Paul C. Buff, Inc. Technical Forum

so you are saying is not to be surprised with a 6-18 month delay in the release of the new lights?

You guys are scaring me. If there was an alternative to these lights, I think people would be jumping off of that waiting list but I can't think of a better alternative around the same price point.

very true, but it would be helpful to get ongoing date changes/updates,

based on few pages back, these slipping dates are already effecting a person's ability to schedule clients or having to reschedule shoots.

Yes, we had a product delay of 4 months due to part unavailability.

Regular updates? We just got an update a few days ago...

While I realize some people are waiting on these lights that do not have lights currently, a pro that has clients would be wise to hold on to what they have, until they have the new ones on hand...I don't see how that can be blamed on a new product release.

then maybe I'm expecting too much.

I think we all want to see these, I included. I just think that sometimes smaller companies deserve a little slack, since they don't always have the same pull with vendors. Keep in mind, there are good things about a small company, like service. You'll never get service (not that I've had to experience it first hand, but everything I've read about dealing with PCB, has been way more than even I would expect) like you'll get from Paul.

Just think if you were waiting since (and maybe you were), the days of AB Max! That was over a year ago, actually, it may be longer than that. I think we are getting very close now. Based on what Paul has said, we are close. We thought we were getting close with AB Max, until the prototypes came in, and Paul was disappointed with them. This time, we got a good product, it is just getting it built that is the problem.

I do see Khanley's frustration though because I'm starting to feel the same way which is if they are taking so many pre-orders, than we expect something sooner rather than later. I heard they are starting to take Australian pre-orders now.

I think it's pretty much fantastic to already have a spot in the production delivery queue, and an unusually candid open information channel with the development team of a highly anticipated mass market device that is set to wake up (shake up) the entire photo lighting industry with the introduction of a single model.

It will undoubtedly establish an entirely new product category in the photographic lighting community that will motivate (or has already motivated) the high brow brands to ramp up all of their resources to focus on creating a marketable answer that appears to be worthy of their lofty pricing strategy.

Consider that Einstein incorporates a ground breaking combination of value price point, the application of bleeding edge technologies and operational specifications that eclipse the capabilities of current ultra high end competitive brand flash units with a price point similar to the GDP of a small nation in many important aspects.

Judging by past PCB product performance, and the morphing of the initial AB Max concept into the greatly expanded Einstein specification, it seems that series longevity and sustainability are important matters at PCB. Design for commercial grade reliability, high quality component selection, local manufacture to rigid high standards, in house final assembly, and a serious sense (in my view) that it is far more important to deliver a product that is highly unlikely to need the benefit of the best customer service in the industry, rather than recoup the mega$$$ it takes to bring a product to market by flooding that market with a shotgun blast of "I hope it works now , but we can fix it later" devices adds to my enthusiasm.

I honestly don't understand how anyone who has followed the development of Einstein, and has taken a structured place in line when the pre-order was announced can be seriously frustrated by the reality of first production run delays, or feel a sense of lack of information coming from PCB. We have been treated here to the most detailed diary of consumer product creation (from soup to nuts) that I have ever observed in over half a century of being on the consumer end of the equation.

It's not just "another flash unit", so I figure that the people who invested the brain power to design it, the money (I'd bet millions) to manufacture and build a meaningful shipping debut inventory, and the foundation philosophy of high quality standards that I rely on without reservation (as opposed to Congress, or the NJ Assembly for that matter...) will deliver a market ready Einstein flash as soon as they possibly can.

There is no cash return on new product development expenses with a pre-order list alone, unless you happen to be Microsoft. They have a special "vaporware" exclusion, where they can charge you for what they have yet to create, charge you again when they deliver a broken version 1, and charge you several more times until they get it right. I think that exclusion expires at Version 7 though :).

Meanwhile, I have other lights that get the job done while I wait for Einstein. I used the delay so far to budget the repair of a Canon 580EX II that I broke in half (the third strobe that gave it's life to protect a tripod mounted camera I failed to properly secure in three years), and to take advantage of impossible to resist deals from KEH on two more lenses for my RZ67 kit. I look forward to the entire Einstein reality with passion, but it's still future tech that I can stand to wait for, as the old school lighting I have is on par with pretty much everything else out there today, and performs well enough to pay some bills, and boost my photo budget.

If you are in the building stages with your photo gear, budget is tight, and you might NEED lighting gear right now. If that's the case, don't let impatience be your guide to settling for less than the prize. In an earlier post, Paul Buff made it clear that if you need lighting now, you can buy from the current WL or Alien Bee lines, and return them for exchange value on Einstein units when they become available. You can't beat that offer anywhere else on the planet.

Sorry for the rant, but we (photographers) have plenty of lights available to compete with our peers today, and those of us posting here have an advance ticket on early delivery of the tool that takes it all to the next level. Be patient. No one can be more eager to overload the UPS fleet with Einstein flash units than the folks at PCB.

Voyager

I do not remember seeing that. Can you reference it?

I know you can upgrade within the AB line with minimal exchange cost.

John

geogecko and Voyager13b are you PCB employees? You sound like it. That was quite a sermon from Voyager13b. Especially about an unreleased product that is way behind schedule. Yes I have a "structured place in line" but when will that line be served? Obviously it is taking much longer than stated---again. Delays can be death to a product. While the Einstein probably won't die that horrible death I'm sure many pre-sales have eroded to other brands because of the delay.