Giant Modifier Input

[unpopular]

Can you draw a boom in from the back? Would that help at all? Or is the back closed?

 

[Alpha]

Can you draw a boom in from the back? Would that help at all? Or is the back closed?

It's open at the back. Presumably, I can run a boom through the opening and reverse-mount the head to fire bare-bulb into it. Genius!

 

[unpopular]

Then if it starts to rain, you can be the one to save the wedding with the umbrella large enough to fit every single guest, the bride, the groom AND the priest!

 

[tirediron]

...But Paul continued to study and make improvements to his original design over the years, now using the sixteen-rib frame to form a highly evolved, large-size, shallow parabolic shape.

WTF is a "shallow" parabola?

 

[tirediron]

2400w/s max.

2400 w/s???? Geezzz what did you do, poke a light-stand into the sun????

Speedotron 2405CX Power Supply 850142 B&H Photo Video
+
Speedotron 202VF 2400 Watt/Second Maximum Flash Head 850360 B&H

Nice! Make sure you post some shots when you get this up and running; I'm very interested in seeing what the results look like.

 

[Derrel]

I dunno...I've not seen photos made with that modifier.

Paul C. Buff - PLM? Competitor Comparison Page

Not sure if the PLM system would be of interest to you.

Apologies for the following:
I despise Paul Buff and this PLM nonsense is a great example of why. The PLM is not a "system." It's a large umbrella. The copy on the PLM page of his website is some of the most disingenuous drivel I have ever seen:

Paul Buff conceived and engineered this unique parabolic umbrella lighting method, first released in 2009. With the overwhelming popularity of the system, a number of copycats quickly popped up in the industry. Where Paul originated, they duplicated - and, unfortunately for them and their customers, created inferior copies based on the first iteration of the design. But Paul continued to study and make improvements to his original design over the years, now using the sixteen-rib frame to form a highly evolved, large-size, shallow parabolic shape.

The PLM is about as close to a parabolic reflector of the Broncolor/Profoto/Briese variety as "effective watt seconds" are to real watt seconds.

Actually, I think the PLM might be one of the better umbrellas on the market...at least in terms of a wide swath of light, and ultra-efficiency...I've seen photos of an entire HOUSE lighted by one 400 watt-second flash from across the street with the early PLM model...
and Rob Galbraith's team photographers have no standardized on the PLM's for outdoor team photos...I'm not a fan of Buff's marketing hype, and I have not bought any of his PLM umbrellas, but the work I've seen done with them looked pretty decent.

Have you tried a PLM? I mean, you know, have you actually bought or borrowed one, and put a flash head in it, and shot a photo with it? Or are you just making a blanket condemnation on it because it comes from Buff? Just kind of wondering where the vitriol is coming from? Is it earned? Or just reserves left over from some other slight, real or imagined, or from a former bad purchase?

 

[Alpha]

It may be a perfectly good modifier, but it's not really what I'm looking for. In any event, I believe Buff's marketing is misleading and unethical, and I refuse to buy his products.

 

[gsgary]

You would still be able to use it like the broncolor profoto, just mount your flash on another stand

That is a brilliant idea, but I worry about shadows. The bron/profoto/briese ones are bare-bulb mounted on a small platform. The 202vf has a pretty small profile but I worry about the stand casting a shadow. I bet I can rig something, though. Thanks!

Boom arm in from the side and flash with bare bulb, sorted you shouldn't get a shadow