Paul C. Buff, Inc. Technical Forum

Thanks. And if I might make a suggestion...please strongly consider adding a little velcro pocket on the outside of the PLM bag to hold the positioning shaft and 7mm shaft (something like what the softlighter bag has but w/ a velcro closure). As it is now, they bounce around the inside of the PLM quite a bit and I suspect this is why the silvery interior has a lot of scuff marks on both of mine :-(

Just wanted to thank CS publically. Got them this week and the nuts Fred mentioned fit fine though my home depot charged $1 for a pack of 8 :-)

Recieved and Setup Einsteins the other day and popped a couple of test shots on the wall using 8' Reflectors with 15/30 Grids, Medium Softbox, Giant Softbox, Strip box with Grid,and 64" Silver PLM.

Very quick impressions:

Einstein Bare - As expected - Nice solid barebulb look
8" Reflector Bare - Didnt get too excited, straightforward reflector.

8" Reflector with Grid 15 - Nice, VERY tight from 8 feet away, foot and a half spread. Nice edges. Razor tight control. Can use this.

8" Reflector with Grid 30" - Got a wow from me, definitely going to be part of the setup. 2-
3 feet spread, nice hot spot, great edges.

Medium Softbox - Huge disappointment. Monstrous spill, No edge control. Whats weird is the hot spot comes out at an upward angle.. Aimed straight at the wall the hot spot ended up at the crown moulding spilling 3 feet onto the ceiling. From the hot spot down only halfway down the wall. Turned the box upside down, same result, turned it sideways, longer laterally but similar result. Angled it to point at the moulding along the floor. Hot spot is now head high.... Suspect this one will be relegated to storage.

Giant Soft Box - HUGE HUGE HUGE - Big Soft Light with enough edge control to work on small car, small groups, over tables for larger food setups etc. Didnt jump for joy but didnt expect to either. Can definitely work with this one.

Strip Light with Grid. - Pattern was a bit of a surprise as its a tiny bit elliptical. Still I got excited. Pattern is controllable with strong edges. Didnt shoot it without the grid. Frankly dont see me pulling it off either. Can definitely recommend the strip light.

At this point I'm pleased with the quality and patterns of the softboxes and reflectors overall. I'm absolutely LOVING the Einstein and Cyber Commander. Once it's set up it's incredibly easy to use and the capabilities will stretch me to keep up. So far so good. Despite my success though I'm still unfairly bummed by the medium softbox. Was counting on that one for a setup on a current shoot.... (Quick Fix, ordered a PCB beauty dish and sent it expedited, thanks PCB service!! You guys/gals rock)

Decided to throw the PLM on. Its a Giant Umbrella with Silver Lining. I've read the reviews, I've seen the test photographs and even while setting it up, the voice in my head is going "No way this is gonna work..") Fussed with the speed ring for a bit, called the Wife to read the directions since I'm genetically inclined otherwise. (Hint, toss the little round rod when using the speedring.) Mounted onto front of Einstein. (note these are V2's with the finger fix and they work perfectly even with the giant softbox!) Took a pop.

WOW! Flat WOW. Didnt bother metering it but obvious it is very efficient. But the pattern, OMG the gorgeous pattern!! Its almost a perfect ringlight. So controlled, light falloff is perfect, edges are beautiful and unbelievably tight for a reflector this size. Yes I know the theory, the light bounces out straight, but to see it in action!!! The silver gives a ghostly wonderful specular. Toss a high pass/desat and you've got a stylized portrait unlike any other. Simply put, cannot wait to put this in action for a Fashion shoot this evening. This is a game changer. At this price? Ridiculous. Seeing it now would happily pay 5x. It IS that good.

Now that is strange. I can't even begin to think what might cause that. Perhaps something wrong with the softbox you received since I haven't seen any other complaints about it here or on other forums. Did you call customer service about it?

The only thing I can think of that might be the reason for this would be that the internal diffuser panel might be partially detached at one end? But that would mean the hot spot would move with the orientation changes of the box....

Thought it might be a diffuser detach as well.. Opened the front, peeked in and diffuser attached all four corners so dunno. Candidly, if I didnt have the photos on the wall I wouldnt believe it myself.. Defies the laws of physics. In fact, it seems SO inplausible to myself thinking about in depth gonna toss it on again and take more than 3 pops to make sure. Maybe I didnt have the thing seated completely on the head??

Either way, the star really was the PLM which is simply fantastic. So color me completely impressed.

Is this exuberant paragraph referring to the PLM - sounds like your really like this!

BTW Have you solved your problem with the Medium Softbox and do you recommend the Giant and Strip SoftBoxes?

Cheers, Mal from Cessnock AU

Maybe it's sagging under its own weight, and that's deflecting the internal reflections off-center. Seems plausible to me... I use a medium FSB occasionally and *think* I've noticed similar behavior. Isn't a problem in my own usage, so I haven't investigated.