[3.1 lb] this tilthead works great with my lastolite ezy box hotshoe soft box kit. the impact tiltheads i own did not provide a secure and steady footing for my soft box. the provided spigots would twist under the weight of the soft box so it was very difficult to make adjustments when i was repositiong the soft box. but the lastolite tilthead was just the right match... the immovable spigot provided a good anchor for the soft box. the ratchet design of the tilt also provided more accurate positioning of the ezy box.

[28 x 5 x 2.5"] Needed the bracket to tilt down a hotshoe softbox.

[Yes] Easy to assemble, provides great light and the recessed lip is great to feather the light with. I use it with a Nikon SB-900 or Alien Bees strobes in the studio and on location. Very even light and it doesn't blow over in the wind very easily. Use sandbags or a voice activated light stand if you want to be sure. This is well worth the small expense it took to get this. Definitely recommended!

[Black] I thought his would be made of plastic...nope, metal. Definitely would buy again.

[Yes] This is the best softbox for a photographer on a budget. It's easy to set up and can be used with speedlights or with a strobe, which makes it versatile. Another thing that allow this to softbox to be versatile is that you can either point the flash toward the rear of the box or you can face the flash toward the subject for a slightly different look. I also like to pull the diffusion up and use it like a silver umbrella. The soft box has two problems however. Like others have said you CAN NOT tilt the box down. AT ALL. This may be a deal breaker for most people. I'm not really bothered by this since I have an arm. If you don't have one I recommend you pick one up. It will make using this softbox and any other piece of lighting equipment easier to use. The second problem, and it is more of an annoyance than a problem, is that you must pull up the diffusion material in order to access the controls on your light. If your strobes operate from a power pack then you don't have to worry about this. Everyone else will be pulling open the front of the box to make adjustments. For me this was annoying until I realize that the material doesn't have to be perfectly aligned with the velcro in order to light properly. You can actual open it and just let it fall when you're done so for me this wasn't a big deal. Another minor thing is that Westcott does not make a grid for this size box. I've found a few people online and ... who make grids this size for $40 or so. What I may do is make my own. If I do I'm sure that I'd be more annoyed at having to open the front to access the flash controls. But, all in all I am very, very happy with my purchase.

[Yes] Only use it with the Impact quickbox because it doesn't tilt on its own. This is the solution for the problem!

[3.1 lb] I bought this softbox on the recommendation of Syl Arena, author of the Speedliter's Handbook. I'm very pleased with the softbox itself. I've gotten some great results with it so far. Setup and teardown is easy, making it very portable. I've already used it on a portrait shoot in the middle of the forest and it worked out very well. The lightstand and the umbrella adapter are not that great. I fire my Speedlite 430EX II inside the softbox using a long off-camera flash cable. The included umbrella adapter has a permanently attached cold shoe, which doesn't do me any good since I want to use my OCF cable. So I ended up buying another umbrella adapter. The light stand is small and lightweight, but perhaps too much so. I find the softbox to be too unstable on this lightstand, so I end up using another one. I certainly would not trust it outdoors on the included lightstand. But I did need a small lightstand, so I was happy to buy the kit and just use the stand for other purposes. If you're in a similar situation, buying this softbox kit is probably worthwhile. Otherwise, just buy the softbox by itself.

[28 x 5 x 2.5"] Used this when shooting an outdoor portrait in the setting sunlight. It was beautiful light. I was very happy with the results and so was my subject!

[28 x 5 x 2.5"] Extremely well-made tilthead. Even the ratchet adjuster wheel is cast aluminum. The spigot locking screw is spring-loaded to keep it from vibrating loose, and the spigot is fairly hard, so it should last a long time. Unconditionally impressed with this thing, and I suspect I'll still be using it in a decade.

[Yes] Well made, lightweight, notched gears secure well with hand twist.