Paul Buff Lights

Hello,

I'm not sure how I feel about having read this thread... I was just about to sell two Profoto Compact 600's to fund my purchase of several new Einsteins next month. I'd been hesitant to get the Einsteins because of suspicions regarding quality - I'm pretty hard on my gear and at least half of my shooting is on location. I was considering Elinchrom as well, but the Buff lights seem to have surpassed the Elinchrom's as far as features.

So this past holiday I decided to end my angst and relegate my Bron and Profoto gear to the studio and buy 4 Einsteins for location work. I've read so many glowing reviews about size, weight and performance that it seemed crazy to lug all my heavy gear all over the place when there was a better option.

Now I'm starting to question my decision again. What do others here think of the quality of Einsteins? I shoot a fair amount of product, so I often use large Chimera soft boxes. Will they be secure? Can the Einstein's hold up to being shipped around the country (in a Pelican case)? Will they withstand day-to-day use on-location?

Any thoughts regarding construction, durability and the security of the soft box attachment would be greatly appreciated.

Stuart
--
http://www.stuartruckman.com

SR Works said:

Any thoughts regarding construction, durability and the security of the soft box attachment would be greatly appreciated.

Click to expand...

Stuart,
with large banks I'd either use Chimera's 3770 (plus grip head)
http://www.chimeralighting.com/Products/Parts-and-Lighting-Grip/Lighting-Grip

or alternate the attachment in the way a PCBuff forum member suggests: (techtrode)
http://www.paulcbuff-techforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=2520

I think suspending heavy weight and large lever forces from a light weight housing is asking too much.

--
cheers, Peter
Germany

SR Works said:

Any thoughts regarding construction, durability and the security of the soft box attachment would be greatly appreciated.

Click to expand...

SR Works said:

Any thoughts regarding construction, durability and the security of the soft box attachment would be greatly appreciated.

Stuart
--
http://www.stuartruckman.com

Click to expand...

In a way its too bad I started questions about these lights here but I do call it like I see it, and was frankly shocked to find what I did. I had been wanting to try Einsteins for months after reading about their capabilities and was quite let down by the claw system and the modelling light cycling off unannounced just when I needed it.

I'm sure PCB is so committed to the design by way of supporting it with many accessories etc., that they can't put the toothpaste back in the tube, so they are what they are.

I've looked at some other brands last weekend as well and what I'm seeing is the others "seem to" have prioritized greater durability and far more secure attachment methods where PCB prioritized control and fine tuning. I think PCB is going to have to come up with yet another retrofit to make the claw system more permanently robust.

Unless very gently cradelled in a shipping case I would be leery about transporting them from shoot to shoot on a regular basis. Well padded pelicans might be perfect.

Overall though ...I think the pelican that delivered these babies ...was just a tad early.

jj
--
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jjlad/sets/

I am really surprised that you just don't go ahead and get a few and if you don't like them, I believe they'll let you return them and refund your money. PCB service is unequaled.

Regards,
Mike

It easy for the glass diffuser to come loose. It breaks easily.

Now I've got mine safety wired around the perimeter. So far, so good.

--
Scott

Onetrack97 said:

It easy for the glass diffuser to come loose. It breaks easily.

Now I've got mine safety wired around the perimeter. So far, so good.

--
Scott

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so we have PCB supplying fabric tethers to keep the softboxes from falling off the heads and a makeshift 'wire' method of securing the diffusers. I know the photographic 'results' one gets from the lights ..are great, and that's wonderful but otherwise .....
--
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jjlad/sets/

Are you saying that PCB supplying fabric tethers now after they redesigned the claws? I know they did that before the redesign, but are you sure? I don't need any tethers to hold heavy accessories since I PCB updated my lights (for free) and all of the new units shipping since last year have the updated design?

Regards,
Mike

I'm also startled. The clamps that hold the glass dome are very strong and secure. The revised mount fingers don't give and snap in place when the lever is released. The only thing I'd advise is to support extreme large softboxes by means I mentioned in my previous post.
--
cheers, Peter
Germany

Peter Berressem said:

I'm also startled. The clamps that hold the glass dome are very strong and secure. The revised mount fingers don't give and snap in place when the lever is released. The only thing I'd advise is to support extreme large softboxes by means I mentioned in my previous post.
--
cheers, Peter
Germany

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Sorry ..I missed seeing the last couple of posts here. I don't know if PCB is supplying fabric tethers now or now. I'm sure the softboxes I was using at that rental studio were not the latest incarnation of them, and they did have straps but they were torn.

