Paul C. Buff, Inc. Technical Forum

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Fri May 13, 2011 6:36 pm

Joined: Fri May 13, 2011 6:25 pm
Posts: 2

I shoot quite a bit of portraiture outdoors. Currently I'm using a WL 1600 with an older white Buff beauty dish and a Vagabond 2along with an nd filter.

PLM - I've really been wanting one of these but am concerned about it kiting in the wind. Is the 64", or even the 51", really usable outdoors without heavy sandbagging? Frequently I'm trekking to a location and really don't want to carry sandbags. I've got a mind to get a silver beauty dish for location and a larger PLM for indoors.

Vagabond Mini - A no brainer for carrying to location, it just won't do as good a job holding a PLM down!

Einstein - Although they look great, I don't see a compelling improvement over my WL 1600 for outdoor portraiture.




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Sat May 14, 2011 11:17 am

Joined: Fri Feb 05, 2010 3:09 am
Posts: 73

Well, I've tipped my 51" PLM's a couple of times already. They're umbrellas.

FWIW, on both occasions, the only damage was to the speedring mount, which got bent. And the only damage there was to the top piece where the three "legs" come together. Been meaning to ask CS if I could just get replacements for that part, seems a shame to ditch the whole assembly.

BTW I just got a couple of those SaberStrip modifiers for speedlights. Did one band shoot, very impressed. Excellent concept; extremely easy to use outdoors, minimal wind profile, and better light than I expected. You can put it right out over the subject with no boom, and the weight stays at the stand axis... was able to use just a heavy tripod stand and no sandbag. Doing that shoot with softboxes or umbrellas would have required another 20-30 pounds of gear at a minimum. Of course, they're just for speedlights, but that was enough for this shoot. From the car to a boom light in under a minute.

Hope to see somebody take the concept and refine it; currently it looks like a project done by some guys with an idea, not sure if they have plans to develop it further.

As for the lights... I'd stay with the AB's unless there's a feature you specifically need from the Einsteins... shorter durations, faster cycling, or constant color. They're great lights, but I have to admit that I could live without any of those features. I also find AB's are easier to use in the field; I prefer multiple controls and detest "select and change" interfaces.




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