Published at: 11:04 pm - Wednesday April 18 2012
I’ve been searching for studio flash equipment with very fast flash duration. Most of what is on the market has the flash duration of 1/200th-1/500th of a second at full power.
The two studio floor packs that have flash duration up to 1/10,000th of a second is the Broncolor Scoro & Profoto 8a. Both Studio floor packs & flash heads cost above AU$10,000. $10,000 is a lot of money but it’s beneficial to have fast flash duration when you are photographing anything with movement (water, sports & action) the slower the flash duration the more blurring of edges. In most cases increasing the shutter speed does not help.

Even at 1/800th second it does not help slow flash duration
Paul C Buff Einstein 640W monoblock
What got me interested in this flash head was the 1/10,000th flash duration and price- AU$709.50
Global Plug–&–Play from 95-260VAC
Enormous All Digital 9 f/stop Power Variability (2.5WS to 640WS)
Accurate & Repeatable flash consistency within 0.10 f/stop
Revolutionary Action Stopping up to 1/10,000 Flash Duration (t.1)
Absolute Color Consistency plus or minus 50K at any power
Bright 250W Modeling Lamp tracks flash within 0.2 f/stops
Pros: Small, price- you could buy 12 Einstein units for the price of 1 Broncolor or Profoto pack , fast flash duration at low power. Better flash duration than the similar priced Elinchrom BXRi 500w monoblck.
Cons: Heats up during shooting even without modelling lamp on, no fan, at full power flash duration isn’t that fast, not as powerful as the Profoto and Broncolor units, Navigating the digital screen on the back.
My concern with the Einstein is over heating and what it will do to the unit over time. I was told that the earlier models of the Einstein flash heads did have that issue and they have taken steps to solve the problem. Shooting all day in the studio without a modelling lamp, the head did heat up but after 500-600 flashes the mono block did not over heat. I would recommend the Paul C Buff Einstein flash head to Professional Photographers and students.

Flash at full Power f8@1/800th sec

Flash 1/2 power f5.6@1/800th

Flash at 1/4 Power f4.5@ 1/800th - Note the sharper edges on the fan
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