How To: My 120J Softbox Rig - Itemized Parts List Included UPDATED!

[Abel]

Before I attended The Onelight Workshop I used a single Canon 580EX II to fire into my Medium PhotoFlex Softbox. Needing more power I decided to try to fire two 580's into the box in order to get more light output. Once I saw the barebulb SunPak 120j in action at the workshop, the cogs in my head were already turning to see how I can get that same flash setup in my softbox. I like the idea of being able to fire a barebulb flash in my soft box rather than a traditional flash head. A traditional flash head is still very directional even with a wide angle panel on the head. The barebulb option is completely omni-directionally which fills up the inside of the box with light and then pours (for lack of a better word) out the front of the box.

Once I located a 120j for myself I began to piece together a system that I felt would be very efficient. This is probably above and beyond what most would ever want to do or really need to do but I am a "tinker-er" at heart and love this kind of stuff. hehee.



I had 3 goals in mind when starting this little project.

Goal #1
Get a nice clean & sturdy setup to fire the 120j (barebulb) in my softbox with as little items/cables dangling off the side as possible.

Goal #2
I did not want to be tied to the SunPak supplied NiCad stick pack that came with the flash. I wanted to run off of higher capacity NiMH "C" cell rechargables so that I could easily if out in the field stop by a local gas station and buy replacement batteries for my battery pack.

Goal #3
Make the solution easy to replicate with available store bought parts in case others wanted to use the same type of rig.



Itemized Parts List
I bought most of these items locally but I added the B&H links so that others that are not local can locate the parts online.


1 - Generic Straight Flash Bracket
Generic Flash Bracket that also already includes a cold show to mount a Pocket Wizard. I added a small portion of gaffer's tape so that the contact on the PW doesn't come in contact with the metal cold shoe.
Item Link Here

2 - Hama Screw (Short)
I bought all of the screws individually locally but this one complete pack will work for this setup.
Item Link Here

3 - Hama Screw (Long)
I bought all of the screws individually locally but if ordering online, the "Item 2" listed above is all you will need since it is a pack of 5.
Item Link Here

4 - Brass Adapters
Item Link Here

5 - Flashtube Spacer
I wanted to get the bare bulb out into the softbox a bit more since not only was it recessed inside the speedring but it was recessed inside the flash body a bit. The extender pushes the bulb out about 1" total.
Item Link Here

6 - Chimera Speedring For 120j
Pricey but a great fit. Mounts right up to the 120j and worked with my PhotoFlex Softbox.
Item Link Here

7 - Pocket Wizard Cable
I wanted a shorter cable to replace the stock SunPak 6' cable in order to make the rig nice and clean without too many extras hanging off etc. Completely optional.
Item Link Here

8 - PhotoFlex Medium Softbox
Item Link Here

9 - Original SunPak Plugs (Optional)
You can use these if you like instead of "Item 11" that I have listed below. I chose not to use these because the original plugs tend to get a bit hot because of the load on them. The Dean's Plugs listed below manage to stay cool without problems.
Item Link Here

10 - 2 "C" Cell Battery Caddy
I cut the Battery Caddy in two and also trimmed the width a bit in order to get it to fit just right in the SunPak Battery Pack.
Item Link Here

11 - Dean's Plugs
Male & Female end in one pack. I chose to replace and resolder the origianal stock plugs because these are used in high amp draw electric R/C Cars and I know they can take the load and not heat up. I used 2 packs in this rig.
Item Link Here

12 - Powerex "C" Cell 5,000mah NiMH Rechargables
I wanted to drop the NiCad batteries supplied with the SunPak 120J because they are probably less than 2,000mah cells plus that they are charged with the supplied trickle charger which can take around 8 hours to fully charge. I already have a multi size battery charger (Item 13 shown below) that I use for my other NiMH Cells. The advantage to NiMH cells over NiCAD is that the NiMH cells do not develop a memory. You can recharge them when they're half dead and not worry about it. NiCad's will develop a memory if not fully discharged every time which will hurt capacity and performance.
Item Link Here

13 - MAHA MH-C808M Battery Cahrger (Not Shown)
This charger will charge the individual cells on their own making sure each of the 6 cells in the battery pack are 100% charged. You can not do this with Stick packs like the SunPak supplied battery pack.
Item Link Here


Here are the images...
























