Einstein - Pre Orders !!!

sigma pi wrote in post #11273814
Psssht I dont want your left overs now. I will decline too then.

I thought they were being sent to Rob.

mickeyjuice wrote in post #11273853
I thought they were being sent to Rob.

FJ cant follow along too well

I placed an order for 3 Einsteins, a silver PLM, and Vagabond II in mid-October. I called up PCB today to get an update on the order status and here is what they said:

Einstein: should ship mid to late December
Silver PLM: Should ship in December
Vagabond II: They received a shipment of bad inverters recently (see the quote from their site below). The phone representative from PCB said that they are uncertain on when the Vagabond will ship, it "could be anywhere from 3 to 6 months". They should be calling everyone with it on backorder to see if they want to continue to have it on backorder, cancel the order, or switch to the Vagabond Mini (shipping estimate mid to late December). I hesitate to order the Mini since they are already a month behind in their original estimate for the shipment date.

About the Vagabond II backorder:

I'm starting to get pretty pissed off about all of this waiting. I am considering returning the lighting modifiers that I have already received and canceling all of my backorders to switch to a company that actually has items in stock.

Florida_Photography wrote in post #11294768
I placed an order for 3 Einsteins, a silver PLM, and Vagabond II in mid-October. I called up PCB today to get an update on the order status and here is what they said:

Einstein: should ship mid to late December
Silver PLM: Should ship in December
Vagabond II: They received a shipment of bad inverters recently (see the quote from their site below). The phone representative from PCB said that they are uncertain on when the Vagabond will ship, it "could be anywhere from 3 to 6 months". They should be calling everyone with it on backorder to see if they want to continue to have it on backorder, cancel the order, or switch to the Vagabond Mini (shipping estimate mid to late December). I hesitate to order the Mini since they are already a month behind in their original estimate for the shipment date.

About the Vagabond II backorder:


I'm starting to get pretty pissed off about all of this waiting. I am considering returning the lighting modifiers that I have already received and canceling all of my backorders to switch to a company that actually has items in stock.

Unfortunately there seems to be a large number of people in your exact position that are thinking of doing or have done exactly what you're suggesting.

Meaning me? Lol. I know there are many more here.

I was on the Einstein boat for only about 2 minutes. After I realized, I would be stuck without strobes for a long, long time, I jumped ship... sold all my PCB gear.

charlieharper wrote in post #11257499
I have a mate here that had two VB-II's that let all of the smoke come out of them....He's gone to the (110v) Explorer now.

(He's an AB user ...)

Austen.

Got me one of those. It's great for weighing down a light stand.

Seanzky wrote in post #11294956
Meaning me? Lol. I know there are many more here.

I was on the Einstein boat for only about 2 minutes. After I realized, I would be stuck without strobes for a long, long time, I jumped ship... sold all my PCB gear.

Actually, no, Sean. I completely blanked out of my memory the fact that you were at one time shooting Bees. It's like you've been shooting Elinchrom all along.

TMR Design wrote in post #11294846
Unfortunately there seems to be a large number of people in your exact position that are thinking of doing or have done exactly what you're suggesting.

I'll give my two cents on the issue, and please, people, don't turn this into a PCB or Elinchrom bashing thread. Personally I'm not 100% sold on either brand.

I was almost one of those people who gave up on the Einsteins as well. About a month ago I had my two original V1 Einsteins and was still waiting for my third unit which was supposed to be a V2. Right when my third unit shipped they found the problem with the fingers. My initial thought was something like "Seriously??? Come on!!!" I do now have all three lights I ordered, but all three are still going to have to go back for repair or replacement.

Photography is just a hobby for me right now so while the wait and the hassle of swapping them is all very annoying, it's something I can deal with. I did more than once consider either returning everything I had, or returning just the modifiers and then selling the Einsteins to try to recoop some of my shipping costs. I ordered them before the price went up, and also got the $50 accessory credit for waiting until the V2 units were ready on my second order (3rd light) so if I consider the accessory credit as money off the light (since I needed the accessories anyways) I only have about $420 stuck into each light. For everything they're capable of, I think that's a pretty reasonable price.

Looking at the market now, they'll cost you $500 per light (plus $30 per trigger). Elinchrom has the $100 rebate on the BX 500 Ri To-Go kit, and if you take out the cost of the included stands, softboxes, and carrying bags, it makes them very competitive, maybe even cheaper than the Einsteins. Very tempting. I almost dumped everything to go with that kit at that price.

