Paul C. Buff, Inc. Technical Forum

I have 3 Einsten’s already and was thinking of having a b 1600 Alien Bee as a back up light.

I was wondering if the colour difference everyone seems to talk about with the Alien Bees
could throw the white balance of a image out when it's combined with a Einstein?

Thanks guys...

The Alien Bees have a color shift of about 80K per stop, but are consistent from shot to shot at a given power setting. This shift holds true for any flash adjusted by voltage control, despite any legend that surrounds them.

Einstein has a color temp of 5600K, which is dropped to about 5350K when the dome is installed. This aligns pretty close to the middle of the power range of an Alien Bee. This means you will not see a significant difference in color temperature between the two.

Additionally, hair lights will be shining on hair which varies in color, and would not typically be perceptible in most cases. Plus, stated color temperatures are from the tube and do not include any color cast picked up by modifiers, walls, floors, clothes, backdrops, etc.

Not to hijack the thread, but if I am just shooting Einstens with V2 silver PLMs, what temperature should I set?

I've been setting 5600 based on what the light says, I didn't know about the dome adjustment, and I'm not sure what my silver PLM (with or without a diffuser) does to overall temperature.

Or should I just always do a custom white balance (and yes, I shoot in raw so I can fix in post but prefer to get it right while shooting).

Thanks
Fred

You should always do a custom white balance or reference target for the best color accuracy. For an E640+ silver PLM, 5300K is pretty darn close as our silver won't shift greatly. White shoot through fabrics are impossible (literally) to get 100% color neutral. We ensure the fabrics we use are as color neutral as possible, and do not use detergents that will flouresce. If you are using another brand (even well regarded brands) of white bounce or shoot through fabrics, they may shift color temperature differently, and/or have detergents that cause flourescing.

This page will illustrate this:http://www.paulcbuff.com/plm-competitor.php

Appreciate the help Technical Support!

A great investment is a PassPort from X-Rite.
I have one in my camera case and take a shot after I set up the lights and get the ratios where I want them. Since the modifiers are also on the lights it makes that adjustment automatically.

Now, truth be told, since I use a camera profile in Lightroom the Passport shot is just for safety.

When I'm documenting art I take a shot of the Color Checker in front of every piece of art before making the final exposure.

One click on the second square in the gray scale row (bottom) and the white balance for the shoot is set. Then apply to all the images.

With my Einsteins, I don't even bother with a reference when I change power. Since they are generally in color mode.