I have run a few test shots with it thus far and it looks very promising. I have not had a full fledge shoot with it yet per se. I have a shoot slated for this weekend and will be breaking the rig then for sure! I'll post photos of the actual shoot and results then.

I hope you guys can use this info to either replicate the rig and/or improve upon it... I'd love to hear some feedback.

Thanks.

[tc82742]

where did you get the flash from?? i really want one.

you are brilliant.

[my3peas]

sweet! thanks abel!

[Jake]

Wow Abel! Thanks for taking the time to post this.

[haraki74]

That's a lot of work....thanks Abel and let us know how the shoot turns out.

[Abel]

Originally Posted by tc82742

where did you get the flash from?? i really want one.

you are brilliant.

actually a couple days after the workshop i went into HCE to look for some parts to piece this together and I decided to look in their 3rd Party Flash counter and they still had a brand new one tucked away in there... SOLD!!

so in other words I lucked out... they sell on Ebay as well pretty frequently..

[Mike G]

I know its a little less portable but couldn't this give you the same kind of results?

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...=288558&is=REG

Seems like the 120j sells for almost $300 anyway unless you luck out

[Abel]

you can use one of those... bet i bet that id pretty heavy... ouch.

You can get 120's on ebay for as low as $180 complete with the battery pack and battery. just gotta keep an eye out for them hehe.

[Mike G]

Something to watch for then, $180 kicks $300s butt any day of the week.

[luis_relampago]

Abel,
That is a sweet set up. I use two promasters 5500's on a mexican-rigged amvona softbox and it works fine, but this is something else. I will try to add one of those to my arsenal. thanks for the inspiration!

[canoflan]

I am sure there are other bare bulb flashes out there comparable in price; right?

Pat

[Abel]

Originally Posted by luis_relampago

Abel,
That is a sweet set up. I use two promasters 5500's on a mexican-rigged amvona softbox and it works fine, but this is something else. I will try to add one of those to my arsenal. thanks for the inspiration!

cool deal... i hear ya. im having a custom bracket machined to house my two 580ex flashes. It just got finished so i should be receiving those this week sometime. im anxious to see how they come out.

Originally Posted by canoflan

I am sure there are other bare bulb flashes out there comparable in price; right?

Pat

I'm sure there are but im not sure of makes/models. Quantums of course but they cost a little more than the 120's... well ok A LOT MORE. hehe

[canoflan]

Abel gave me a great idea. I have been wanting to get this Sunpak 622 for a while, but wasn't sure the best circumstances to use it. With my photoflex XS softbox, I think this would be the best way to go. My 580 EX has to pretty much have the stofen attached to do any good with the softbox and that wastes precious stops.

Sunpak 622
Barebulb head

Any extra thoughts, let me know.
Pat

[Abel]

Originally Posted by canoflan

Abel gave me a great idea. I have been wanting to get this Sunpak 622 for a while, but wasn't sure the best circumstances to use it.

Sunpak 622
Barebulb head

Modified Sunpak 433d
http://cgi.ebay.com/SUNPAK-Auto-433D...QQcmdZViewItem

The 433 runs for like $89 brand new. not sure how the mod was done but im interested in taking a peek inside a 433 just for kicks. hehe.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...33_AF_TTL.html

Originally Posted by canoflan

My 580 EX has to pretty much have the stofen attached to do any good with the softbox and that wastes precious stops.

Thats one of the main reasons i wanted to try this out. I too found it necessary to add the omnibounce in order to help disperse the light all around the inside of the box before "pouring" out. if no omnibounce is used then youll get a hot spot since those flash heads are pretty directional.

my photoflex box has a internal diffuser panel in it as well.. so i was loosing even more with it left in.

[canoflan]

I have a Sunpak 383. Do you think it could be modified for barebulb use? Frankly, as inexpensive as these thinks are, I may simply pry off the reflector housing and just it barebulb.

Abel, if you have other ideas, let me know. Thanks alot for the suggests above.
Pat