Paul C. Buff, Inc. Technical Forum

Here I showed how the Retro Laser can balance with the sun at over 10ft away - even though I shot it thru a 5x7ft panel to act as a large softbox - that gave me F8 (oops... actually it was F11 cause I used a -1 stop ND filter... wait a minute that would really be F16 cause the panel itself ate up -1 FStop of light!!! Did I forget to mention that this was in broad daylight between 12 and 4pm of California "Devil Light" sunshine!!! [Camera RAW: F8, ISO100, 1/250th)

Here I just made a great balance with the sun!


Here I made the sun my B$#*H and overpowered it with yes... just a B800!!!!


THE PRINCE OF CHEAP IS BACK!!!! Get ready for the review at www.studiolighting.net soon and the video!!!

Great idea using the Retro Laser with a large diffusion panel.

Since the retro is basically a super bright and small light... add a diffuser for size... how simple is that!!! Every STUDIO with at least 20ft of space SHOULD HAVE ONE!! My next imagery will make the RETRO so practical that you wont ever be able to keep them in stock!

You have given an excellent example of what can be done with the retro laser. My umbrellas aren't safe on a windy day, This may become an excellent replacement for them.

Nice shots. Thanks for posting them.

David,
Really like the images. Don't you think that the near same results could be achieved using the HOBD with using the same diffuser or the beauty dish sock. I don't have the retro yet but have been using the dish with Einstein for baseball team shots and have had excellent results over powering the sun with less than 1/2 power.
Just trying to get a good perspective to see if I could justify the retro. I do shoot sports as well, but natural. So not really sure this long range, narrow modifier would offer any benefit over the BD.

What is your opinion?

- What about if you don't have 20 foot of space and on location in say somebody's home doing headshots. Can these be used closer and focused for accent instead of grids in addition to the excellent application presented here?

- How about a HOBD / Retro carry bag. :) And don't make it Pink ;)

Yes, but you may need Einstein to drop the power enough. It does f45+ at 10' with 640WS.

Yes and no. The HOBD with sock would still be the equivocate to a 22in diffuser at 12 or more ft away. It'd be an ultra harsh point light source. I had a 5ft panel between the light and the panel that gave me the option of ultra soft light at a high aperture.

I wouldnt recommend it if you dont have about that much space. Why, as Paul alluded too... you'd better A have a B400 to get a low enough power output into the Retro or B the Einstien that inherently has a very hi-very low power settings.