CowboyStudio 12-Inch Product Photography Soft Box/Light Tent Cube with 4 Chroma Key Backdrops

I bought the 40-inch version of this tent and it has paid for itself about ten times over already. This tent easily and consistently recreates a product setup that allows for diffused lighting with minimal shadows and a wide variety of materials. It is great for copy work or a quick and simple product shots given that the object fits within the size you purchased. You can quickly move between reflective and non-reflective objects without too much time spent in post-production. Honestly, I probably could've used one of these a few years ago but I just got around to purchasing one now.I will admit that the first time setting up the 40-inch tent is a little bit daunting if you can't figure it out on your own because you can't easily hold the whole thing with two hands like its smaller counterparts but the concept is the same. Basically all you have to do is work your way around the cube and keep pulling on the edges of each side until it pops into place, it's made pretty sturdy so you can be a bit rough with it if you need to. If you find that one side just doesn't want to pop open try to push it in a bit and then tug it back out and it will pop into place.To pack it up just start pushing a side inward and then the opposite side inward after it, pushing the diffusion material in along with it until you end up with one flat panel like a collapsible disc reflector. For a tent this size I usually stand it up on one side and put the tip of my foot on the end of it on the floor and twist the top edge down counterclockwise until it squishes back into a disc and fits in the bag.This also comes with a few pieces of fabric to use as backdrop on the inside, the backdrops it comes with work great and have velcro on them to attach within the tent. I would have loved to see it come with a backdrop in grey but I had to retro fit one out of Savage Seamless backdrop paper for a couple shoots and that worked like a dream.The zipper on the front is also great and allows you to hide everything but the very end of your lens from view if you're shooting a glossy or reflective object.For lighting I usually put a speedlight with an umbrella on the sides and one on the top on a boom but you can probably even get by with one light for this system.Overall, this setup is worth its weight in gold. Cowboy studio has consistently made great equipment for those of us who can't afford to buy high-end name brand photography gear just yet. None of their products have failed me and as long as my cat doesn't get to it I think this light tent should hold up for a very long time. Take good care of your gear and it will last forever. Buy the biggest version of this product that you can and you'll have one hot setup!

I'm an amateur photographer and an experienced clutterbug. I purchased this item to help me along my path to blissful minimalism. Lacking uncluttered backdrops in my home, I determined it might be necessary to purchase this item to allow for clear product photographs for online sales listings.After reading the reviews, I made up my mind to pay careful attention when unfolding the light tent so I might have some hope of re-folding it. Unfolding went well, although it took some tugging and jiggling to convince this thing to form a shape resembling a cube. (Once I was able to get it into shape, it held the shape well without any trouble.) I set it up next to a window, put in the white backdrop (which required nearly crawling inside myself), and took some photos. Even with just natural light, the photos turned out very nice.Refolding was, as expected, a bit tricky. After getting it flat again, I tried to replicate the twists I'd undone before, which wasn't as easy as expected. I did some twisting and mushing until it resembled the shape of the bag it came in, and it went in again ok.A few notes:- 30" is bigger than I imagined. I initially wanted the 24" size, but this was estimated to have a much longer shipping time, so I went with this size instead. Bigger is easier as far as taking nice photos with a variety of item sizes, but keep in mind that bigger also means more awkward to wrestle with getting unfolded and folded again.- Backdrops, of course, arrive requiring ironing. I'm not sure about just storing them folded in their bag between photo-shoots. Unfortunately, the velvety texture also attracts lint. I might experiment with making my own out of lower-maintenance fabrics.- Velcro used to attach backdrops isn't the strongest- I had to reattach a corner that came undone at one point.Eventually, I'd like to convert my house into a giant empty white box and eliminate the need for this product. Until then, this does the job pretty well.

I'm actually returning the 30 inch and bought 24 inch instead. I love this tent and it is going to work perfect. Makes beautiful soft but bright white light inside and all I'm using is 4 desk lamps from Walmart. I over shot the size. It just looks like a giant cube lol I could fit 5 kids in the 30 inch. I think it's taller than 30 which is fine but the 24 inch will be Stellar size. One thing I really like is that it folds down/pops open but it's like a sturdy frame once you pop it open it's not flimsy frame like you would think. I mean you couldn't hang lights on the frame but I think of you are buying a photo TENT you should realize that and it should be a given because the material is thin/soft to allow light to come through but it is by no means cheap. I bought an 18x24 inch acrylic sheet at lowes for only 10.78 too which will sit in it perfectly to add bit of professionalism to my photos and by the way I am by no means a professional. I just started taking pictures when I opened my etsy shop in January so I have a lot to learn but this has been my best investment since far. I added a picture of beads you can see the color contrast change from first toSecond pic and keep in mind this was without any photo editing or even trying real hard plus the fact that since tent too big I could use 2 more lamps. I know the 24 inch is going to be answer to my photography problems. In closing my words of wisdom is that sometimes you have to look past any negative reviews so that you don't miss out on something you might have loved, I almost did!