Paul C. Buff, Inc. Technical Forum

Kilo, on my recent order for the E640 V2's (as of last week) the same question was made to over the phone to Customer Service and the response was that PLMv2 backorders will 'more than likely' be ready to start shipping shortly before Einstein V2's begin shipping, unless there are further delays. If your final E640 order contained the PLM's they will be shipped together as they both become available, unless you specify otherwise.

Hope this helps.

Interesting. I also placed an order for an additional two Einsteins this past Tuesday (July 27) and also asked about the status of the PLMs as I've had two on order for ages. The CSR I spoke with said there were new delays in obtaining fabric and the PLM V2s are probably still 6-8 weeks away. Hopefully, she was mistaken.

Edited: to correct order date.

Wow, this is not good. Though with all the issues PCB is dealing with right now, I understand the caution.

All configurations of PLM V2 - speedring or 7mm shaft, allow zero protrusion out the back of the light.

Yes, the designs have all been finalized and I have personally tested them all.

Is there any new information on the ship dates? Still in August sometime, or delayed beyond that?

I've got another question that I hope someone can answer. I've ordered 5 E640's and 3 (so far) PLM2 reflectors - 2- 86's and 1- 62. Unsurprisingly, none yet delivered. My question isn't so much when I will receive the PLM's as it is about some qualities of them.

Here goes. I'm most interested, beyond the obvious questions of quantity and quality of light cast by the PLM2's, as to how they effect the overall color balance of the light, and, specifically, how close in color temperature is the output from the E640's with PLM2's to each other (when new, of course), from diferent sizes of PLM2's and from PLM2's to other PCB modifiers, specifically the soft boxes and the strip light boxes. One of the reasons for buying 5 E640's for me is color uniformity from source to source; I know that they should yield good uniformity at different W/S settings, that's a given, but the overall output color from different modifiers is not something I've been able to discover. I've got jobs in which the color unifromity is absolutely critical and I'd like my Einsten/PLM2 setup to help me reduce the amount of post I'vr had to do in the past. Last, I'd like to know the approximate color temp of the E640, with just the bare bulb output and no modifier, to know how close it will be to my Profoto units that I already have.

Just as an aside, I'm thrilled to at last be buying into something that I can use professionally and that is relatively high tech, innovative and very reasonably priced that is made at last in the U.S.A. Thanks. I'm very happy with my Japanese and German equipment, but we've got ot start making and buying some things right in our own country as well.

My testing has shown the Silver PLMs to be essentially color neutral. All quality white diffusion fabrics I have tested generally lower color temperature about 200°. This is the nature of nylon . . . I have never seen a neutral white nylon from any manufacturer or source. Ultra white Nylon is treated with enhancers that fluoresce. These will raise the color temperature by up to 1000°K.

Unfortunately, these are the facts of life with modifiers.

You may find your Profoto units around 5200°k. If you need to balance Einsteins against Profoto we have a 5200°k diffuser dome available. Also, if they are Profoto monolights, their color temperature will drop by about 80°k per halving of power . . . just like AB. WL and every other monolight to speak of. The only monolights I know of that don't do this are Photogenic Solaire and Einstein.

Paul/Luap,

Thanks for your speedy reply.

In light of my own requirements as spelled out in my previous post, a few related questions. (1) Specifically, will the color temp of light from an Einstein with a Silver PML2 and white front diffuser match the color temp of an Einstein at identical W/S with either your 10"x36" stripbox or 30"x60" giant soft box attached? (2) If not, how far apart might they be? (3) Are you using "regular" white nylon or the flourescing super white you mentioned in any of your boxes? (4) How consistent in color temp are the Einstein flashtubes, from one to another, when new? And, after how many full-power flahes do they start significantly changing color temperature? (5) What do you call the Einstein diffuser domes that change their nominal 5600 K color to be close to my Profoto's 5200 K output, how much are they and how can I get them?

Just for the record, my other flash gear is a couple of Acute 2400 packs and heads to go with them. I remember that they tested by some independent group to have very good color consistency through a wide range of W/S, just like the Einsteins, but I'm hoping the Einsteins are even better.

Regards,
David

Paul/Luap,

Forget question (5) above. Just saw the information on the minus 400 degree frosted dome on your site. Looking forward to your other answers.

Regards,
David