THE GOODS: PRO REVIEW

BY ELLIS VENER

A new classic updated

PAUL C. BUFF EINSTEIN 640 V.2
Physicist Freeman Dyson says three of the characteristics of art are uniqueness, beauty and unexpectedness, and because the Paul C. Buff Einstein 640 v.2 expands our ability to make unique and beautiful images that reveal unexpected details, it is a revolutionary tool for photographic artists. Before the original Einstein was introduced early last year, if you wanted extremely short duration flash with constant color characteristics, you could choose between small but smart hot-shoe flash or large, expensive pack and head systems, mainly from Broncolor. The Einstein bridges the wide gap as a moderately priced, reasonably high-powered monolight. Short flash duration is important for working with subjects in motion. Constant color

All images Ellis Vener

balance is important because we dont want unexpected warmth or coolness added as we dial up or down the ratio between the key, accent and background lights. The Einsteins introduction has not been painless. To his credit, Paul Buff acknowledged initial problems and immediately began work on a revised version with an improved modifier and reflector mount, front plate, and a higher quality, less electronically noisy power supply. As mentioned in my review of the original Einstein 640, only one of these problems was apparent in my tests. Paul C. Buff has excellent customer support and will replace all earlier Einstein units with the updated version at no charge. The exchange was painless and glitch free for me.
Unique to the Einstein is its programmable firmware, which is now available in version 26, downloadable from paulcbuff.com/ pcb2009/e640firmware.html. If you use or are thinking about using the PocketWizard ControlTL system for your Canon or Nikon smart speedlights and wish to integrate Einstein into your lighting system, v.26 supports the new PocketWizard PowerEC2 receiver. I routinely exploit five of the Einsteins unique features: consistent color temperature at all energy levels in color mode; very short flash duration in both color and action mode; the 250-watt quartz-Halogen modeling light; both the Buff CyberCommander and the PocketWizard PowerMC2 remote control systems; and very short recycling time. With
In this industrial photo, the main light (camera left) is an Einstein 640 v.2 with a 54x72-inch Chimera Super PRO Lightbank. A second Einstein fitted with a 20-inch Chimera Standard Lantern is directly behind the green machine and facing the left side wall. A Canon 580EX II Speedlite placed just behind the control panel lights the rear wall. The accent/hair light is a Canon 430EX II Speedlite set to a very narrow angle. A second 430EX II placed inside the metallizing chamber lights the back of the chamber. To control output levels, I assigned the main and hair light to group A, the interior and back wall lights to group B, and the second Einstein to group C. I used a miniTTL transmitter with an AC3 ZoneController, three FlexTT5 transceivers on the Speedlites, and Power MC2 receivers on the Einsteins.
these, I can offer my clients creative possibilities that would have previously required a lighting system costing 10 times as much. While the Cyber Commander and CSXCV CyberSync radio remote combo performs solidly, Paul Buff is working with LPA Designs on integrating the Einstein and other Paul C. Buff lights into the PocketWizard ControlTL system. CyberCommander/CyberSync is a fuller featured command system that allows you to control up to 16 individual lights in 1/10-stop increments. More exciting, though, ControlTL allows you to use your cameras internal flash exposure compensation (FEC) biasing controls to control output on an MC2-equipped Einstein, or AC9-equipped Alien Bee, or White Lightning. ControlTL options on the Einstein v.2 allow you to select one of 32 ControlTL
channels, as well as group A, B or C. To use the grouping feature, you will need an AC3 Zone Controller on your camera-mounted MiniTT1 or FlexTT5. The AC3 lets you control the output of three different groups of lights in 1/3-stop increments and has three modes: off, manual and auto. With the AC3 set to auto mode, you can bias an Einsteins output from full 620 wattseconds down to 10 watt-seconds in 1/3stop increments. The cameras FEC bias setting then acts as a global control over all three groups. Finally, the ControlTL system allows you to use a shutter speed higher than X-sync with an Einstein. How far you can go beyond the cameras nominal X-sync setting before you start to lose image area depends on the camera model and the flash duration. With a 24x36mm-format Canon EOS-1Ds Mark

III and an Einstein at full power, Im getting clean full-frame sync up to 1/400 second, and only slight shadowing on the top edge of the frame at 1/500. Beyond hyper-sync times, being able to adjust lighting balance from the camera and reliably integrating the Einstein with TTLcontrolled flash is a major productivity boost. The one problem I still have with the Einstein is related to the user interface. The navigation flow on the controls is a one-way loop. Id greatly prefer it to be bi-directional so I could go from adjusting the flash level to the modeling light mode and back up to flash output without having to cycle past all the other functions. This gripe aside, theres no other monolight or pack and head system that sells for under $5,000 that offers the combination of control and light quality of the Einstein 640 v.2. n
May 2011 Professional Photographer 53