Paul C. Buff, Inc. Technical Forum

Okay, I think I understand, though I'm not sure an edge would be my own preference.

Shoot through? You can't shoot through the PLM because the flash would be aimed right at your lens if used in a reflective fashion, like with the silver. You would probably be best off with the ringflash and moon unit.

I know your studio pain, I have a very limited amount of space in my home for studio fun, can't wait to see the 86" in my 10' wide room with an 8' ceiling!

Did you buy the diffuser sock too?

The 86 silver is "focused" in the sense that if you position the flash dome at the focus of the parabola, you get a very directional 86" diameter of column of light. When I got mine, I set it up at one end of the living room, with the upper rim just about 2-3 inches from the ceiling. It threw a very even column of light down the length of the room, without illuminating the ceiling or walls at all.

This is really cool for a variety of reasons, as you can basically just put a beam of light right where you want it. Now I plan to order the smaller silver versions, too.

The white version is a bit more diffused, a "softer" column of light, with a bit more spill. Also a very nice quality of light.

I am trying to imagine why I would ever use any other umbrella at this point than PLMs....

Perhaps my imagination was making worse than it really is. Let's say you were shooting a car for example, I wouldn't want a definite line on the ground in the foreground. If you look at the Rob Galbraith article, looks like it falls off nicely.



I have the silver 86" and 64" w/socks on order, should be some activity this week I hope. You have the white too? I was thinking of adding an 86" and 64" white after testing out the silver.

Yeah, I think these things are going to dominate the umbrella market for quite some time.

For on axis work, I stand in front of the PLM (white). I shoot a lot of kids, so I am down low, but it works rather well. It is my standard fill light.

As for the focusing, note that the thumb screw does not have to go through the hole on the positioning shaft. That is just the optimum focus position. If you loosen the screw and move the PLM up or down the shaft, you will change the focus. You would then hold the PLM in place by tightnening the thumb screw for a friction hold on the positioning shaft.

@Corndog: I did not get the diffuser sock, though it may be a good idea.
@TS: I am using it as a fill as well, though I am going to try some on-axis work ala this post on Strobist: http://strobist.blogspot.com/2010/11/su ... light.html

The light should be VERY soft with an interesting shadow. I may also add a key on axis using an ABR800. Should make for interesting shadows or maybe none at all. The idea of focusing never occurred to me but you could focus that light pretty accurately. I shoot out at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah occasionally and that would be a great place to play with it.

Thanks for the replies and tips. I appreciate the dialogue.

Robert

Salt flats would be would be a killer place to shoot! Post over on Fredmiranda in the lighting forum if feel like sharing some samples. :)

Tech Support - Are you folks close to being able to fill new orders?

It's a little cold and wet out there now. :D When I do, I will.

I used my silver 86 on a group portrait shoot last night and was very pleasantly surprised by how it manages depth of light intensity very well. In the setup I was using, the farthest person was nearly twice as far from the light as the closest person--which should have resulted in a two-stop difference...but the difference was much less.

TANSTAAFL still rules, though. Even though I didn't have to worry as much about the depth of the light, the narrowness of the beam required me to keep everyone pretty much in the same line...I could stretch the group out lengthwise but I couldn't have people both sitting on the floor and standing upright.

I would expect to need at least two PLMs for a group shot, but not being able to light someone standing as well as sitting sounds odd. If you look at the image I posted from the RG site, it doesn't appear that way at all. Did you have a limitation that prevented you from being able to move the PLM further from the subjects?

Short range combined with the nearly beam-like effect of the light pattern. My subjects are barely 12 feet from the umbrella, so the beam is still pretty tight. It's like a really big reflector with a grid.

It's all good--a matter of knowing how to use the tool. What's neat is that it's a distinctly different kind of tool, thus it has its own special applications.

I also have an 86-white, and that one does--just as expected--fill a large room with broad light. I use that as my "rear bounce fill wall" on location.