Paul C. Buff, Inc. Technical Forum

I'm in the market for a new strobe kit and have heard a lot of good things about the Einstein series flashes. I'm looking for a versatile lighting set that will be able to tackle a number of different applications without killing me in price. I do a lot of artwork reproductions and, not being able to afford a Betterlight back and Northlight lights, I was thinking of replacing my Lowel tota-lights with a pair of Einsteins because of their reputation of giving accurate and consistent color. My hope was to find a light set that I could rely on to give me the consistency needed for reproduction and product work as well as being able to tackle my portrait and location needs. So, those of you who have used them - are Einsteins the best bang for my buck for the type of work I do?

I have three Einsteins and I've been very happy with them. They are extremely versatile because of the 9 stop range, and because they're digital, power settings are precise and reproducible. Color is consistent across all power settings.

For location work, the Vagabond Mini Lithium is also great. Depending on your needs re: rapid recycling and battery life, you could easily power two Einsteins with one VML.

For most any application, the Cyber Commander and a CSXCV for each Einstein is a very elegant system. You're bound to want to meter your strobes and Cyber Commander will do this plus adjust power settings, etc. for each light remotely.

This isn't a sales forum, but if you're looking for opinions from real-world users, that's my $.02.

Shot with a single Einstein, powered by a VML:

+1 to everything ltwimberly said. Keep in mind you are on a forum that is almost entirely populated by PCB users so you are likely to get positive thoughts on the gear ;)

My 0.02 is that Einstein is the best bang for the buck, very versatile, consistent, easy to operate, and the CyberCommander is the icing on the cake. I also think the lights are durable - I have an Einstein that has been knocked over twice, once on carpet and once on a vinyl floor, and it is still working just fine.

Then there is PCB's legendary customer service - they are simply a fantastic company to do business with and that has to be worth something.