... I can offer a "solution" that's relatively easy to implement and extremely effective. If you have no worries about your Einstein's mount dropping a heavy modifier, read no further.
Up front, let me say that I have experienced NO PROBLEMS at all with the mounts on my V2 Einsteins. That is not to say all speedrings attach equally well. Some do pull away from the body of the strobe when a large softbox/octabox is mounted.
Then there are the times that the Einstein itself is suspended in space with no other means of support than the Balcar mount. My Photek Illuminata, for example, comes with a proprietary ring that mounts to a lightstand meaning the attached strobe's stand mount is not used. This is not the Illuminata's ring but does illustrate the configuration:
The
potential for disaster is clearly evident. To err on the side of caution, I decided to implement a simple solution that would guarantee modifiers would never fall off the E640's mount nor would the E640 itself fall from a speedring.
Some time ago, I drilled 3/8" holes in all of my AB type speedring inserts to allow the beauty dish deflector to be used with softboxes. The hole, of course, lines up with the umbrella tube on the top deck of the Einstein. The hole can be seen in this image:
It's this deflector shaft hole that facilitates my modifier support solution. You'll need a 10" or 11" length of 5/16" threaded rod, one 5/16" nut, one 5/16" wing nut, and a few drops of thread locking solution.
Apply a few drops of the thread locking solution to one end of the threaded rod and screw the nut on. Let the solution set up. With the nut in place, you're done! Done, that is, if you've drilled the appropriately positioned hole in the insert. An easy way to mark the proper spot is to slide a rod through the umbrella tube until it hits the back side of the insert. Trace the outline with a Sharpie. The actual drilling (and filing into an oval) I'll leave to you.
With the speedring attached to the Einstein, slide the rod through the face of the speedring insert and into the strobe's umbrella tube like so:
When pushed all the way in, we have this:
To lock the speedring to the Einstein, thread the wing nut onto the exposed bit of rod but DO NOT OVERTIGHTEN. This is just a safety measure. As long as the threaded rod cannot pull out, the speedring/modifier or strobe cannot separate:
That's it! The effectiveness of this safeguard can easily be seen. Here's a photo of one of my Einsteins supporting a 36" x 48" softbox:
While this large and heavy softbox has never fallen from the Einstein, it does cause the speedring insert to pull away from the body of the strobe. The separation can be seen in the left hand image below while the image on the right shows the effect of tightening the wing nut 1/2-rotation:
I've been using this failsafe scheme for some time now in high risk situations (that is with large modifiers or when the strobe is supported by the Balcar mount alone). It has given me tremendous peace of mind; one less thing to worry about. The hardest part of this "mod" involves drilling and elongating a hole in the speedring insert.
Hope this suggestion proves useful. And, in case you're curious, the pictured 16-hole speedring is for my 71" Rimelite Grand Box.
Dave F.