Paul C. Buff, Inc. Technical Forum

I'm new to Paul Buff lights, but I just received nine new Einsteins. I haven't opened or used them yet because I need new speed rings for my chimera soft boxes. Chimera does not list rings for Einsteins, but they do list rings for White Lightning. Are these the same? Will any accessory that fits White Lightning also fit Einsteins?

Thanks for any help that you can offer.

Gordon

Some 3rd party speed rings don't play nice with Einsteins, but in general White Lightning/Alien Bees/Einstein speed rings are interchangeable.

If third party speed rings don't always play nice with these lights, should I solve this in the other direction? Will a Buff speed ring work with a chimera box?

Gordon

I've used my PCB speed rings in other softboxes without problems, but I've never used a chimera so can't say with 100% certainty that it will work.

I think Chimera would be OK. They have (or at least had) a curved insert that allows the fingers to extend. If the insert is straight, however, the tips of the fingers may hit the adapter and not extend all the way and lock.

My Einstein is quite stable with a Chimera "Super Pro Plus" 36x48 with grid. That's a deep "front heavy" box to begin with, and the gird makes it even worse. Someday, I'll get my Chimera 54x72 back from the person who borrowed it, and can give it the real torture test.

I use the Chimera speedrings and Westcott speedrings.

Paul was kind enough a while back to tell me that, for my home-made mounting stuff, the proper mount is a 3-1/2 inch hole with a 1/8-1/4 inch lip. I'll return the favor...

• Chimera 2520 "White Lightning Ultra" rings have an 0.218 inch lip and a 3.44 inch hole
• Westcott 3500 "Balcar/White Lightning" rings have an 0.273 inch lip and a 3.44 inch hole

That's a sample of 1 of each, measured with a Mitutoyo Digimatic caliper.

Despite being "out of spec", the Westcott 3500 works very well.

Thanks for all the info. I'm ordering rings from Chimera. I'll update if I have any insights after using them. In the meantime, I welcome any additional input.
Gordon

That's interesting and helpful information, Joseph. I thought I'd add a few more data points:

• PLM V2 AB "cage": 0.253" lip and 3.49" hole
• 7" AB "funnel" reflector: 0.227" lip and 3.49" hole
• 8.5" AB reflector: 0.26" lip and 3.49" hole
• AB 7UR Umbrella reflector 0.28" lip and 3.5" hole
• Kacey AB adapter: 0.272 lip and 3.5" hole
• Generic speed ring insert: 0.30" lip and 3.41" hole

One sample of each measured with a digital caliper. Note that the way-out-of-spec generic speed ring insert works just fine with my latest-generation Einsteins.

Dave F.

Paul Buff LGSR Speedring: 0.31" lip and 3.48" hole

This isn't a perfect fit with my Einsteins (the quick release levers only travel back to about 60% closed) but it seems to hold up fine. I haven't tried any heavy modifiers with this speedring though.