Paul C. Buff, Inc. Technical Forum

Pardon if this has been asked before. I recently returned my Einstein to be upgraded and when it was returned, it was missing the frosted dome cover. Do I need this / will it change the quality of the light? Should it have been returned?

Jeff

A frosted pyrex dome protects the lamp and tube from damage and serves to reduce UV emission from the flashtube. It equalizes the effective size and shape of the modeling lamp and flashtube as the modeling lamp filament is in exactly the same focal point as the UV-coated flashtube, resulting in an extremely close relationship between the flash and modeling light. The dome lowers the color temperature by approx. 300K. An optional UV-coated dome (sold separately) further lowers the color temperature by approximately 600K.

The info here is correct. The dome does drop the color temperature from 5600° to about 5400°. It also protects in case the quartz modeling lamp should shatter - required by most codes, though we have never seen this happen. Most important, the dome equalizes and diffuses the flash and modeling lamp to exactly the same size and shape . . . producing superior results particularly with highly focused reflectors.

An email or phone call to customer service will get you a free dome replacement.