Foldio: Your Portable Photo Studio

UPDATE (5 December 2014): OrangeMonkie.com is coming out with FOLDIO2, a BIGGER & SMARTER Foldio! Back them up at Kickstarter.com!

One day (like any other day), I was mindlessly surfing the internet when my email dinged and a newsletter from Photojojo.com popped up on my email.

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My interest got piqued so I clicked the link. I found myself researching more about the product and the next thing I knew, I had purchased my very own Foldio from the Orangemonkie.com website. /facepalm

(I swear, my body just acted on it’s own!)

What is Foldio?

As you can see from the image above, Foldio is a foldable studio with a built-in lighting. It started as a Kickstarter project and how I wished I knew about it then! I would have willingly backed it so I could get FOLDIO FULL SET kit which included 7 backgrounds instead of 3.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/orangemonkie/foldio-the-1st-foldable-studio-for-smartphone/widget/video.html

Now that you know what Foldio is, let’s proceed with the un-boxing!

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Foldio comes in very simple box.
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The back of the box with the product specifications.
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Inside the box – the 3 backgrounds (white, black and gray) and the foldio
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Opening it up!
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The one that I ordered came with 2 LED strips and costs $59. There is a single LED strip version which costs less at $49.
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The backgrounds. I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn’t made of paper. The background is made of a thin, foam-ish material.

Setting up Foldio

So now that we’ve un-boxed the Foldio, let’s set it up!

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Foldio is pretty easy to set up as you saw from the video above. The magnets are strong and easily clicks into place. However, I’m not a big fan of the batteries just dangling by the sides. The batteries also drag the foldio down and that’s a minus for me. Apparently the battery plugs are magnetized so they stick cleanly to the sides of the Foldio. Just saw this video on how to set up the Foldio for the first time.
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I found it hard to attach the batteries. I’m also questioning the quality of the battery cable. They seem a little flimsy. I won’t be surprised if one day I accidentally break the cable when pulling out the battery.

Sample Photos

Let’s check out some sample photos. Here are some photos taken with a Canon 100D.

The photos were edited using Photoshop, a little sharpening and Auto Tone Image adjustment.

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Another toy I bought from Photojojo – a Light Scoop – which I will be reviewing soon as well.
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Darth Vader ring I bought a long time ago 🙂

Here are some sample photos taken with an iPhone 5.

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Random thoughts…

  • I do hope the makers of Foldio will allow us to buy extra LED strips in the future. What if my LED strips conk out? I would be a very sad geek if I won’t be able to buy a replacement.
  • It would have been great if they made the Foldio a little bigger. After testing Foldio out, I realized that 10″ x 10″ x 10″ is actually quite small. There’s only so much you can fit in it.
  • I was expecting Foldio to be made of a harder plastic. The material they used is too bendy in my opinion.

To buy or not to buy?

If I were to describe the Foldio in one word, it would be “indulgence”.

It’s not an essential gear but it is something that one would like to have if they have extra money to spare. It’s a cool item to own, for sure.

But for less than $59, you can easily buy a bigger portable light box that does the same thing, and has more accessories like a tripod.

(You can even DIY if you like!)

However, the one edge Foldio has from other portable light boxes is its very straightforward setup instructions.

It’s ridiculously easy to set up the Foldio! Not to mention that the Foldio is very compact and light so lugging it around would be a breeze.

Personally, I’m pretty happy with Foldio and it’s good enough for my blogging needs.

(I just really wish it were a little bigger.)

So, what do you think of the Foldio? Is it something you’d buy for yourself?

If you have $59 to spare, go ahead and get your very own Foldio.

XOXO,

XOXO

Lia
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2 responses to “Foldio: Your Portable Photo Studio”

  1. Andrew Park Avatar
    Andrew Park

    Hi, Lia Espina Lopez

    Nice to meet you. This is Andrew from orangemonkie team. I would like to thank you for purchasing our product foldio.

    As you know, our dream is to make the circumstance that the photography is no longer a difficult and professional part for minorities, and just a burden for general people by creating a better environment everyone can take high quality pictures with a smartphone easily.

    So, we launched a project “foldio – 1st photo studio for smartphone” last year.
    And you featured it on your blog. I really appreciate that.

    After the project, we’ve studied and improved our product based on feedbacks from foldio users for a year and brought a more ambitious project which allows public to take pictures better.

    Finally we launched our new project called Foldio 2 – “Bigger & Smarter”.

    I believe that “Foldio 2” will be an awesome item for these reasons:

    1. Innovative design – Owing to foldable structure, 0.78 inch(height) box becomes a photo studio.
    2. Bigger, but still portable – The size comes bigger but it’s still portable to take pictures with a smartphone anywhere.
    3. Smarter with foldio app – We are developing a suitable smartphone application for Foldio 2. It helps people to take high quality pictures easier and faster.

    I believe that you will understand our dream. So please share our project with your people to make it real.

    Thanks for taking the time to check us out,
    Andrew

  2. Lia Espina Lopez Avatar
    Lia Espina Lopez

    Hi Andrew, thanks for passing by my blog! 🙂 I know about Foldio 2 and I’m one of the early bird backers! Can’t wait to get the product. More power to your team! 🙂

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