For now, I'm happy with them. A few of the things I like are:

- The huge power range (being new in studio lighting, I really have no idea what I'm all going to end up doing and like the fact that I know I have such a wide power range)

- The functionality of the CyberCommander - it almost makes it feel like I'm cheating to be honest

- Constant color across the full power range so I don't have to worry at all when mixing multiple lights at different power levels on white seamless

All of that said, if I was doing this professionally, I would have went for the BX 500 Ri's at this point - while rubber bands may solve the finger issue and many people may be OK with how they look, personally I would be embarrassed having to use them in front of paying clients (again, just my opinion, you're entitled to yours too).

If I was going to be using them on location a lot, again I think I might have gone for the BX 500 Ri's, as while I can't say I've ever seen one in person, they just look to be a lot more durable, weatherproof, etc.

Finally, if I had a bigger budget for modifiers (or if I felt I was going to need a wider variety) I would have also most likely gone with the BX 500 Ri's. It's a given that Elinchrom has a much wider variety of modifiers, and I think most people I see argue that they are superior to the PCB modifiers (I have no experience with them personally, though I did see one post recently saying the PCB softboxes actually had better build quality...). That said, I'm happy with my 47" folding octa and 22" beauty dishes and maybe someday my order for the 64" and 86" PLM's will actually ship.

So there you go, a somewhat unbaised opinion from someone who did a lot of research on both brands, recognizes the pluses and minuses of each, and for now plans to make the most of his Einstein's and associated PCB accessories. I won't say I'll never own Elinchrom, but at this point I'd have to have a pretty good reason to switch brands.

munzzzzzzz wrote in post #11295984
I'll give my two cents on the issue, and please, people, don't turn this into a PCB or Elinchrom bashing thread.
:
Photography is just a hobby for me right now
:
Elinchrom has the $100 rebate on the BX 500 Ri To-Go kit, and if you take out the cost of the included stands, softboxes, and carrying bags, it makes them very competitive, maybe even cheaper than the Einsteins.
:
The functionality of the CyberCommander
:
BX 500 Ri's, as while I can't say I've ever seen one in person, they just look to be a lot more durable, weatherproof, etc.
:
So there you go, a somewhat unbaised opinion from someone who did a lot of research on both brands, recognizes the pluses and minuses of each, and for now plans to make the most of his Einstein's and associated PCB accessories......

Had to have a giggle to myself, I'm in the same position as you, and fell down on the Elinchrom side of the fence !!

I went with the RX600's, and while they may or may not be more durable then the Einsteins, that won't be an issue for me, I always treat my gear with extreme care and they're never going to see any weather anyhow !!

Also, I kept reading over and over again on PCB Tech Forum the troubles people were having with the C.C, so that turned me off of that somewhat....

Price-wise, I ordered my Elinchroms from overseas, and even with shipping the price was (around) the same as the Australian distributor is charging for the Einsteins, so cost really didn't come into it too much....

As to modifiers, my original strobes (which I've kept) were "eBay Specials" with Bowens mounts....Now THAT'S a system that's got plenty of available modifiers available !!

Seems every man and his dog sells "Bowens compatible" modifiers on eBay and with so much choice and competition the prices are very reasonable !!

I'm reasonably confident that the Einsteins will end up being a pretty good product, you don't hear very many complaints from existing AB users about their AB strobes.

Cheers,

charlieharper wrote in post #11296235
Had to have a giggle to myself, I'm in the same position as you, and fell down on the Elinchrom side of the fence !!

I went with the RX600's, and while they may or may not be more durable then the Einsteins, that won't be an issue for me, I always treat my gear with extreme care and they're never going to see any weather anyhow !!

Yeah, I think I remember seeing your post(s) over there. If I was in AU, the increased cost of PCB products overseas alone probably would have pushed me to the ELinchrom side. Getting a BX 500 Ri for close to an Einstein is a good deal, but getting an RX600 for the price of an Einstein would have been hard to pass up.

charlieharper wrote in post #11296235
Also, I kept reading over and over again on PCB Tech Forum the troubles people were having with the C.C, so that turned me off of that somewhat....

