Paul C. Buff, Inc. Technical Forum

As I understand it, the flash power of the Einstein is comparable to the B1600. But I want to know how the flash duration of the Einstein compares to the B800 at comparable power settings on the Einstein. I'm interested in strobing sports gyms and want to know what the duration of Einstein @ 320ws vs AB800 @ 320ws (full power).

Can you guys help me out?

http://www.paulcbuff.com/pcb2009/einstein.html

◦ACTION mode - ... At ½ power in ACTION MODE the t.1 flash duration is approximately 1/2000 second and the color temperature is approximately 5750K...

The above is an excerpt from the link at the top. the t.1 times are about 2 times faster at the 320ws setting vs. the B800.

Incidentally, the B1600 and Einstein have similat t.1 times AT FULL POWER. As the B1600 decreases in power, the t.1 times increase in duration, while Einstein decreases in duration.

thanks! i just hope the wait list durations are on par. :lol:

Einstein can do 1/3600 sec t.1 at 160WS. 1/7000 @ 80WS and 1/10,000 t.1 at 40WS. B800 does 1/1000 t.1 at Full power and 1/500 at minimum power. Even this is equal to Elinchrom RX300 and faster than just about every other Euro monolight except Bowens Gemini.

About what power setting would be needed, whether in action, or constant color mode, to achieve, say, 1/1500th duration? Or 1/1000th, or 1/1200th?

(When I'm shooting rodeo horses in daylight, it seems to me that 1/1000th is a minimum speed to get a decent, frozen-action shot, 1/1200th is better, 1/1500th is really nice a crisp, but anything beyond that doesn't make a big difference.)

I'm working on the manual and charts right now. In Action Mode you can get 1/1000 t.1 at about 500WS, 1/2000 at 320WS, 1/3600 at 160WS, i/6000 at 80WS.

Because the tube has a sharp cutoff, the effective action stopping is sharper than you would get from a non IGBT flash with similar t.1 specs. Remember, a conventional non IGBT flash, at the t.1 point, still produces ghosts at 3f below the primary exposure and these ghosts go on a long time beyond the t.1 time. They can show up as blur on light colored portions of the scene where a 3f exposure reduction still causes visible blur. Einstein eliminates all this, so is extremely sharp in its action freezing.