These Five New Profoto Softboxes?
White Interior
All five new Profoto Softboxes feature a white interior, which diffuses the light evenly and wraps it around the subject. Made with high-quality fabrics, these light modifiers aim to create the perfect soft light one can use as a key light or fill light.
As a result of using the white interior, the generated light is soft and natural-looking and produces a reduced contrast and no harsh shadows. The white interior spreads the light multi-directionally, unlike the silver interior, which generates a more angular, harder light. Thus, the soft quality of the light generated by a white interior softbox allows you to place the modifier farther away from the subject. To produce the same softness with a silver softbox, for instance, you would have to place it much closer to the subject. So, it makes sense for Profoto to add these models to its offer.
Multiple Shape and Size Options
As you know, rectangular softboxes are versatile and maximize your lighting options. You can easily use them to create a two-point or three-point lighting setup. They are ideal for full-body portraiture. Octagonal softboxes, on the other hand, create a circular, much more natural-looking reflection and are often preferred by beauty photographers. Fashion photographers use both types.
As a result, Profoto launched five new softboxes at once, including two octagonal ones and three rectangular ones. The octagonal ones have a generous front diameter (36 inches (90 cm) for Profoto Softbox 3′ Octa White and 48 inches (120 cm) for Profoto Softbox 4′ Octa White). The rectangular softboxes vary from very long and narrow, 12 x 48 inches (30 x 120 cm) to long and wide, 36 x 48 inches (90 x 120 cm) through a medium size, 24 x 36 inches (60 x 90 cm). The end point is you have choices that match your preferred photographic genre, subject matter, and lighting style.
Improved Usability
All Profoto Softboxes are designed with versatility and portability in mind and feature an all-in-one mount design. They also have a quick fold/unfold mechanism, which makes them extremely easy to set up. It takes seconds to install them.
At the same time, they feature a heat-resistant recessed front that prevents shadows and hotspots. Because of their heat-resistant property, these softboxes are compatible with flashes using halogen modeling lights. In addition, they can be used with continuous light (up to 500W halogen). Hence, you can easily match the light modifier of your choice with light heads, halogen lights, as well as Profoto A-series flashes using an OCF Adapter and use them for shooting in your studio, on location, and even outdoors.
Wide Range of Compatible Accessories
Speaking of adapters and accessories, these new products support any of Profoto’s available accessories, including Profoto Softgrids, Edge Masks, Diffusor Kits, and Strip Masks.
Soft grids reduce the light spread to 50° and produce a more directed light with no spill light. Edge Masks create a dark area in the center of the softbox, producing a beautiful contour of light around the subject. Diffusers allow you to customize the level of softness from 0.5 f-stops to 1.5 f-stops, and strip masks are excellent for creating rim lights or highlighting a particular detail of your subject.
Overall, Profoto has ensured you have full control over the quality and direction of the light and all the artistic freedom you need to illuminate your subject.
Who Should Buy New Profoto Softboxes?
Softboxes are popular amongst studio photographers, regardless of whether they prefer portrait, fashion, beauty, product, or still-life photography. These white interior softboxes complement all these photographic genres and matched with the right accessories they surely find their way in any photo studio and even when shooting on location.
However, the white interior creates a particularly soft and natural-looking light, which fits fashion, beauty, and portrait photography like a glove. It flatters skin tones and hides imperfections, such as blemishes and wrinkles, better than the silver interior. Choose the octagonal models if you often focus on the face and the rectangular models if you often do full-body portraits or fashion editorials.
Comparable Profoto Light Modifiers
Profoto offers a broad range of softboxes and accessories. However, until now, the 3′ and 4′ Octa models and the 2×3′, 1×4′, and 3×4′ rectangular models were available only with a silver interior, which produces a crisper look.
The only options with a white interior were the Clic Softbox family, with the Profoto CliPP101324, c Softbox 1×3′, Profoto Clic Softgrid 1×3′, and Profoto Clic Stripmask 1×3′ being the latest additions, and the OCF Softbox family. But none of them had a heat-resistant front or was compatible with halogen lights. Thus, the new Profoto Softboxes are more than welcome and much appreciated by beauty, fashion, and portrait photographers out there.
Final Thoughts
Light design is an essential ingredient in fine art and commercial photography, especially for photographic genres such as portraiture, fashion editorials, and beauty photography. Usually, lighting involves using more than one light source and light modifier and adapting the illumination to each photo session, maybe even to each shot.
Profoto designs its products with versatility in mind but also without compromising on quality and ease of use. Hence, it offers different products for different purposes, empowering the photographer with full control over the illumination and enhancing creative freedom. The latest Softboxes are testimony to this philosophy in that they provide the white interior that was previously missing from the brand’s offer, plus all the dimensions and usability features already listed in their product line. Finding the right light modifier and accessories should be a matter of taste, not settling with whatever is available on the market.
Feature Image BTS with Roberto Valenzuela on the Profoto White Interior Modifier Campaign.
Credits Photographer: Roberto Valenzuela: @roberto_photo, Model: Sophia Baser: @sophiabaser, Lighting Assistant and BTS: Lan Doan: @ggrassphoto, Stylist: Niquita Tamar: @niquitatamar, Hair and Makeup Artist: Apollo Barragan: @makeupbyapollo
