SilverHCIC wrote in post #13610388
Dave, this is outstanding. While the recessed position of the flash tube has not caused me any concern in real-life situations, I've been wondering whether a solution would present itself that would enable a greater degree of flash tube extension. This new speedring appears to position the entire dome forward, thereby dispelling any lingering concern I may have had. The hole to allow use of a deflector is also a nice addition.
How would you say this configuration works with an Eli 39" DO and a deflector?
Thanks for suggesting this to Jerry. I will definitely be giving him a call.
Let's delve into this a little deeper. First off, what Jerry is offering is not a complete speedring but rather a speedring insert. You supply the outer ring into which the Kacey adapter is installed. The speedring must accept 6" diameter inserts. This is the most common insert size. Some speedrings such as the Bowens Quick Ring (listening, kenyee?) take smaller diameter inserts. These are, of course, not compatible with Jerry's new insert.
Jerry does offer a softbox ring of his own which can be mated to his AB adapters to create a low-profile speedring. His AB adapter + softbox ring look like this:
Using Jerry's softbox ring you lose access to the AB adapter's umbrella hole.
The outer ring seen in my previously posted photos is a generic Chinese product but one that actually permits even lower profile mounting than Jerry's softbox ring.
As far as compatibility with the Elinchrom DO, here we need to look at a different solution. The DO comes with an integral Elinchrom mount. That mount cannot be easily exchanged for an AB mount. To use the DO on a PCB light, an AB-to-Elinchrom adapter is required. There is a Kacey solution that will accomplish this but it doesn't rely on the new AB adapter to work its magic.
Either version of Jerry's AB adapter (original 6-1/8" diameter or new 6" diameter) can be used here. The Kacey AB adapter gets bolted to a Kacey Elinchrom adapter to accomplish the required AB-to-Elinchrom mount conversion. The assembly looks like this:
With the Kacey pieces in place, any Elinchrom mount accessory (including all Rotalux modifiers such as the DO) can be used with an AB or Einstein light. Just to illustrate the compatibility, here's an image of Photoflex speedring with Elinchrom insert mounted on an Einstein:
A Rotalux speedring is thinner than the pictured Photoflex ring so flashtube penetration into the attached modifier will be somewhat better than what is seen here. This photo of a 69" Rotalux mounted on one of my Einsteins using the Kacey adapters will give you an idea of what to expect:
The back end of a DO will look the same as above. It's worth mentioning that Elinchrom has been promising Rotalux speedrings with a variety of different mounts including AB. They're way overdue and it's now anybody's guess when they'll actually appear. A Rotalux ring with AB insert would, of course, be the ultimate solution for mounting a DO or any other Eli modifier on an Einstein.
Getting back to the new AB adapter and its potential value, take a look at this image of my 5' diameter Photoflex octa:
Here you can see how the Einstein's flastube is positioned fully within the octa. I'm sure you can visualize how recessed the tube would be if a standard, bowl-shaped AB speedring insert had been used. Adding a deflector helps kill a central hotspot should there be one:
But the new Kacey AB adapter is not only of value with wide, shallow modifiers. It will also help with strips like this 14" x 55" specimen which are difficult to light evenly:
Generally speaking, my feeling is that the standard, reflective, bowl-shaped AB speedring insert tends to forward bias the light which is not always a good thing. I suspect that moving the flashtube forward and backing it up with a flat reflective surface can only improve light distribution within a modifier. Of course, all of this may prove academic. Whether the effect is visible in practice remains to be seen though I strongly suspect it will be.
Dave F.
