Paul Buff has designed some great gear.Its tough and well built, their customer service was personal
and top notch. I needed a flash tube installed and it had to be soldered in place. They did it for free
and the turnaround time is second to nobody. I wish other camera related companies were as fast.
Generally speaking for support gear, (light stands, backgound stands, light modifiers) you want to get the best, becuase you only want to buy once. Nothing peeves me more than having to put up with a cheap stand. Many cheap stands are made of pot metal and are not load rated. Manfrotto and Mathews do load rate the products.
BUT, For stands get Mathews they are expensive but last forever and are much safer than the others.
Also Chimera makes the best softboxes and modifiers. They are also quite expensive so I am always looking for a good deal on those. The build quality is great. The same can be said for Westcott. Stay away from Britek or Photoflex. There build quality is second rate.
I have and still use several light modifiers that I have built. I actually have a diffusier that is 20'x12'.
It's home made but holds up with a little tape here and there.... <vbg>
Make sure you get sand bags and use them all the time on the bottom of the stand. Trust me the first time
a client or their kids knock over your background, strobes, or your tripod you will really wish you had extra weight to keep it upright.
Take care,
Les
from Achal
But, I must say that if possible, buy a softbox from other companies, the ones that they sell are not that great.
