Well after all the polls the other week I don't know if Mr Buff is still around or not, but if you are Paul, I have a question!
I'm thinking of buying an AB1600 + vagabond next week for weddings, but have a number of questions I need answering, I've called the number on the PCB Europe website at least a dozen times in the last 24 hours (all within normal office hours) and all I've managed to get is a generic BT answerphone message every time, is there something going on this week?
Obviously if you're reading this and AREN'T Paul Buff, please feel free to post any experiences you have anyway ;-)
That's the next step, but I'd much rather actually talk to someone, hopefully someone knowledgeable, I've dealt with way too many photography-related companies who have their e-mails answered by admin staff who, with the best will and/or training in the world don't have the knowledge or enthusiasm that we, as photographers do, so I'd rather have a 5 minute call with someone than spend a week e-mailing back and forth trying to explain to them why their initial reply makes no sense!!
I'd try emailing or skpe-ing the paulcbuff home office (the number is at paulcbuff.com ) and tell them you have some technical questions about specific gear. What are your questions BTW?
Cheers, might be worth contacting the U.S. office, I was just hoping that the European one would be a lot better, kind of makes you feel like if something went wrong, you'd be waiting weeks to get an answer, not ideal when you're using the gear to make money!
My questions -
1. They're selling the ABs over here in 110 and 240v specs, our mains power is 240v but I'm assuming that, as someone planning to use them on location at weddings/e-sessions I actually need 110v ones to use the vagabond?
2. How many shots should I expect from a vagabond + AB1600 ?
3. As a tie in to 1&2 - can I plug the Vagabond into the 240v mains if/when I exhaust it and run the 110v lights that way?
4. Power level - AB1600 is listed at "640 true w/s 1600 effective w/s" - I'm currently using an Interfit Stellar Xtreme 300w/s, which just isn't cutting it, I'm getting about f/8 through a 90x90 octobox, which isn't enough if I have to do formals in direct sunlight after the ceremony, so should I expect 640w/s which will give me about an extra stop, or 1600 and roughly an extra 2.5 stops?
4) assuming the Intefit is using a real world watt-second capacity rating and discounting the influence of light modifiers, the B1600 will pump out approx. 1 stop more light at maximum power. If you can find one I'd get an Einstein 640 over the AB1600.
the "effective watt-seconds" nomenclature claims dates back to when PCB's main competitor was Photogenic , who started the entire "effective watt-seconds" business.
I think it may be using effective, as I've seen claims of f/64 using a B1600 close up using just the standard reflector, whereas I get about f/22 with the interfit, it's annoying not knowing how much power I'll get before buying the damned things though!
We have been stating our units is real WS for years and have extremely complete specs on our website. The effective WS thing was started in 1985 by Inverse Square Systems "Stroblox" and is still used or implied by Photogrnic, Bron Visatec, Adorama Flashpoints and several others.
So how did this thread go from PCB Europe to the never ending effective WS thing?
Regarding PCB Europe, please take this up with customer service . . . Lori. I believe a substantial shipment is on its way to UK now, but can't keep up with everything.
Paul Buff wrote:
We have been stating our units is real WS for years and have extremely complete specs on our website. The effective WS thing was started in 1985 by Inverse Square Systems "Stroblox" and is still used or implied by Photogrnic, Bron Visatec, Adorama Flashpoints and several others.
So how did this thread go from PCB Europe to the never ending effective WS thing?
Regarding PCB Europe, please take this up with customer service . . . Lori. I believe a substantial shipment is on its way to UK now, but can't keep up with everything.
Hi Paul,
I had no intention of turning this into a "real vs effective" w/s thing, and I'm sure it's very tiresome to someone who has been dealing with it for years, but for me this is all relatively new and slightly confusing, and I'm just very interested in knowing how many extra stops the AB1600 would buy me! After all I'm choosing a 1600 over a 400 for one reason and one reason only! I NEED as much output as I can get my hands on.
AB1600 is clearly stated as 640WS and AB400 is clearly stated as 160WS. Zeus 2500 is 2500WS. Our website states f stops with various modifiers as well as Lumenseconds, Notice all standard light bulbs have the wattage and Lumens stated. Watts or WS state the amount of energy that goes in and Lumens or Lumenseconds state the light energy that comes out . . . and is independent of the beam-spread. GN and BCPS can be anything you want it to be, depending on the focusing effect of the reflector. But focusing a light beam does not increase its actual light energy anymore than a magnifying glass makes an object bigger.
It's good to be able to count on Ellis for simple, accurate responses.