A (partial) Cure for the Slippery Einstein

One of the annoying ergonomic failings of PCB's Einstein strobe is that it has no handle and its smooth, slippery plastic skin is ungrippable. Picking up an Einstein is neither easy nor secure unless you use two hands.

For me, the solution to this problem came in the form of 1-inch, adhesive-backed non-skid tape (like this). I found a local hardware store that sold the stuff by the foot. I applied a strip to each side of each of my four Einsteins:

Dave,
Don't get me started about the lack of a handle .
But in the mean time, this is a good solution !!!

It may sound stupid, but ONE OF THE BIGGEST REASONS I've never liked or bought PCB Alien Bee equipment is that it lacks a simple handle..... I use a lot of huge modifiers and you need a handle to rotate the modifier up and down. It makes life so simple, I literally don't know of any other Lighting Manufacture that doesn't have a handle on their Studio Strobes.

Seriously?

Way back when I had Alien Bees B800's I DIY'ed a handle that worked very well. I wish I was documenting all my projects back then.

It was simple and worked well.

SilverHCIC wrote in post #12275158
Dave,
Don't get me started about the lack of a handle .
But in the mean time, this is a good solution !!!

Well, from the "glass-is-half-full" department, the lack of a handle does allow for a really small form factor. Of course, a pull-out metal handle as I've seen on some lights wouldn't have made the Einstein any larger.

With medium or larger sized modifiers mounted, the lack of a handle (or anything else to grab) does make positioning much more difficult than it needs to be. I (and others) have found the most expedient "fix" to be a large, inexpensive screwdriver stuck in the umbrella tube:

lens pirate wrote in post #12275326
Seriously?

I know...what an un-helpful thread, unlike your post (which was exceedingly helpful and insightful).

/sarcasm.


Don't hate on those that share their ideas with others...even if you don't find a need to use that idea.

Pretty cool! Dont have an Einstein, but I think I could use that stuff for a few other applications.