-86' Silver with front diffusion
&
-86' White, with black outer fabric and Front diffusion
How would the evenness of the light coming out the Front Diffusion compare?
c2thew: if you ever get a chance to shoot the silver straight at a wall (Bigger then it), and get a shot of the falloff with and without the front diffusion, as well as some readings from the wall, i would greatly appreciate it
I am on order for the 86" white, +outer +front, but i am debating seeing if i could/should switch to the 86" silver +front.
The two things that matter most to me, is the falloff. (Sharp is better for me) and the evenness of the light across the whole. After watching the current youtube video on the silver, and hearing it being described as shining a strong flashlight with a hotspot, i went for the 86" white instead.
Ideally, i would like to use the 86" white, with outer only. No front diffusion to get sharper falloff, and put the front when its more fill then key. But that silver with, no front, would make some Killer catch lights, background... probably not your desired outcome but the more justifications i can find to purchase the better.
Oh, a new question, whats the heat resistance ? Could these be used with any video lights at all ? I got some 500w halogen lights i use for video, that heat up fairly hot.
The open Silver PLM™ has a sharp cutoff pattern similar to a 20° grid. The projected pattern is extremely even before the cutoff occurs. But remember the size of the source . . . . at 10', tightly focused, the 86" PLM™ will evenly illuminate abut a 6' circle, then falls off sharply. It can de defocused to produce about a 8-10' circle - still with a sharp cutoff.
All white umbrellas project on the order of 150° pattern, as do all softboxes without a grid. Softbox grids aren't very precise because of how they are made.
A Silver PLM™ with front diffuser behaves very similar to a softbox of equal size and covers about 150° extremely evenly.
^ what paul said. the pattern reminds me of a larger scale beauty dish. you'll have a 6' circle
http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h120/c2thew/PLM%20v2/IMG_1608.jpg
I have to correct myself on a previous picture where there was a hotspot on the seamless paper. I forgot that I had left my background light (behind the seamless paper) on as I was practicing if a spot light effect which would make for an interesting headshot.
One suggestion: For tests like this, underexpose . . . to better see the falloff. Your grid test is burned out in the main pattern. If you dropped the exposure 2-3f you would see a similar feathering from the grid as you do from the PLM™.
If you did these same tests at about 40' away, the size effect of the PLM™ will be eliminated and you should see greater similarities between the size and cutoff of the PLM™ pattern and the gridded reflector.
If you're wondering why I've been actively posting the pictures, it's because the plm v2's have been on my wishlist for over 12+ months. There have been other members that have their plm v2's, but I don't see too many posts with the plm in use.
Thanks for the clarification. I was referring really to the grid spot shot rather than the PLM™ shot. Perhaps I misunderstood the first shot in the previous post . . . I thought it was a shot from a gridded standard reflector. As I read more carefully, it wasn't a grid at all . . . it was a light behind the seamless?
Your PLM™ shot was fine . . . not overexposed anywhere. But I believe wrinkles in the seamless are making the PLM™ shots appear less even than they really are.
I seem to have some 41" silver ones + diffusers on their way to me, ordered just a few weeks ago... my guess is that they're the most readily available of the silver ones... PCB customer service should be able to give you a reliable forecast.
The 60 & 80 that I ordered in July are still on backorder. It sounds as if the bigger silver ones got the most backorders, and were the last to start shipping.
1) because the plm has some slight spill light when used with elinchrom strobes due to the modelnig light being in front of the flash tube, I can effectively use one plm to light the background AND make an accent light to the subject's shoulders.
2) I used to take off the removable shaft that attaches to the bracket in order for the 7mm rod to be placed inside the shaft, but now i've simply inserted the 7mm rod without the shaft. There is a little bit of rocking initially, however once the knob is tightened, the setup works well.
I just received the front baffle for my 51" white PLM V2. Still no black back cover yet so the front baffle isn't really going to do me any good at all.
The front baffle fits snuggly and is very easy to put on. Unlike the Photek Softlighter, it doesn't use grommets around its periphery for installation but relies instead on an elastic band sewn in the hem (like a huge shower cap). That's fine except the umbrella rib ends are cut square and, without grommets, they press against the inside of the baffle material. I wouldn't be too surprised if they started poking holes in the fabric after repeated use. I'm hoping that the black back cover for the PLM mounts using blunt-ended caps that go over the PLM rib ends. That would probably help delay perforation of the front baffle.
bobk wrote:
I seem to have some 41" silver ones + diffusers on their way to me, ordered just a few weeks ago... my guess is that they're the most readily available of the silver ones... PCB customer service should be able to give you a reliable forecast.
The 60 & 80 that I ordered in July are still on backorder. It sounds as if the bigger silver ones got the most backorders, and were the last to start shipping.
I'm confused, are there 41 inch PLM available? I thought the smallest one was to be the 51''?
I was looking forward to the smaller 41'' but had given up on the idea. Perhaps Paul can clarify.
