Paul C. Buff, Inc. Technical Forum

You state a cautionary note:

*Note: The Vagabond Mini™ Lithium is designed specifically for powering Paul C. Buff, Inc.™ products and we cannot make any claim for suitability with products from other manufacturers,

I own only Ultras, Bees, but my friends do own other brands, Interfit, Photogenics.

Do i have to tell them they wont be able to borrow my Mini - when i order one?

In general this just means that PCB does not test all the other products for suitability, and even if they bothered to do so, they cannot make guarantees about how another product works.

So, some products may simply not work at all with them, but more likely the performance will be different (number of shots, recycle time, etc.) PCB can't specify that, nor can they "claim" it in the legal sense.

Generally speaking, analog controlled lights (dials and switches) will be fine. Many digitally controlled lights' processors cannot handle the brown out (drop in voltage) that occurs after a flash pop (which results in a high draw). This drop in voltage starves the processors, and the unit shuts down. For an example, while watching TV with a lamp on, you experience a brown out. The lamp dims, but does not shut off, but the TV does shut off. The lamp is analog controlled, the TV (new ones anyway) is digitally controlled. When the power returns to full, the lamp will brighten, but the TV has to be turned on manually. Some TV's can handle brown outs better, as some digital flashes can handle the Vagabonds better.

Also, even if the flash can handle the brown out (digital or analog), if there is a radio reciever built in, that can shut down due to the starvation of power to the processor if the reciver.

It is important to note, all of our flashes (including Einstein) and remotes do not suffer from the brown out caused by the drop in voltage from the Vagabonds.

Thanks for the quick reply.

What i did not mention was that i conduct lighting workshops here in South Florida.
My next is scheduled for Nov. 16th - i hope to receive my new Mini by then.

So i will let others plug into mine with caution.

One follow up question then.

Would the regular Vagabond II serve me better since i am not sure what my students will bring?

I would really recommend using Vagabond Mini Lithiums. The technology is a mile beyond SLA battery designs, which will be ancient technology within two years. The 2lb Mini battery produces about the same number or WS per charge as the 17 lb. SLA batterry

The main operational difference is Mini is designed to power up to about 1200WS while the V2 can power up to 5000WS

Design center use is to use one Mini per one or two monolights lights. Beyond that the the recycle tiems will suffer.

Think redundancy . . . three minis weigh 9.5 lbs total and will yield almost three times the shooting capacity as a 20lb V2 at similar recycle times.

The big issue is that SLA battery users are constantly plagued by sulfated batteries - - - they can be rendered worthless in about three days if not immediately recharged after a shoot.

The Mini Lithiums do not sulfate and can be left discharged for months at a time and brought fully back to lie in three hours. The number of charge/recharge cycles is also considerably higher than SLA.

I was shocked to see the Ultra expensive Profoto basically copy our V2, replete with lower capacity Chinese SLA battery, stock Taiwan inverter and practically a copy of our V2 canvas bag . . . all for $1700

When you see and use the highly evolved and packaged Mini I think you find it a no brainer of major proportions.

No delays are expected . . . . they are being made as we speak and it is my proudest design in a long time.

Also, I just ran tests of a single min with 2 Elinchrom RX600 (1200Ws . .. . the did just fine.

Profoto, on the other hand is INMO a worthless and antique monolight. Even a single Compact 300 shut down on Min, as did the new D1. They have greater color shift than AB and there is 900° color difference between the Compact and the new D1.

An accurate chart is worth a thousand word see http://www.paulcbuff.com/pcb2009/e640detail.html

Just out of curiosity, would the Mini (or the standard VII) be able to handle a small (non-commercial) fog machine for a limited time during a shoot? As in, the cheapo $30-$40 walmart kind, not the crazy Rosco's or anything like that.

probably yes, but without knowing the actual power draw, it is hard to say for sure. I also would not run it on the same unit as flashes, as the motor in the blower could cause line noise, which may make the lights flaky.