Pros: good value, lots of available accessories, good "travel" construction, it all fits in 1 bag
Cons: standard stand limits the usefulness of the panel
The Bottom Line: while this would be a poor choice for your only reflector, its a great thing to have in the studio if you love to play with light.
uniq's Full Review: Photoflex Litepanel 39x72 Aluminum Frame Kit. with...
Think of this as the ultimate reflector for your studio. At 39x72" it can work wonders when you need to evenly reflect light over a large area. Instead of just reflecting light onto the face with a small reflector, how about enhancing the illumination for a full-length shot over the entire side of the body. You could also use it as a panel diffuser for your studio lights or even as a diffuser for overhead sunlight. These are things you just can’t effectively do with a small reflector. Anyhoo,..on to the review.
The kit includes an aluminum frame that breaks down into 8 sections held together by bungi cord. You attach the pieces together to make a frame 39x72" in size. Select one of the many available fabrics.... black, diffusion, white, gold, silver etc. Then stretch the fabric over the frame much the same way you would with a fitted bed sheet. The fabric leaves the back exposed. This is important because you need to attach a crossbar to the back to allow for attachment to the light stand. Add a connector that mates the crossbar with a standard light stand pole and you have a full-length reflector. It can be mounted horizontally or vertically or any place in between. You do not have unlimited movement in the tilt directions. The stand itself (particularly the legs) will keep you from doing any exotic tilting of the panel forward or backward. For these kinds of movements you either need to upgrade to a serious boom stand, an overhead attachment or two separate stands (one each side). The whole thing packs up in a supplied case about the same size as a standard light stand case. There are pouches on the sides to accommodate the various fabrics. Unlike most reflector fabrics, these are not two sided so you get one color per fabric.
Because of the large size of the panel, this is not a great outdoor reflector unless there is no wind. You could attach a tail and probably fly it as a kite. It's big. But that is no fault of the design, just simple physics.
What I like about the Photoflex 39x72" light panel with stand
1. Great "bang for your buck". There is a lot of value here for the money
2. Construction quality is pretty good considering that this is designed as a portable device that can be taken with you on location. This is also made in a PVC material but I prefer the aluminum.
3. This panel has a multitude of uses and I find myself using it as a diffuser as often as I do as a reflector.
What I don't like about the kit
1. The standard light stand arrangement prevents all the movements I would like to achieve. I had to upgrade to a dual stand arrangement and a separate boom stand to achieve all the effects I like to use. Think of the standard arrangement as something like a full-length mirror... you can tilt it a little here or there, but you can't hang it overhead very easily.
2. In anything but basic "floor length mirror" mode, you really need a sandbag to hold the stand in place. It is rock solid with the addition of about 3-5 lbs.
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