Why? Would it really make any considerable difference that's not wasteful at the same time? Meaning one would need to ramp up the output to compensate for any gobbled-up light while at the same time consuming more power (thus raising ones' costs in providing the electric feed; battery or outlet sourced). Perhaps it would make a very subtle visual difference but then what's the material made of . . . is it black poly or silk or dye . . . [it's nylon] ? See a BoobTUBE review [leaning to the negatory] here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bz48ZBWvZb0 And in effort to balance the equation - another one here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DAIQV7lNAc But they are right - I can't see any harsh specular highlights: Here's a direct link to his RAW files comparing various modifiers - https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1iKOfTFQ_S5PGVJJLp7t-TxTN9kLhdCTn I don't know but I'd probably pass on it . . . but I use the hell out of black flags on set to make a background go white and limit spillage . . .
Now that's a pretty thorough "boob tube" review... (I think it will take surgery to remove his tongue from his cheek.)
The first I saw this I wondered...why? I watched his ad for it and instantly felt like I was scammed. Not out of money, but out of the time I watched him shill about it. As someone who has a high level of justification to picking up "just one more" piece of lighting equipment, this was a hard pass for me.
I just got off a venture-capital meeting call with Godox and Ford - they are willing to prototype a pack and Ford will throw in a free F-150 Electric to power the unit in the field - it'll pump enough power to provide f2.0 at 8 minutes . . . they were originally going to name it Medusa but opted for a twist on an already-seated [ad-psych] moniker . . . I told them I have 5000 Trophy Points I could invest toward the project . . . there was silence on their end . . . NOTE: ONLY to be used with the black bulb heads posted above and your model MUST be placed on ECMO (to assure no motion blur from the model taking their own breath). The company assumes no responsibility for any risks associated with potential sepsis and/or risk of death related to required respiratory or cardiac bypass for optimal image quality.
This is the type of educational discourse I came to p-v.club to hear. So many valuable peeks at the future of photography! And the market for some of these ideas! As bbrooks pointed out there are so many eager (jonesing?) for "just one more" piece of gear whatever it does or how it performs. I have a few points to invest and we all know how important it is to get in on the ground floor of innovation like Nikon4life's Ban-Ray, and Jupiter's bulb and beauty dish (which can double as a checkerboard while waiting for your model to arrive. I was going to say the future looks bright, but that does not seem appropriate.
Brandon is a nice guy but, this is 100% a gimmick. Doesn't really add anything "of value". If you have the extra $, support your fellow creative but otherwise, it just removes 1/3 stop of light where you can just decrease the power from you source on regular softbox.
Agree about the value component 100%. I'd rather do a shoot; not charge the client - cull and edit the selects - have several prints produced [including matting AND framing] - and hand-deliver them to the recipient sitting for the original shoot - - - than buy embarrassingly ignorant gimmicks (regardless if they are fellow "creatives") - one would EASILY reap greater satisfaction {and also yield greater return on investment} from the former . . .