With respect to the mounting of the dome diffuser over the bulb ..the mount was fine, but when the softbox fell off it hit the dome and knocked if off its mount onto the floor ..that's why it broke.
--
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jjlad/sets/

jjlad said:

With respect to the mounting of the dome diffuser over the bulb ..the mount was fine, but when the softbox fell off it hit the dome and knocked if off its mount onto the floor ..that's why it broke.

Click to expand...

Fortunately it costs $ 9.95 instead of e.g. $ 150 for a Profoto dome
--
cheers, Peter
Germany

Peter Berressem said:

jjlad said:

With respect to the mounting of the dome diffuser over the bulb ..the mount was fine, but when the softbox fell off it hit the dome and knocked if off its mount onto the floor ..that's why it broke.

Click to expand...

Fortunately it costs $ 9.95 instead of e.g. $ 150 for a Profoto dome

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Hey, that Profoto dome is extra special. It must be, comes in cardboard box marked Profoto.

More seriously, it isn’t just the quality, but at every stage from manufacturing to the final sale there is usually someone taking at cut. Until a few weeks ago, the Air remote via Hensel was 20% cheaper than same remote from Profoto (through the MAC group). Just this week the Profoto Air remote dropped about 16% and the same remote from Hensel rose in price by 33% and now exceeds the Profoto branded Air Remote by $100.

So in one week has it become that much more expensive to ship a remote to the US through Germany compared shipping it directly from Sweden?

I am sure that if Buff put the Einstein in a decent housing it would be more expensive, but cutting out those numerous middle people is really what makes Buff stuff so much more affordable than other lighting equipment.

It always amazed me when comparing single malt Scotch prices in the US compared to the UK. Some Scotches were deemed ‘better’ in the US, simply because they were twice the price – they were seen as better simply because they were more expensive.

All said and done though, while the glass dome price differential is more than a little annoying, the Profoto mounting system is a lot better than the Balcar mounting system.

Brian A

Hugowolf said:

It always amazed me when comparing single malt Scotch prices in the US compared to the UK. Some Scotches were deemed ‘better’ in the US, simply because they were twice the price – they were seen as better simply because they were more expensive.

All said and done though, while the glass dome price differential is more than a little annoying, the Profoto mounting system is a lot better than the Balcar mounting system.

Brian A

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All I can say to that is I could use a drink ..but I live in Canada where the prices are twice or more what they are in the US ...so I'm enjoying a glass of water!
jj

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http://www.flickr.com/photos/jjlad/sets/

jjlad said:

Onetrack97 said:

It easy for the glass diffuser to come loose. It breaks easily.

Now I've got mine safety wired around the perimeter. So far, so good.

--
Scott

Click to expand...

so we have PCB supplying fabric tethers to keep the softboxes from falling off the heads and a makeshift 'wire' method of securing the diffusers. I know the photographic 'results' one gets from the lights ..are great, and that's wonderful but otherwise .....
--
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jjlad/sets/

Click to expand...

Mine are the latest claw design and I think they are better than their previous monolights. Certainly easier to use.

Originally, I bought one e640 for use outdoors. It is great for that. Lighter than the WL's and more rugged and more powerful than the AB's. 9 f-stop range and full power controll with CyberCommander.

Then I bought two more for my main and fill in the studio.

I just did a shoot a few days ago where I used all three e640's plus four more monolights in a headshot setup. Shot 40 girls that day.

So, the fans are really loud and they sound cheap, uneven, like plastic. Keeping the music up helps but then it's more difficult to direct the action.

I think I'll stick to just using two in the studio. The other thing is that they need a handle when using any softbox or beauty dish. Without a handle, it's hard to control the angle. On the Buff site, people are using screw drivers in the umbrella slot. I made may own with a steel rod and hard rubber ball for a handle.

Buff needs to supply one.

Now the good news. The CyberCommander is handy outdoors but I still use my Sekonic for metering since it shows ambient + flash values. In the studio, the CyberCommander is great. It meters and lets you adjust quickly. You can adjust all or groups of lights together instead of having to go through all of the channels.

Yes, the user interface pretty much sucks. But, it is useable once you figure it out.
--
Scott

I had 4 Einsteins...sold them and went with Elinchrom. BXRi500 and Quadras.

Main reasons for switching: Utterly unreliable wireless system; CyberCommander, etc resulting in disastrous, embarrassing shoots.

The "claw". I couldn't trust they wouldnt fall out...and they did. I caught them...literally on 3-4 occassions. Once I missed. Not pretty.

Too bad imo...because there is a lot to love about the IGBT tech, great customer service, etc.