Rob Galbraith Posts Full AB Einstein Spec Sheet
I have been in the email loop with Paul Buff on the upcoming "Einstein" monoblocs. And FWIW, they look to be pretty hot. But I was operating on the assumption that we were dealing in privileged info. Well, darned if Rob Galbraith didn't just let the cat right out of the bag. (I am pretty sure Rob checked it out with Paul first, 'cause Rob is a pretty ethical guy.)
But just to be safe, I am gonna be a weenie and just hit the high points before pointing you to Rob's site...
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• 640 WS, and runs on 95-260VAC, autoswitching. No word on availability to you shifty-eyed foreigners, but the worldwide voltages is promising.
• Power goes down to 2.5 fricken' watt-seconds -- that's less than 1/16th power on a speedlight -- in 0.1-stop increments and a 1.7-sec recycle at full power.
• Modes for both CONSTANT COLOR (minimizes shift to +/-50K) and ACTION (very short pulse durations). More tech on that here.
• 250W quartz modeling light. (Yay.)
• Removable dome unifies flash tube and modeling light for exact, WYSIWYG modeling.
• LCD display, digital controls with lots of menus and features -- and a "back to factory preset" button for menu idiots like me.
• Now takes light mods with bigger shafts. (Shut up.)
• Can set to beep when recycled. ('Bout damn time.)
• Slave cell (180-degree field of view) is now on top, where it should have been all along.
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Looking like December '09 release (translation: ~March '10?) for $439.95 (translation: almost certainly $439.95.)
Lots, lots, lots more info on Galbraith's gun-jumping post. He is even ahead of Paul Buff's site as far as I can tell. So head on over if you are into AB's.
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[UPDATE: They are already discussing it on the Strobist boards, here.]
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Posted at 10:37 PM.
28 Comments:
I've used WhiteLightning monoblocs for years and aside from a couple of blown capacitors(replaced free of charge by PCB), I've never had an issue.
Paul C. Buff builds some of the most durable, well designed gear out there - I can't wait to test these out.
Do you have any intention of adding these to your arsenal D?
-Nicholas
this looks sweet!
BTW is this unit gonna be less powerful than the AB 1600?
I've been going back and forth on whether to just keep doubling up speedlights or to go to a monobloc situation. This might finally seal the deal because I want short durations minus the Elinchrom (or worse) prices. I'll make sure this Quasimodo-bloc is wearing a paper bag over it's head should it pass near a mirror, but it should do the job just fine behind a big, hiding softbox.
That looks like an interesting product for someone with a bit of loose cash. Those are pretty feature filled. Personally, I'd pay half that and get used white lightnings and get twice as much gear, but if i had extra cash, these would be very nice.
Now that is almost tempting me to order some for studio in Novosbirisk and in Dallas, so i can use same system across the ocean, seeing that i am going back and fourth like crazy. Wondering what delivery to Siberia would look like.
Completely Off Topic
I didn't know where else to mention this -- check out the awesome video from National Geographic about photographing giant 300 foot Redwoods. Looks like they use a rig with multiple cameras and at least 6 Pocket Wizards to make an 84 shot vertical pano. And if you look really closely, it appears that the individual guys on the tree are lit with strobes . . . 2 very cool videos back to back.
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/video/player#/?titleID=nichols-redwoods-gatefold&catID=1
Benito-
The AB1600's are 640WS -- same power level.
Looks like Paul has posted information on his website: http://www.paulcbuff.com/pcb2009/progress-report.html
Looks like Paul has posted information on his website: http://www.paulcbuff.com/pcb2009/progress-report.html
Wit all due respect to Paul Buff (and I have 4 AB 1600's) could these things be any uglier?
Thanks for the push over to Rob's Site. He pops out info quicker than any other site I have found. New AB's look pretty cool though.
Nice. The frosted dome and digital input look great.
Also, the fact that the stand mount is further back is nice, as the current AB models don't allow a beauty dish to be tilted down.
It looks like there's some sort of a built in slave. The way it sticks out like that makes me concerned that it would be prone to breaking while being transported.
Also, I'll be veeeery interested to see if their compatible with the recent Radio Popper slaves... I don't even see a telephone jack input in the mock ups. hmmmmm.
Thumbs up for improved color temperature control! Existing Alien Bees tend to get a pink cast.
Most excellent! I recently broke down and got a 1600 and a Vagabond. LOVE them. Can't wait to try out the new one.
