Fotodiox 40x60in 5-in-1 Collapsible Reflector Panel and Stand Kit for Photography and Video - Black, Gold, Silver, Translucent, and White Panel

This cost $69, and was a good buy at that price.The metal frame around the translucent center diffuser piece, is a thick sturdy springy metal band (not the thinner round metal bands found in car windshield shade/sun-protectors). This makes the unit very stiff and the material very smooth; and gives a nice place to grip onto a clamp with the included stand. However, it does make it rather hard to fold back up with this heavy duty spring metal band.It comes in a nice round carry bag. The black material of the bag is rather thin, and not padded, but sufficient for carry and storage if you are gentle.The reflector bag/pocket (with the black/white/gold/silver material) seems very sturdy, and has 2 zippers that go all the way around (you can unzip only the top half, and slide the stiff translucent section in/out to turn in-side out to reverse the colors. It is a very tight fit (Good, since it keeps the material stretched tight; and bad, since it makes it hard to close the zippers). The white is a pure clean bright white, the black is a very dark pure black (just as you would want it to be), neither are very shinny (closer to dull matte surface). The Silver and Gold sides are very shinny, and rather smooth when stretched tight. The Gold is more of an orange Gold, rather than a yellow gold (I added a light coat of white spray paint to the gold to reduce the orange tint it gives to skin tone). The silver ends up with small wrinkles, which focus or diffuse the light to give brighter or darker spots if your are very close to the reflector (sort of like water movement on a pool surface), not so noticeable if your are far from the reflector. The materials are not thick enough for every day use in a professional studio, but should last a very long time for occasional use by a hobbyist (if you don't abuse them).It takes a long time (many minutes), to unzip the bags, take out diffuser, turn bags inside out, re-zip bags. So I would only suggest this 5-in-1 for occasional use for those on a budget, (If you need to go back and forth quickly between the 5 material, best to get dedicated reflectors for each color. The internal diffuser on the metal frame has a large cloth loop/handle, for hanging this if you don't want to use the included stand, (when you put the diffuser into the black&white&silver&gold bag, make sure the hole in the bag lines up with the cloth handle, so you can also hang the bag from hooks/branches....)The metal stand has a wide base (I don't need to use sand bags to avoid tipping, unless I'm outside on a windy day, in which case I'd also need extra clamps to hold the reflector to the stand). The stand has a single spring loaded clamp that is custom made for this reflector and grabs around the thick metal band; (The reflector hangs from this clamp by gravity, so you are limited to how you can point/direct the light). Note that the reviews for this product seem to contain a mix of Stand only, and Stand with Arm. My review is for Stand only (without the arm). My stand is plenty strong, and the clip works nicely, (reviewers that bought the arm with the stand seem to be less happy with the arm).Over-all, I'm very happy with this purchase, and would buy this again if I needed another one.

When they say professional....well, they mean it. First off, this reflector is huge. I measured before I ordered and thought it would be nice to have a big reflector. I'm on a budget and can't afford to buy all the light modifiers in the world... However, it is all most as big as I am; you don't realize fully until it is popped open in front of you. The stand is higher quality than I expected. Looking at pictures I was concerned that the quality would be similar to that of a flimsy fold up music stand. Not so. While it's certainly not the nicest stand in the world, it should have many good uses in it. My only complaint there is that the head is not removable so you cannot use it as an external flash stand in a pinch. I consider this a major design flaw especially for this price.... As for the reflector itself, as I said, it is huge. HUGE. The quality of the panels are nice. This is the system where you have a single diffuser that has a 4 sided zip up cover that has each additional color. This is not a set of 5 independent light modifiers. The metal ring that keeps the diffuser in shape is STRONG. And I mean strong. If anyone of you has the fold up reflectors for your car windshield (a great budget saver technique BTW...) you know how much of a pain they can be to get them to fold up. Now magnify that principle and make the resistance SIGNIFICANTLY stronger and make the reflector almost as big as you are, you can run into problems right quick... Frankly, it is hard to close it down and it does not come with instructions on the easiest way to do so. It takes some muscle and I'm not kidding. So if you do get this and plan to take it on location with you, MAKE SURE YOU PRACTICE OPENING AND CLOSING IT AT HOME FIRST! When it opens, make sure you have space because it flies open with great force and could knock something over. Also, you don't want to end up on location and not be able to get it to fold back down in front of a client. Due to the things Ive stated above and the weight (which is relatively significant,) I'd say that this is much more suited for studio use. It will certainly be great for on location (albeit heavy) but you might not want to lug it there and fuss with it. I have a feeling that I will be leaving opened in stead of trying to fuss with it. However, if you are looking for a HUGE diffuser, this is a wonderful option. It IS pro quality, but comes with the corresponding heft.UPDATE 4/12/13Sadly, I rarely used this item. I only pulled it out on a few occasions. That being said, it's tremendous size is great. Larger reflectors mean softer light (in spite of the more difficult handling). I would vote a larger reflector over a smaller one almost always. However, in my few limited uses (literally unfurled the thing 10? times) the rivets that hold the frame together broke and now I have a huge reflector that is no longer taught that I cannot fold down. As a result the detached ends are now cutting through the black rim that holds the silk screen (center portion; not the 4 way cover.) I fear it is beyond warranty even though it received VERY light and proper usage. Now I am out a somewhat expensive reflector. The frame really should be welded because of the manner in which it folds down. That twisting simply puts too much stress on the two (very thin) rivets. I have subsequently lowered my rating to two stars because it is a good, hefty reflector and the stand is nice too... however it simply isn't durable and if you are a semi-pro or pro, you cannot rely on this reflector.

I was surprise with the size and quality of the reflector itself. The only reason I'm giving it 4stars is because of stand... it is one of the worst stands I have seen.