Paul C. Buff, Inc. Technical Forum

The 8mm shaft would not fit inside the 10mm shaft, nor would the 10mm shaft fit into your light.

Soft silver will still focus to some degree, certainly not as much as extreme silver, but more so than white. The speedring is not critical for the soft silver.

I would say the speed ring is rather unimportant with the soft silver . . . even with the Extreme Silver, though you have to focus more carefully. Soft Silver with 8mm shaft is pretty much stick it on the light and use it.

All the shots, at http://www.paulcbuff.com/plm-competitor.php were done with 8mm straight shaft.

Never seen a 10mm shaft umbrella . . . actual AB and WL are probably about the only lights they will fit. 8mm is the industry standard.

Is there any chance you would be offering a discount on the Soft Silver version to those who were unhappy with the V2 Silver?

The V2 silver kicks major butt and most every user agrees. What's exactly is wrong with it? You CAN buy a diffuser for it to get broader softer light. I have both the silver and soft silver PLMs... with diffusers. Guess I don't get a discount since they kick butt and I'm happy with both of them! :)

Sorry, only under the 60 day satisfaction guaranty. We have to make profits at some point so we can't afford to trade anything for anything . . . we would have to become a used equipment sales company and don't have the staff or facility to do that.

-What's exactly is wrong with it?-

Far too specular to use as a portrait key at a behind the camera distance. "Angry" catchlights and "confused" shadows. I was happy with my V1 Silvers but the V2 silver fabric was completely different. This should have been indicated in the V2 specs. When I expressed my concern at this 1 day after receiving it I was told by Mr. Buff that " There is very little difference in the specularity of the V1 and V2 fabrics. V2 produces more even coverage and better shadow structure than V1 or the knock offs. " It took me almost an entire can of acrylic matte finish applied to the V2 to knock it down to usability.

IMHO, you probably should have just returned them before this...

Test and description in the link:
http://s62.photobucket.com/albums/h120/c2thew/PLM%20v2/Plm%20soft%20silver%20comparison%20with%20old%20v2%20fabric/

Got mine in today and did a little test
86" silver version 1.0 from Sep 2010 (has fabric from v1 but also a speedring from v2)
86" silver extreme
86" soft silver

tested with a canon sx30: 1/160, iso 80, f/2.7 for the subject shots and f/8.0 for the shots looking into the plms. Einsteins were at f/2.0 power color mode.

Initial thoughts: The change in fabric was a welcoming change to the current silver plm and the soft silver plm. The change in fabric now has a more even light pattern compared to the old v1.0 silver plm which had uneven lighting patterns from what I've seen myself and from others using the v1.0 plms. Here are the changes that I've seen

1) thumbscrew on the PCB speedring vs the phillips screw head was a welcome change.
2) white threading instead of black threading on the exterior black fabric make the plm visually look more appealing and denotes that it is the v2 plm
3) fabric has a very noticeable improvement
4) plms now come with a carrying case! hooray!
5) Light patterns on the soft silver plm is VERY nice with the front diffuser creating a light pattern as smooth as a softbox. (i don't have a sekonic meter which is more sensitive to meter then the cybercommander to test, but I will do a test in the distant future)
6) there is still side spill light but the only way to prevent that would be to either have the strobe mounted on the inside of the umbrella like the elinchrom's deep octa/octabank or purchase the spill kill reflector. Not much of an issue for me since large modifiers tend to have less control rather than using a snoot which gives a very specific amount of control.

all in all, VERY satisfied with the soft silver version and it's wider beam of light which is useful for me since I will be using this for group photos at weddings.

First, we have no V2.1. All current models are now simply designated PLM™

What you call "V2" looks like a V1 to me. None of the shots look like they were focused properly . . . what light were you using . . . (You mentioned Einstein?) Your shots all look like either a narrow beam reflector, a speed light, or the light pushed too far into the PLM, as they all are hot in the center. When I tested the face view on Extremee Silver I had to use f32 ISO100 and 1/256 power to keep from burning out the PLM brightest parts

The Speed Ring silver version (V2) is identical to the current Extreme Silver fabric . . . only the fabric name has changed. The patterns, arc and performance are identical, whether speed ring mount or straight 8mm shaft version.

We have no "86" silver version 2.0 from Feb 2011 (has square pattern fabric)"

Here are carefully conducted comparisons, which I directed and know to be accurate.

http://www.paulcbuff.com/plm-competitor.php