Paul C. Buff, Inc. Technical Forum

The Einstein mount clears the nut by about a half inch, I've borrowed your image from above and added a line showing where the pivot mount intersects the Einstein mount. Good guess, it looks to be about 3/8", although I think the spacer would need to be 1/2" or slightly more to allow a little wiggle room to get the mount fingers set in the best position. I am not very handy (and certainly can't machine aluminum like you do), so I'll probably just use the thing mounted upside down.

It wasn't a guess, Dave; I measured. I don't think I'd be very happy having to mount my Einstein upside down. I would think that 4 standoffs like these (with the proper threading):

http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/Hex-St ... Pid=search

or these (for use with longer screws):

http://www.mcmaster.com/#unthreaded-spacers/=f7ik4l

would do the job nicely if you don't want to tackle any metal fabrication.

Dave F.

Hey Dave, thank you for those links, very helpful. I did some measurements and found I needed a slightly longer version (the male threaded portion) of the Grainger standoff, and found one at McMaster-Carr and ordered four of them to try. Jeff at OecCamera was very good about it, looked for a solution on his end, but in the end, he gave me a $20 discount to find my own. I'll let you know how it ends up.

Thanks again.

Dave

This is the PCB Technical Forum and we've strayed pretty far afield in this thread but, hopefully, the moderator(s) will allow me to offer you one more option for using the OEC speedring with your Einsteins. Here's what I've done:

I drilled out the 3/8" threaded hole in the ring's mounting platform using a 3/8" drill. In the hole, I installed this adapter:

http://www.adorama.com/LTSA3858.html

Installed it looks like this:



With this adapter in place, the ring can easily be used on heavy duty swivel like this:



But the real magic is in the other set of holes. With a length of 5/8" aluminum rod and a standard griphead, the ring can be mounted like this:





I did drill a small dimple into the front of the aluminum rod to prevent the ring from twisting to one side and also installed an 8-32 screw that can be seen poking out of the grip head. The screw prevents the assembly from flopping to one side or the other when the grip head is loosened to aim the light. The aluminum rod also serves as a handle. The back end is covered with a length of heat shrink tubing.

If you're not happy with the spacer solution, this approach works *very* well.

Dave F.

Dave, agreed that we have strayed, yet this is all related to concerns about using heavy modifiers on Einsteins, or overly stressing the faceplate mount, and ensuring the big modifiers don't fall off. You have presented many excellent options for people that are worried about the issue.

Your latest effort is brilliant. I happen to use the Cheetah C-Stand, which has a high minimum height to begin with (which you noted in a helpful comparison thread vs an Avenger C-Stand). This mod has the added benefit of a much lower profile vs using the pivot clamp. The robust handle is a great bonus. I really appreciate the time and thought you have put into this. Hopefully other readers will find it valuable as well.

Dave, I have completed your latest mod, and if I can do it, anyone can :D

Thanks again, this is an excellent solution for large modifiers.

That's very gratifying to hear, Dave. I'm glad it worked out for you. I've made a few minor changes to my setup since we last talked about it (and I do mean minor):



I shortened the aluminum rod and stuck on a handlebar grip from a child's bicycle in place of the heat shrink tubing that was originally there. The grips (it was a pair) have 5/8" openings so they're very photo grip friendly. I found them on eBay.

The other change was replacing the anti-twist screw with a shorter one. The head of the screw can just be seen sticking up from he grip head.

This is now my standard setup for softboxes/octaboxes.

Dave F.

So, who is going to start manufacturing these in volume?

So that speedring can be used with almost every softbox out there? because it has 16 holes?
Are the 8mm holes standard size that fits all brands?

Yes, that speed ring is compatible with strips, squares, rectangles, octas, and 16-sided modifiers (like the Rimelite Grand Boxes).

The rod holes are compatible with almost everything. The rods that came with my Photek Illuminata will not fit (too large). Also incompatible is the one softbox I own with 1/8" (or so) rod ends. Everything else is fully compatible.