ePhoto Speed Ring Speedring for Softbox Balcar Alien Bees Alienbees Speed Ring Softbox Adapter Ring by ePhoto INC SB1001SRWL

I needed a speed ring that would allow me to attach a  Photo Basics 788 36 x 48-Inch Silver Soft Box  to an Alienbees B800 flash unit. Westcott obviously makes one that will fit an Alienbees flash, but it costs over three times as much as the ePhoto one!Using this speed ring, the Photo Basics soft box can be assembled easily, which was my main concern when I ordered it. (I don't know if you have much experience assembling soft boxes, but it often involves using a ridiculous amount of brute force and has you fearing that either the soft box is going to suddenly rip into pieces or a support rod is going to suddenly snap and whip you in the eyes. And how can I take photos if my delicate eyes have been maimed by a soft box rod?)This speed ring is definitely durable and well made. But I give it four stars instead of five because the four washers that keep the reflective insert (in the product photo it's the shiny part in the center of the gray outer ring) inside the outer ring seem a little bit too small: when I assembled my soft box, less than 1/8 of an inch of the edge of the reflective ring was held back by the top two washers. I suppose the weight of a soft box is unlikely to cause the edge of the reflective insert to suddenly bend and pop out past the top two washers holding it to the outer ring, but hey, I'm just speaking my mind here.The bottom line is: If you have an Alienbees flash and a Photo Basics soft box, get this thing and you will be happy.

Easy to use and made of good quality!

I didn't realize the complexity (or quality) of all my other speed rings until I got this one. There is no rubber or plastic bushings to grip the center ring at the mount points which means it is either very loose or locked in place. There is also only one hand-screw for tightening. The other 3 mount points are just small screws with metal washers - mine came missing one of these. And there is a gap, or lip if you will, that prevents these screws from pushing the washers snug to the center ring so it will always be loose on 3/4 of the ring's edge. This play causes the single hand-screw mount to loosen on it's own as the center ring rocks in and out.Technically, it will hold a softbox on a light, but don't expect it to be very forgiving when you reposition it. You will also want to be sure to tighten all the screws regularly since there is a lot of metal on metal movement and the screws seem to want to come out on there own.

This is a good alternative to expensive speedrings manufactured by Wescott and some of the others. Be aware that, while this speedring works fine with regular softboxes, rod holes are not positioned correctly for strip banks. I had to swap my Wescott speed ring to use with the strip bank and use this for a softbox.

It was good. Good stuff. Used it a lot in the studio and on location. Held out well. Forgot the ring and the softbox outside as I was loading up stuff in the car and it was gone. But it held out well. Never an issue.

I purchased this to use with a 7 feet octabank by Westcott and it herd up perfectly. The build is solid and the removable attachment makes it compatible with most units as long as you have the proper ring. I even used it with an L bracket and speedlights and it worked just fine

This adapter makes conversion from Flashpoint modifiers to some that are compatible with the AB heads.

Why pay $50+ for speed rings when these are well made and will do the job. Two thumb screws allow rotation and the insert is a reasonably heavy piece of metal. If you like to get good bang for your buck as I do - you won't be disappointed with these rings.