Paul C. Buff, Inc. Technical Forum

Has anyone tested the White Lightning X3200 against the E640?

Would like to know if I will get a full stop increase in output with an X3200.

Mind you I'm not doubting the output of the X3200.

The reason I'm asking is that I found that when the Einstein was tested against my old 1000ws pack and head setup the Einstein E640 actually put out MORE light using the same modifiers than the 1000ws setup.

So if the E640 is closer to the X3200 in output than say half a stop I'll just get another Einstein.

Any experience appreciated.

Thanks.

X3200 outputs twice the light as Einstein and should yield +1f stop compared to E640.

Can't get a better answer than that.

Thanks Luap, guess I'll be getting some White Lightnin'.

BTW, oh knower of all things Ffub.

Could this mere mortal beseech you to peer into your crystal ball of future products to see whether Paul C Buff will ever product Continuous Output lighting equipment?

I've had several clients asking if I'm going to be doing video and if I decide to get into those I'd like to use the fine PCB modifiers I already have.

Thanks again.

Not to confuse the issue, but this is where the "effective Watt seconds" would have come into play. If you got about 6/10's of a stop more light from Einstein, this would align perfectly with the 1600 designation carried by our older 640Ws lights, which have the same output and Ws rating. This all boils down to Ws ratings do not directly reflect the intensity of the flash output. Comparing within the same brand of lights is usually safe, but comparing Ws of one brand to another can be a bit (or alot) inaccurate.

The X-3200 is a 1320Ws light and is exactly 1 stop more powerful than the X1600, which is 660WS as well as onestop more powerful than Einstein and B1600, each 640Ws.

Not sure about the PCB ones, but photoflex makes different modifiers for still vs. video capture because the strobe softboxes would overheat if you stuck a video light inside. The video ones have vent holes to let out the heat from continuous lighting...

I just did my X3200 side by side with one of my Einsteins. The X scored 0.9 stops more light. So, within 1/10 stop of double, that's fine by me.

[quote=kenyee]The video ones have vent holes to let out the heat from continuous lighting...[/quote]

Yeah, but that's for boxes rated for 1000W of halogen. "Normal" softboxes (and Paul Buff modifiers) hold up just fine with a 250W "heater", whether that heater is a 250W halogen modeling light or 250W of CF. And 250W of CF "looks like" 800-900W of halogen, both to the human eye and to a camera.

I improvised a 500W CF head, 5 100W CF in a circle with the PLM shaft running right through the middle. You have to see an 86 inch silver PLM, with the front open, driven by the equivalent of 1,80W of halogen. Words or pictures don't do justice to the experience of looking into that thing...