Yep, I've had the random reboot issue myself. It is frustrating when it happens, but it doesn't seem to happen very often. I think I read that they had a fix for it now, I may have to look into sending mine in (probably when I return my Einsteins) to see what they can do for me.

charlieharper wrote in post #11296235
Price-wise, I ordered my Elinchroms from overseas, and even with shipping the price was (around) the same as the Australian distributor is charging for the Einsteins, so cost really didn't come into it too much....

I hear you...

charlieharper wrote in post #11296235
As to modifiers, my original strobes (which I've kept) were "eBay Specials" with Bowens mounts....Now THAT'S a system that's got plenty of available modifiers available !!

Seems every man and his dog sells "Bowens compatible" modifiers on eBay and with so much choice and competition the prices are very reasonable !!

I agree, fortunately (or unfortunately) for me I had absolutely nothing so I was starting from scratch. Down the road I may consider Kacey's AB to Elinchrom adapter (a la Elinstein from Tetrode) but only if I have a need for a modifier that I can't get from PCB. That is, of course, assuming Jerry Kacey continues to produce products that work with PCB products after his exchanges over on FM.

charlieharper wrote in post #11296235
I'm reasonably confident that the Einsteins will end up being a pretty good product, you don't hear very many complaints from existing AB users about their AB strobes.

In the end this is really what made me decide to stick with them. Since timing and availability wasn't a huge factor for me, the knowledge that PCB will eventually make it right was enough to keep me from switching. If they didn't have the excellent customer service they're known for (not that I should need it in this case, but...), they would have gone back for sure. On paper the Einsteins do seem to have just about every other monolight out there beat, and while there are obviously still areas that are questionable (long-term durability, modifier availability, etc) I think they'll suit my needs quite nicely.

munzzzzzzz, if you didnt have anything at all right now,starting from scratch, which path would you take?

sigma pi wrote in post #11296509
munzzzzzzz, if you didnt have anything at all right now,starting from scratch, which path would you take?

Good question, one that I would have to really think about if I was truly in that position. But, my gut right now says that given all of the issues and delays with the Einsteins, the CyberCommanders, the PLM's, and the Vagabond Mini Lithium's, if I had to buy into a system today, I would probably go with something like the BX 500 Ri To Go kit.

That said, I recognize that if I went that route, there's a decent chance that six months to a year from now, when PCB has presumably shaken all of the bugs out of all of those products and positive reviews are pouring in (all speculative at this point), I may be regretting my decision.

Is that a fair answer? I think if I was truly looking for something now, I might try hard to hold off on buying anything until I saw how all of the PCB issues played out. I really do think that when and if they work out all of their issues, they're going to have a very competitive product lineup with the Einstein's, PLM's, and Vagabond Mini's.

munzzzzzzz wrote in post #11295984
It's a given that Elinchrom has a much wider variety of modifiers, and I think most people I see argue that they are superior to the PCB modifiers

But thanks to Kacey's adapter, you can connect Elinchrom mods to PCB lights, so you actually have all of them available to you. I use a different Kacey adapter to hook up a Speedotron BD to PCB lights.
If you're into grids, the PCB boxes have the least expensive grids.
Those two were a big reason I switched from Speedotron...and being able to mix PCB lights w/ speedlights w/ remote power control w/ the radiopopper JrX studios (Speedotron actually had a Palm based remote control system w/ their Force 10 monolights wayyyy back but it has been lost to history)...

munzzzzzzz wrote in post #11296747
Good question, one that I would have to really think about if I was truly in that position. But, my gut right now says that given all of the issues and delays with the Einsteins, the CyberCommanders, the PLM's, and the Vagabond Mini Lithium's, if I had to buy into a system today, I would probably go with something like the BX 500 Ri To Go kit.

That said, I recognize that if I went that route, there's a decent chance that six months to a year from now, when PCB has presumably shaken all of the bugs out of all of those products and positive reviews are pouring in (all speculative at this point), I may be regretting my decision.

Is that a fair answer? I think if I was truly looking for something now, I might try hard to hold off on buying anything until I saw how all of the PCB issues played out. I really do think that when and if they work out all of their issues, they're going to have a very competitive product lineup with the Einstein's, PLM's, and Vagabond Mini's.

No thats fair,

I was in those shoes and went BXRi I may have missed out later down the line but I am not missing out today that is my rational. They are good quality lights and I am happy.

There's a cracking thread going over at FM where the bloke has got his Einsteins and is ecstatic to be getting 1/100th synch, because he could only get 1/60th with his WLs.

Talk about easy to please...