Westcott Pro Light Mods make your subject look like a rock star

Westcott has announced its new Pro Light Mods range (buy here). These are softbox covers which simulate the Hollywood-style light banks as well as stadium lighting. Their goal is not to modify the light hitting your subject so much as turn your softboxes into background lighting in your scene behind your subject.

The new Westcott Pro Light Mods are available in six different sizes to cover a range of different softboxes. While they’re obviously designed based on the sizes of Westcott’s own softboxes, they should fit on just about any brand softbox that matches the same dimensions and has the depth to add a grid.

Westcott Pro Light Mods – Sizes?

As these aren’t actually modifiers themselves, they have no mount. They don’t need one. They attach to the front of your softbox and not to the lighting units themselves. They’re available in six different sizes covering three different shapes.

There are two different sizes available for stip softboxes of 1x3ft and 1x4ft for $99.90 and $109.90, respectivel. The 1x3ft model features four circles on its front for light to shine through while the 1x4ft model offers five light circles. Three sizes are available for the more traditional square and rectangular softboxes, including 2x2ft, 2x3ft and 3x4ft, priced at $99.90, $109.90 and $119.90, respectively.

Unlike the rectangular Pro Light Mods, which appear to attach to the velcro on the inside of the softbox rim, there’s also a 36″ round Pro Light Mod that costs $119.90. This is designed for use with 36″ octaboxes, beauty dishes and those 16-sided quick-setup softboxes. This one actually wraps around the edge of the frame to ensure that it stays on your softbox no matter whether it has 8 or 16 sides or a perfectly smooth round front surface.

I’ve seen cheap versions of these available on Amazon in the past for small 60cm square softbox, but I haven’t seen them coming from big name manufacturers like Westcott before. I’m sure they’re out there, but these are the first that have come across my screen in the past couple of decades. In fairness, while they produce a cool effect, they’re not really my thing. So, if there are any others on the market, the chances of me seeing them are fairly slim anyway.

I do have to wonder, though, wouldn’t it be a whole lot cheaper just to get yourself some black foam board and cut a bunch of holes in it? For what a couple of these costs, you could buy a cheap diode laser engraver to cut these out yourself. Of course, Foam board isn’t quite as portable or durable as these are, so if you’re regularly travelling to different locations – perhaps shooting school sports teams, these will be a much better investment. If you’re set up in a permanent studio and the lights rarely move, then foam board might be the better way to go.

Price and Availability

The Westcott Pro Light Mods are available to buy now in 1x3ft and 1x4ft sizes for strip softboxes, priced at $99.90 and $109.90 respectively. Square and rectangular modifiers are also available to buy now in 3x2ft, 3x3ft and 4x3ft sizes for $99.90, $109.90 and $119.90, respectively. The 36″ round Pro Light Mod is available to buy now for $119.90. Twin packs of each size are also available on the Westcott website.