Richard Gorremans wrote:
I get them from e-bay for about $26 each. So far that are pretty good. 

If you watch the bids right you can get the fairly cheap.  Tip... don't waste your time in a bidding war and end up paying too much because they pop another one on as soon as one is finished.  I just wait until the last 2 minutes and put in a top bid range.

What he said about the bidding war.  Don't run the price up on yourself.

As to quality?  They are good enough and get the job done.  They ship pretty fast too.

Side Effects Studio wrote:
I got one from them on Ebay - I was going to buy duvateen, but in a fit of pique over the asking price, I searched for a black muslin. Lo, and behold, Amvona was there with a $45, 9' x 20' black muslin.

Inexpensive? Yes.
Cheap? Oh my, yes.

It was thin, unevenly dyed, and not at all well treated with any sort of fabric sizing, so I spent a couple hours trying to get the wrinkles out, then when I hung it, the lighting highlighted the patina created by the iron. In the end, it just looked cheap and wrong. I ended up using it to make a couple room-dividing drapes.

If you want to stay within a budget, I'd say go with seamless paper. Yeah, it's long, and can be tedious to store, but the results are so much more reliable.

Good luck

So right! I bought a bunch of plain-coloured background fabrics when I was staring out and they were *very* cheap-looking. I soon switched to 9' and 12' seamless paper rolls. Unless you really go for that 'makeover photo' cloud background look, stick with paper.

Don Wright wrote:
Has anyone used their muslin backdrops?  Are they any good?  If not, what brands do you suggest?

Terry Breedlove wrote:
I really like these two and might have to buy them. Though the size ( 6'6" x 9' ) is a bit small. I think they would look great in color or shot in Black and white.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi … 0112314626

http://cgi.ebay.com/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI … 0181257861

That first one is the one I've wanted, but more than I want to pay.  I bought a blue one that size from them and it is pretty nice.  I can't expect too much for the 25.00 I paid for it.

I did buy one form Amvona, very thin material and not even close to the color shown, but again you get what you pay for.

David Bickley wrote:
I have a few from them, never been disappointed. I did buy one from ebay, once. I will never do that again. I would suggest shopping from them direct, not through ebay.

I disagree. The prices they quote on their site are WAY overpriced, whereas a weekday auction ending at 3pm may go for a 1/4 of the price.

My take on Amvona so far:

Large octobox- great build, more accesories than I'll ever need. Comparable to Photoflex.

Softboxes- same as above. Comes with a grid and internal diffusion. Built for 1k lights, so plenty durable for strobes.

I bought a kit from them 3 years ago for around 350. shipping is sloooow. The kit included the following:
3 very heavy duty 13' stands on wheels

3 1k lights with 4 bulbs each ( 500 and 1k)

3 softboxes

I sold one setup for 200 on CL with an old stand, so for 150 I have 2 good softboxes, 3 good stands,  and 2 1k lights ( I added dimmers)

I use the hotlights still, sometimes...


The backdrops are flimsy, thin, and poory dyed. I purchased unbleached seamless muslin from a Grip supply house in L.A. and made my own.

Christopher Bowen wrote:
So right! I bought a bunch of plain-coloured background fabrics when I was staring out and they were *very* cheap-looking. I soon switched to 9' and 12' seamless paper rolls. Unless you really go for that 'makeover photo' cloud background look, stick with paper.

I agree with Chris as well the seamless paper rolls do a great job and they are reusable and they dont cost that much. I've started picking up a few as well. The only downside is that they are a pain to haul around.

Terry Breedlove wrote:
I really like these two and might have to buy them. Though the size ( 6'6" x 9' ) is a bit small. I think they would look great in color or shot in Black and white.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi … 0112314626

http://cgi.ebay.com/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI … 0181257861

Dont jump at the Buy it Now prices. You have to be patient because this seller does not flood EBay with their auctions. They tend to end auctions during high traffic periods. Typically the 6x9 musling go between $35 & $55. The larger 10x12 usually sell between $50 and $120. I purchased one of the 6x9 muslins and it was too small so I ended up selling it on craigslist. The 10x20 usually go for $100+

Atris Everson wrote:

Dont jump at the Buy it Now prices. You have to be patient because this seller does not flood EBay with their auctions. They tend to end auctions during high traffic periods. Typically the 6x9 musling go between $35 & $55. The larger 10x12 usually sell between $50 and $120. I purchased one of the 6x9 muslins and it was too small so I ended up selling it on craigslist. The 10x20 usually go for $100+

Thank you for the tip.I will be watching.

Connor Photography wrote:
It is nice to have thick muslin, but is not neccesary unless you put it against a window.    IF you control you light properly and move the subject away from the BG, you will never  have any problems. 

Also don't let the color and the material of the muslin bother you.  Hang it on the stands and control your light, you will like the outcome better.

I tend to shoot pretty wide open and like to keep my subject away from the backdrop, so it shouldn't be a problem.

I have a few rolls of seamless paper that work fine, just running out of space to store them, so I thought that I would give the muslins a try.

Thanks everyone for the advice.