Paul C. Buff, Inc. Technical Forum

I'm looking to mix either B400's or B800's with Einsteins. Can you tell me the power levels where the B400 and B800 would most closely match the Einstein in constant color mode? The extra power of the B800 would be nice, but I don't need it and if shooting at lower powers (say, 75 Ws) means significantly different color temperatures where the B400 would be closer, I'd rather go with B400's.

I did find this page, which seems to imply that the bees are about the same color at half power as the Einstein is, but I'm not sure if I'm interpreting that right, and I'm also not sure if all bees are the same color temp at full power, or if the 400 would be different from the 800. I'd also have to factor in the diffusion fabric of a softbox, which I understand would drop the color temp another 100-200 degrees?

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Einstein pretty exactly matches all ABs when ABs are at full power. However, the einstein frosted dome lowers the 5600° by 150 to 200°K to about 5400°. This will cause them pretty exactly match ABs when the ABs are in the 1/4 power range.

BTY, Profoto D1s produce 6000° K at full power and 5100° at low power. Older Profoto Compacts produce about 5150°K at Full, and 4800° at low power. Elinchrom RX lights are almost identical to AB in every performance comparison . . . 5600° at Full and 5200° at minimum power.

Conclusion: I think you will find E640s to match ABs quite well. All ABs produce the same color temperature at full power, so I would suggest using AB800 along with Einstein . . . the color difference will be minimal.

As for softboxes and umbrellas . . . they are all different and typically lower color temp by around 200°. In short, absolute constant color balance is almost impossible unless you use all Einsteins with the same modifiers on each.

This is not unique to PCB products but includes the most expensive lights money can buy.

One thing to remember: In nature, color balance between direct sun, light bounced from the environment, blue skies and clouds produce color differences up to 4000° and all of this combines to give shots character, ambience and interest, so I wouldn't make too big an issue of a few hundred degrees color difference in mixing studio lights . . . perfect picture can be boring and the quest, taken too far, is futile.

Thanks for the quick response, this is very helpful. I agree that a couple hundred degrees difference is normally not an issue. My only concern is that I'll be using them on white seamless paper, so in that case a slight color tint would be much more noticeable.

Based on the info you've provided, I'd have to agree that the B800 sounds like the right mix. I actually have three Einsteins right now, can't really justify a fourth, but would like four lights. Thus, I'm seriously considering selling/trading one Einstein for two B400's/B800's, using the bees for my BG lights 99% of the time where I'm not adjusting power or metering nearly as often, so I can get away without Cybersync receivers.