lifenprism Loc: Upstate S.C.

Has anyone had any experience with the Paul C Buff "Einstein" monolights? I'm looking for something versatile enough to go from a small space location shoot, to possibly a mid to large studio environment, to the great outdoors at midday if needed. From all the data and specification I've come across so far, it seems these lights could possibly fit the bill.
Just looking for a little insight from those whom have used them.

speters Loc: Grangeville/Idaho

I have not personally used one yet, but I'm with you, for the price ( not more than a regular flash) they are hard to beat and are capable Studio Lights. I think you can't go wrong with them, there are a lot of accessories at very favorable prices too!!

CaptainC Loc: Colorado, south of Denver

I have three and love them. Consider getting the Paul Buff Cyber Commander so you can control the output from the camera.

These are a very sophisticated unit with incredibly accurate controls in 1/10 stop increments. Color temp is VERY consistent. If you want outdoor use, get the portable battery pack.

lifenprism Loc: Upstate S.C.

[quote=CaptainC]I have three and love them. Consider getting the Paul Buff Cyber Commander so you can control the output from the camera.

These are a very sophisticated unit with incredibly accurate controls in 1/10 stop increments. Color temp is VERY consistent. If you want outdoor use, get the portable battery pack.[
I'm considering purchasing three of the units and a 4th down the road. And yes I will be getting the Commander and three of the transceivers. My main concern is will I be able to power down enough to use one as a hairlight if it's a small room on location? If the space is small to where I can only use one light as a key and a bounce reflector for fill, will the hairlight be able to power down enough or possibly just mix in a speedlight?

jr168

Einsteins are great. You can go from 2.5 ws to 640 ws. The Cyber Commander works great but does take a bit to understand. For outdoor location shoots, get the Vagabonds for portable power. Using the Pocketwizard Mini tt1 or flex 5 as trigger with additional flex 5 or MC2 (made just for Einsteins) will allow hypersync (I have shot as high as 1/4000 and got good results).

watchcow Loc: Moore, Oklahoma

The light can be dialed down impressively. and if not enough you can add diffusers over the reflector or use an old trick and take the reflector off and spray it with a can of spray powder deodorant to dull the interior surface of the reflector. For output, and control i am not sure the industry has anything that you could call a peer. they are small, but relatively heavy, so using them for a hairlight, i would want a really sturdy boom, or a truss setup like the DJs use in the clubs.

there are itty bitty import AC slaves and any number of low cost Chinese speedlights that have slave triggers built in and adjustable output. i would probably favor one of those, to the lightweight alienbees B400, over using a heavier strobe like the Einstein or X series.

I had an opportunity to play with these when they first came out, i was impressed but they offer features that i would use only rarely so it was not worth the cost to replace my current strobes. I have had Paul Buff strobes for many years and currently have a couple of the old "Ultra" series from the 1980s and a couple of x1600's i picked up about 10 years ago. I also have one of their old white-lightning "coffee can" units. all work well. i have had nothing but excellent support from them. Some of my old Ultras started developing issues and the capacitors needed to be replaced. they were custom made for Buff many years ago and no longer available so they offered me a trade-in/trade-up discount that i could not refuse and bought a pair of X1600s. I use their modifiers as well and love the 30x60 softbox that takes down in a fraction of the time my old photoflex boxes did and they feel lighter and more durable at the same time.

Take their challenge. start with one good light. if only to get an idea of how versatile their equipment is, pick up an alienbees B400 to use today, and later use for a hairlight, and once you are convinced, buy the Einstein units one at a time to build your kit. They also have some discounts for students and offer packages that have a little discount. http://www.paulcbuff.com/packages.php I hope you use and enjoy yours as much as i have mine.

CaptainC Loc: Colorado, south of Denver

[quote=lifenprism][quote=CaptainC]I have three and love them. Consider getting the Paul Buff Cyber Commander so you can control the output from the camera.

These are a very sophisticated unit with incredibly accurate controls in 1/10 stop increments. Color temp is VERY consistent. If you want outdoor use, get the portable battery pack.[
I'm considering purchasing three of the units and a 4th down the road. And yes I will be getting the Commander and three of the transceivers. My main concern is will I be able to power down enough to use one as a hairlight if it's a small room on location? If the space is small to where I can only use one light as a key and a bounce reflector for fill, will the hairlight be able to power down enough or possibly just mix in a speedlight?[/quote]

I use one as a hairlight all the time. You can take the power way down. I generally put a 20 or 30 degree grid in the reflector to kill any spill, but you can get away without it if you aim carefully. BTW, the Einstein does not come with the basic cone reflector and I suggest you order one for each light as they do come in handy and you NEED them to attache grids, barndoors, etc.

Jcmarino

I dont, but just watched Joel Grimes on Creative Live use them and was very intrigued. Watching him dial down or up effortlessly was very impressive.

bkyser Loc: Fly over country in Indiana

I also use Paul C Buff equipment for the studio work, and a cheepie Amazon set for photobooth applications. Once you get spoiled with the "Buff stuff", it is hard to go back to using the all manual adjustment, low power stuff out there. I just can't afford to replace my good equipment, so I carry "junk" to photobooth shots.

Don't get me wrong, they are built tough, but I wouldn't want to use them around a bunch of drunk people if you know what I mean.

Reinaldokool Loc: San Rafael, CA

Haven't used these, but I have had several Paul Buff lights over the years and been impressed with the quality and capability.