Recommended Big Light: Paul C. Buff Einstein e640

Abstract: Big lights are a long-term purchase. Ideally, they'll serve you for many years. So when you think big lights, also think big picture. Go with a well-reputed brand with a strong track record for both quality and after-sale service. [This post was updated May 30, 2021.]




If you shoot small lights long enough, you will run up against some limitations. You might be trying to light big areas, or trying to get a combo of soft light with a large working distance. More likely, you might be trying to light against full sun. Or maybe some combination of the above.

Suffice to say that at some point you might want a big gun in your lighting bag. But choosing from the blistering array of options in the studio flash marketplace can be a daunting thing.

My recommendation, for photographers living and working in the U.S., is to buy a Paul C. Buff Einstein e640 monobloc flash. Here's why.


Oodles of Power



The Einstein ($499 factory direct) has 640 watt-seconds of power, about eleven times as much as a typical speedlight. That number can be deceiving, as all things being equal you actually only gain one f-stop of light for every doubling of the power level. But 600-800WS is a sweet spot for all but the most demanding subjects.

The group shot above (more detail on that shoot here) was key-lit to f/8 at ISO 200 with a battery-powered Einstein on half power. And that flash was reflecting off of a 60" white-backed umbrella, then going through a diffuser. So yep, plenty of power.

Just as important, the lights can dial down in power (in increments of 1/10th of an f-stop) to less than the equivalent of power of a single speedlight at 1/16th power. That's amazing, and is a feature I find super useful on a regular basis.


Portability

Einsteins can be plugged into the wall or powered by the company's $239 Vagabond Mini Lithium battery (sold separately). This takes the flash from being a studio light to an anywhere light.

The battery is well-designed (I have five of them) and delivers power through a 120v/60hz standard outlet. Which means it also can be used in a pinch to power other items or charge your phone when off the grid, or during a power outage.


Pulse Speed and Color Consistency

There are two qualities of a studio-style strobe which are not physically apparent, but are very important. These two features are pulse time, AKA "t.1 time," and color consistency. The Einstein employs a clever and unique solution to both that allows it to punch way above its pay grade.

The t.1 time of a flash is the all-in (okay, technically 90% in) time measurement of a flash pulse. In other words, how long does it take your flash to produce all of that light?

There is also a confusing (but much more flattering) measurement of a flash pulse called a t.5 time. That's the length of time it takes for a flash to delivery half of its light energy. (More info on understanding those measurements, here.)

Suffice to say that a the energy pulse of a flash ramps very quickly, but dissipates in a "long-tail" graph. So if the flash you are manufacturing has a crappy pulse time, you're probably gonna sweep that design flaw under the rug by quoting the t.5 time of your flash rather than the t.1 time — if you quote a time at all.

Put differently, the t.5 time is a bullshit, near-useless measurement quoted by flash manufacturers when they have designed a flash with a crappy t.1 pulse time. No lie: I have seen flash-pulse times of slower than 1/100th of a second. Not so great for stopping action without ghosting. Or even trying to balance against sunlight at a shutter speed of 1/250th of a second.

So that's one's quality. The other quality is color consistency.

For obvious reasons, you want the color consistency to be as tight as possible across the entire power range. This is especially true if you are shooting people or products. This is not an easy thing to design into a flash. Let alone doing good color plus fast pulse times.

To be sure, you can get flashes that have both action-stopping t.1 times and very consistent color. But those flashes will likely cost you upwards of ten times the price of an Einstein e640. What (Einstein designer) Paul C. Buff did was to split the control circuit in the flash, effectively making it a convertible unit. This was a brilliant move, and one of the main reasons this flash is still an object of lust more than nine years after it first hit the market.



Are you all about stopping action? Say, shooting sports, or freezing water droplets, like the above photo by Jarek Wieczorkiewicz (more on that here.)

Set in Action mode, the Einstein hits a t.1 time of 1/588th of a second at full power, and gets jaw-droppingly faster from there. At 1/256th power, it clocks in at 1/13,500th of a second. So yeah, it'll freeze water in the air.

Shooting catalogue stuff, or portraits? Switch to "Constant Color" mode for a color consistency of just +-50 degrees Kelvin across the power range. Check those numbers against your budget studio flash. Trust me, they're good.

The convertible design of the e640 puts it miles ahead of all but the world's most expensive flashes at a small fraction of the cost. But there are other things to consider, too.


