British studio lighting manufacturer Bowens have launched a new Lumiair series of softboxes, which replaces both their previous basic and Wafer product lines and merges them into a single line-up.
Robert Cook, marketing director at Bowens, said,
“Up to now many photographers have been forced to accept a trade-off situation between cost and quality. The marketplace is flooded with ‘cheap, easy to assemble’ softbox products that comprise nothing more than fragile reflective material wrapped loosely around the holding rods – and the resultant light is, more often than not, substandard.
“Our approach with Lumiair has been to carefully control the colour temperature of the reflected light and ensure that the material we use in our diffusers does not fluoresce under UV light. And importantly, it is the integral tension in Lumiair rods that creates the straightest edges possible for absolute control over light direction and shadow cut-off.â€
According to Cook, the light fall-off from the centre to the edge of each Lumiair softbox is no more than half a stop, contrasting with many other softboxes on the market that, he claims, are “no better than holding a sheet in front of a light bulb”.
The Lumiair range is made up of nine different models of square, rectangular and octagonal light modifiers. Optional Soft Egg Crate fabric grids are also available for each, thanks to a partnership with renowned Canadian manufacturer Lighttools.
Prices start at £150 including VAT. You can view the new softboxes by visiting Bowens at stand M2 during Focus on Imaging next week, or see their web site for a list of dealers.