I agree with the comment on the looks that it has a built in slave...seems like that might bust off pretty easy. I just did a flight to New York and that was my biggest fear, even WITHOUT having something like that sticking out. Airlines don't give a hoot.
Anyways, thanks for the post on this. Great to see.
Matt Bigelow
mbigelowphotographer.com
The on again off again drama behind the development of this light has been interesting to watch. The prospect of actually seeing these on the market one day is encouraging. Now, if they would just produce a set of those frosty domes in our favorite gel colors, that would be the ultimate in lighting control.
Cyber Commander compatible - does this mean PW users are left out in the cold ?
Also, I did see any mention of a warranty.
Colored gel domes!!! YES! I love that idea.
I have always been wondering what the best way would be to gel my AB1600...
Good idea Kevin.
Sorry.. don't know where to ask this but could someone please enlighten me on what effect would be used in Tim Tadder's photography (I believe I found here) http://www.timtadder.com/. I have searched all over for what effect I assume that it is and all I am finding are cheap skin glows from the 80's!! Does anyone know what he is doing here? I mean there has to be an action of sorts for this because nobody is going to sit and dodge, burn, sharpen every pixel, right?!! I keep wanting to call it animated, but I am getting nothing. Thanks to anyone worth pointing me in a better direction!
DI-
Tim's spent a lot of time honing his post production techniques. You are not going to find that anywhere in a bottle.
"because nobody is going to sit and dodge, burn, sharpen every pixel, right?!!"
Sorry, brother, but that's how a lot of retouchers do it. Once you try pixel-level manipulations, you'll see why they're so powerful (albeit time-consuming)
Be fair to say I'll wait for actual production models, in actual photographers hands. Paul's become the king of vapourware in recent times.
Naturally, I'm HOPING it goes something like planned, but not getting my hopes up.
For flash duration, they're about the same speed as a B800 (1/666 at full power)...Elinchrom/Profoto are faster but more money :-)
And in case you didn't know (I'm surprised so many people still ask in forums the past week), the RP JrX Studio *cannot* be used to control power levels w/ the abmax/einstein. They got rid of the analog telephone jack control port (the 1/8" sync port is still there) and replaced it w/ an all new digital port that the RP folks will have to hack.
The AB form factor is almost the perfect location light...4-5# with a lightweight power cord...
@Ken - apparently, you didn't read it carefully enough. They are much quicker than most of the flashes even in a constant color mode, but in action mode they can go as short as 1/10.000s at low power settings, which is as short as (nomen omen) speedlights..
To answer the question about the radio poppers... They will work as a normal radio remote, but will not work as an adjustable remote, there is no phone jack in these. Furthermore, there may be an issue using these with the Commander while using a vagabond for power. It has been documented that even with the JrX's that sometimes the units will not work while using the Vagabond's, I hane the RP's and wouldn't work with my first test with the Bee's and the VB, I'm going to try a few combinations.
Also, as far as shipping to Siberia, PCB has ceased all shipping out of North America (And US owned properties)
There's info on fredmiranda.com regarding the issues in the Lighting forum
To answer the question about the radio poppers... They will work as a normal radio remote, but will not work as an adjustable remote, there is no phone jack in these. Furthermore, there may be an issue using these with the Commander while using a vagabond for power. It has been documented that even with the JrX's that sometimes the units will not work while using the Vagabond's, I hane the RP's and wouldn't work with my first test with the Bee's and the VB, I'm going to try a few combinations.
Also, as far as shipping to Siberia, PCB has ceased all shipping out of North America (And US owned properties)
There's info on fredmiranda.com regarding the issues in the Lighting forum
Dramatic Imaging....
Photomatrix Pro, Topaz Labs, Lucis Art will get you in the ballpark
You probably know more than I do but FWIW you can go to his blog and look at the Sanuk video of one of his shoots. Obviously much of what he does is composite imaging, but some of what he's doing is some variation of HDR post production work. That's all I can offer if that's worth anything.
Looks like we're going to loose the Edison bulbs for the modeling lamp. Sad about that. For me, having had other brands where the modeling bulbs (not the tubes) were $50+, I was quite grateful when I got my ABs and could use $1 bulbs from the grocery store. No doubt these are more WYSIWYG, but if you dump your lights as much as me, specialty bulbs add up fast.
Eventually, you don't need the modeling lamps much anyway, except to assist the autofocus.
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