Paul C. Buff, Inc. Technical Forum

Just so it is not over looked, the Einstein also has a 250W model lamp, as fast or faster flash durations than either a a given power setting.

But, looking at the X-series, the X1600 will have a higher power and lower power to the X800, and the 1600 will have faster flash durations in the 1/4 mode. However, not as fast or as much range as the E640.

The two softboxes will perform fine for the purposes, and you can not use the reflector with the softboxes.

Thanks for the additional help. I missed the 250w modeling lamp on the e640.

If I own a pocket Wizard Plus III will I need a special receiver for at least one lamp too in order to fire the lamp and others on a slave basis? Is this the same requirement for the x1600?

I guess one needs something to receive the signal from the cameras PW. Do any of the Buff units have PW receivers built into them?

You will need a minimum of one transmitter on camera and one on at least one light. Any PocketWizard will work, unless it is a light specific model for Elinchrom or ProFoto (you would know if you had one). There are light specific models for Einstein on the market, though we do not carry them and cannot offer support for them. If you use a Pocket Wizard via the sync jack, be sure you use a mono cord. Some models of PW don't play well with our lights when using a stereo cord.

Alternatively, for basic triggering, you can go with the Cyber Sync system and get one transmitter and 2 (Einstein) receivers for about $120. The cost is higher if you went with X-series lights.

For another $180, you can add complete control over flash power, model lamp power, on/standby, and all other parameters as well as a flash meter if you go with Cyber Commander.

:D Just want to say thanks. Received my gear yesterday and just today started using it with my wife for test shots and placements. Subject 5 feet from grayish background and camera about 10 from subject using 70-200. So far I like f11 rendering the best.

Love the OMNI! Placed it at 45 degrees to subject about 2 feet from nose with triple diffuser -5 f stops on Einstein. My best likes are where subject shoulders facing OMNI and subject turning head in about 5-6 increments toward camera, with eyes on lens in each case and starting with look directly into OMNI. Nice Rembrandt looks which is what I am after for a shoot I am soon to do.

Next put gridded 10x36 strip box (used only one diffuser inside) behind subject and facing main light (OMNI) and put bottom of strip box about shoulder level with -4 f stops. Was hoping to get more 3 dimension so will have to work on that some more. Maybe I should use another strip box on the other side in same way. I want to get some rim light from these strips. So far the one strip box is starting to highlight hair and shoulders. Dialed it up a little since it's amazing how little light comes from it with soft diffuser and grid.

Any comments?

It would be difficult to offer specific advice without seeing the results. You may want to play with angles while only using this light's model lamp.

Also, what was your background, and was it lit?

At first the background was not lit. Later I used the 8.5" reflector with the 15 degree grid onto the grayish background. For this purpose right now, it is actually preferred to make the background go completely black so I took away the background light.

With the OMNI being just a few feed from my subject the complaint was that it was too bright so I cut it back in parallel with the actual output which was -5 f stops which still metered at f11 and the 10x36 back strips metered at f8 while set at -4 f stops with diffuser and grid.