Paul C. Buff, Inc. Technical Forum

While waiting with bated breath for the arrival of my Einsteins, I've already received a couple 35" PCB Octoboxes and a 22" HO-BD.

What I'm wondering is: how can mount my 580 EX II (or any other shoe mount flash) on a stand with my PCB modifiers?

Or ... is there a good way to mount PCB modifiers directly to standard (5/8" or 3/8" studs) light stands without actually attaching them to a light first?

Would something like the PhotoFlex ShoeMount MultiClamp and/or Adjustable ShoeMount Hardware + some other ring work?


-M1styrX

Jerry Kacey has what you need - you'd need his speedlight bracket plus his AB/WL adpater -

http://www.kaceyenterprises.com/?page_id=461

I don't think that will work. The description of the AB/WL adapter sounds like it adapts Kacey's reflector to Paul Buff's lights, not the other way around.

Maybe that's a "good thing", because that strikes me as way too expensive a way to get a 60 W-s speedlight running in an Octa. $136 for the bracket, $21 for the adapter, and you're 70% of the way to the $225 cost of an AB-400, 160W-s with a 150W halogen modeling light, and the ability to fire off a lot more shots than the speedlight can before it overheats.

Personally, if I wanted to "play" for a few weeks while waiting for an Einstein, I'd check the local ads or eBay for a used Bee 400 or Ultra 600, do my playing, and when the Einstein arrives, sell the used monolight for about what you paid for it, or keep it as a spare.

It actually looks like the Jerry Kacey bracket will work ... the 4-holed ring appears to line up with the thumbscrews on the Paul C. Buff speedrings. I think I might give it a try.

Will post my results here.

I'm sure I will use my Einsteins nearly exclusively but it's always nice to have the option to incorporate the flash I already own (even if it is inferior to a studio strobe in terms of output).

-M1styrX

Jerry's a nice guy - just drop him a note and he'll let you know if his stuff will do what you want.

Well, the bracket from Kacey doesn't work. :(

The holes on the ring for the Kacey bracket are exactly 135mm from hole-to-hole (for diametrically opposed holes).

The studs on the PCB Octabox are exactly 147mm, stud-to-stud (for diametrically opposed studs).

Additionally, the holes in the Kacey bracket accommodate a 5/32" screw while the studs on the PCB Octobox speed ring mount are 3/16"

I considered drilling new holes in the Kacey ring, but there isn't enough extra metal on the margin of the ring to accommodate the wider diameter mounting of the PCB speedring mounting studs.

I can see why the PCB studs are bigger/wider - this would be necessary to hold the weight of the octabox.

On the plus side, the hardware from Kacey is very sturdy 1/2" thick, black powder coated aluminum so had there been enough metal, I'm sure it would've held the weight of the PCB modifiers with little difficulty.

Well, back in the box for the adapter from Kacey. If I find another solution, I'll post it here.

-M1styrX

Hi Guys,

Any progress on this thread? I am looking for a similar solution to be able to use my Paul c. Buff accessories with continuous cold lights for video?

So any adapter to mount a AB softbox to a stand without a light?