Quality, Reasonably Priced Modifiers

Paul C. Buff sells a wide array of light modifiers for its full line of flashes. They are well-designed, and very moderately priced. This gives you the range to do what you need, and really helps to manage the "all-in" price of a flash system.



Starter example: the small dish- and cone-style reflectors (seen above) are almost laughably cheap, allowing you to inexpensively get the most versatility out of your unit. I have high-output telephoto reflectors (seen above at left) for sports, normal reflectors (middle) for hard light and umbrella reflectors (right) to create beautifully controllable no-spill light from a black-backed umbrella. They are $30, $20 and $13 respectively.

The company's soft boxes and dishes follow this ethic as well. This is what gives that powerful light the versatility to do what you want it to do, without breaking the bank.


Warranty and Factory Support

This may be the very best feature of any Paul C. Buff flash (and conversely, where many budget flashes drop the ball.) Factory support is key to the sustainability of any "big light" system. You'll find this out when you realize you have to send your bargain monobloc back to China for a repair.

The Einstein e640 is factory warrantied for two years. The company doesn't use distributors. They sell direct, which is the main reason they are only fully available in the US. So when you call the store, you are also speaking to the manufacturers. The same people who have built a 30+ year reputation for after-sale support.

The best way I can describe Paul C. Buff's after sale/warranty experience is this: bend over backwards. I have never been disappointed by them.

You can buy a cheaper big light. But if something goes wrong, instead of "Bend over backwards," your experience might just be, "Bend over."

One word, but big difference.


Longevity

Speaking of 30+ years, that matters as well. There are lots of studio flash brands out there that did not exist five years ago, and may not exist five years from now.

Big lights are a system you buy — and build — for the long haul. Plan accordingly.


Other Doo-dads

Yes, the Einsteins do things like remote control of power levels (with the appropriate transmitter/receiver combos) and multi-channel/multi-flash operation. But IMHO this is noise on the scale of importance compared to the items listed above.

A big flash can easily last you an entire career. Think of it like buying a car. I am more interested in the engine, reliability, safety and ease of repair than I am the cupholders and contrasting leather stitching.

Feature creep (and the related quick obsolescence) can be a thing when it comes to big lights. And it is easy to get lost in the minutia of all of the fancy bullet points in the various product listings. This is a long-term purchase. Concentrate on the stuff that really matters.


Other PCB Big Light Options

There's a wide range from which to choose. They have AlienBees for the cost-conscious. DigiBees for the space/weight-conscious hybrid photo/video shooters. And they have a new Big Gun: The Link, which is 800ws and can run on an attached lithium-ion battery and has a huge feature set. (UPDATE: I have posted some first person notes and impressions on the Link, here

But for most photographers feeling the need for a single Big Light to augment their small flashes, I'd suggest the $499 Einstein as a great place to start. You don't even need to worry about syncing. Just use your current flash as a second light (fill/separation/whatever) and slave the Einstein to it.


What About Outside the U.S.?

The only real downside to Paul C. Buff lights is that they are only readily available in the U.S. Which is a shame for you other folks, really.

For photographers in other countries, Godox (who makes our recommended TT600 speedlight) also makes a nice selection of big lights. They sell and ship worldwide, and the flashes would be fully compatible with your existing Godox remote.

Their warranty/service situation is not yet that of Paul C. Buff. And they are still sort of Johnny-come-lately as a company. But the gear seems to be of good quality for the dollar. And they have a ton of choices in the studio light department. So that'd be a good place to start your research.



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In Europe? You Don't Want to Miss Pop_UP Berlin in Three Weeks

At the end of the month, GPP PopUp is coming to Berlin. If you are in Northern Europe, this city is within reach for you. And for a variety of reasons, it's almost certainly the last time Pop_UP will be held in Europe.

Here's why you shouldn't miss it.


A Compact, Info-Filled Weekend

This will be my third time teaching at Pop_UP. Over the course of one weekend—two days—the instructors there work hard to bring you a learning experience that centers on photography, but hits it from four unique and different perspectives.

That's important, because no two photographers' environments are the same. And learning from people who have successfully navigated various waters in different ways can be very valuable.

The sessions are all pretty fast paced. We each have a lot to cover and only a few hours to do it. For that reason, we each tend to step back from the daily cacophony and concentrate on things that might spark you to think about your own situation in a different way.

I wouldn't expect to learn 500 things. If past Pop_UPs are a guide, I think the more likely experience is that you'll get a deeper look into a couple dozen new concepts—many of which will be things that you have never really considered before.

People don't learn sequentially. Accumluated knowledge kind of builds up, then something causes that dam to burst and important concepts come together in a very concentrated way. Which is why there are times when you suddenly realize multiple things at once.

Creating those intersections is the main goal of my session at Pop_UP. But more on that in a minute.


Greg Heisler is a One-Off

Consider Greg Heisler. And yes, I realize there is a Joe and a Zack involved. But they each have their own online venues to talk about their approach to Pop_UP. But Greg really doesn't.

So let's talk about him for a minute.

First, Greg is one of the world's pre-eminent portraitists. You've grown up seeing his work. And you think there is this gap, for lack of a better word, that separates his work from yours. And in some ways you are right. The technical gaps are there, because he has a mastery of photography and lighting and color that few can match.

But what I have learned, watching him teach in his very open way, is that the camera-related gaps only partly explain the difference between his work as compared to that of the average "good" photographer.

I have learned that there are other gaps. Important gaps. Probably more important than the photography-related gaps that we can easily identify.

His work ethic, his thought ethic, his approach to dealing with the people in front of his camera, his respect for (and knowledge of) the history that came before us as photographers—all of that is at least as important as his mastery of photography or lighting.

Probably more important, actually.

Spending a half a day seeing that is something that is hard to put a value on. You go in expecting F/stops and you coming out realizing the important stuff had nothing to do with F/stops. If you have read 50 Portraits, you already have some idea of what I am talking about.

(And if you own his book, bring it. Get him to sign it. In 100 years, no one is going to remember me. But Greg Heisler will still be alive and well in the lexicon of photographers.)



Yes, he will almost certainly be shooting at Pop_UP. And it will be a learning experience to watch him work. He might use a Profoto light, or (as seen above) he might even use a cheap fluorescent tube from a local hardware store. To Greg, it's all just light. His versatility and unflappability is a lesson in itself.

Lastly, back to the idea of this being a one-time opportunity. Because for the most part, Greg has been taken off of the market.

Syracuse University in upstate New York has very wisely snapped him up to keep largely for themselves. He loves it there. It's a wonderful college town with a steady stream of curious (and lucky) young minds for him to mold.

Which means he almost never teaches externally these days. And because of his academic schedule, when he does teach it is generally close to home.

If you are in Europe, this might well be the only chance you have to learn from him.


And I Have to Follow That

I have taught in a lot of places—many cities, many countries. And suffice to say that following Greg Heisler in any kind of teaching environment is its own little nightmare. Not unlike the one where you show up at school without pants.

It stems from a deep-seeded fear of relative inadequacy, something I readily confess as a "lighting guy" in the context of Greg. So you can damn-well be sure I won't be talking about lighting.

"What an amazing cooking presentation by Julia Child! Please stick around for David Hobby, who is next and will show you how to make toast..."

No.

So my class on Sunday afternoon will be more about the things that surround photography:


• How do you find the areas in photography where you are particularly well-suited?

• How do you identify—and create—areas of extreme competitive advantage?

• How do you create the ecosystems that, in turn, create the positive feedback loops you need?

• Which "outputs" from those systems do you optimize for? (Not just money.)

• Is it a good idea to optimize for money? (Not usually.)

• What balance do you need to create to foster sustainability?

• Where do your best ideas come from?

• Is it possible to engineer a stream of strong incoming ideas? (Yes, definitely.)


I have watched for ten years as my particular field—editorial/photojournalism—has largely collapsed. Many assignment fees today don't even cover the cost of periodic gear replacement. It's crazy.

So my last ten years have been spent studying and practicing new ways to approach the "new" world of photo and its related professions. To learn to adapt to a world that has completely shifted under my feet, and to anticipate those changes still yet to come.

This is not something I write about on this site, simply because it is way out of the lighting niche. But it is something that I feel is existentially important for photographers to understand.

That's the deep dive we'll be taking on Sunday afternoon.


So That's One Day

Like I said, I'll let Joe and Zack speak for themselves. Feel free to ping them on Twitter if you have any Q's. But for those of you joining us in Berlin, this is what's on tap for your Sunday.

Pop_UP is not a forever thing. We have been to UK, Asia, US—and this month, EU. If it continues, it would almost certainly be in South America or Africa.

If you are in Europe, and you want to attend one, this is your chance. Come join us.

And if you have photo friends in Europe, please help to spread the word. None of us live there, so we would very much appreciate your help in that way.


Thanks—and see you there,
David


:: GPP Pop_UP Berlin, Oct 29-30 ::