Photek Softligther II

Older prolinca softboxes came with a round adapter speed-ring which very closely matches the varistar umbrella reflector. You might be able to pick one of those up cheap.

Trailboy wrote in post #13257427
Older prolinca softboxes came with a round adapter speed-ring which very closely matches the varistar umbrella reflector. You might be able to pick one of those up cheap.

I have one of those speed rings and I'm sorry to say it is drastically different from a 135 degree wide angle reflector (sold with the Varistar). The 135 degree reflector is quite wide and that speed ring is extremely narrow. If the intent is to just have a 'neck' for the collar then it will work as well as any insert but I wouldn't compare it to the larger, more substantial reflector.

Reviving an old thread. About to purchase an Einstein and want to use it with my SL II I have been using with my 580's. I am confused about the reflectors. Will the sock go over the AB unbrella reflector. It shows to have a diameter of 7" or do I need to order something different. Thanks

Greg

Not positive about the AB but I just stick the bare bulb into the suck and pull the sock over it until its not touching. Seems to work just fine. People are using the reflector inside this modifier?

JakAHearts wrote in post #15004896
People are using the reflector inside this modifier?

Yes, I use my Quadra head stock reflector, otherwise bulb is touching the front screen/sock.

LoL ok, I can see it on the quadra since the light body is smaller than my fist.

g-money wrote in post #15004856
Reviving an old thread. About to purchase an Einstein and want to use it with my SL II I have been using with my 580's. I am confused about the reflectors. Will the sock go over the AB unbrella reflector. It shows to have a diameter of 7" or do I need to order something different. Thanks

Greg

I have never been able to get the 7" reflector to fit through the sock. Instead I bought this, http://www.bhphotovide​o.com …eed_Ring_for_Ba​lcar_.html

I drilled a hole so I can fit the umbrella shaft through it. Works great.

JakAHearts wrote in post #15004932
LoL ok, I can see it on the quadra since the light body is smaller than my fist.

haha yeah it is an exceptional case can't really compare it to monoblocks

JakAHearts wrote in post #15004896
Not positive about the AB but I just stick the bare bulb into the suck and pull the sock over it until its not touching. Seems to work just fine. People are using the reflector inside this modifier?

This is the way I use the Softlighters with Alienbees. Pull the sock over the housing of the monolight and roll it up to prevent covering the cooling vents too much.

Because of the design of the Softlighter, any kind of reflector will prevent the Softlighter from filling up with light evenly.

Thanks all.

Curtis, Reason I asked is reading back in this thread Rob and a couple others were using this with great results by pulling the sock over a wide angle umbrella reflector. However they were using it with Elinchrome flash heads instead of the AB stuff. Are you not nervous about the sock sliding off and touching the blub or modeling lamp or maybe overheating the flash? Maybe this is crazy talk as this will be my first strobe to work with and may not be as big a concern as I fear.

Moonjo thanks for the link as this part was mentioned several times in this thread but no link or item name was given or I overlooked it.

Thanks

Greg.

The sock is very tight on the einstein body. Im not worried about it sliding.

With the einstein, I just use a speedring insert to help keep the sock away from trouble. It's fairly easy to drill a hole in the insert for the umbrella.

The flat Kacey 6" Einstein softbox adapter works best, due to it's flat shape, and it has a pre-drilled hole for the umbrella. I happen to have one of these on hand for other uses.
http://www.kaceyenterp​rises.com/?page_id=102​3

When you use an insert like this, the sock fits over it and there is no chance of the fabric hitting the bulb. It helps you deal with the offset, as well.

I've never had the sock slip off the monolight casing. I once forgot to position the sock correctly, and as the studio filled with smoke I became aware of my error. I use 250w halogen modeling lights that get pretty warm.

Dave's method makes sense:

Dave Jr wrote in post #15005947
The flat Kacey 6" Einstein softbox adapter works best, due to it's flat shape, and it has a pre-drilled hole for the umbrella. I happen to have one of these on hand for other uses.
http://www.kaceyenterp​rises.com/?page_id=102​3

When you use an insert like this, the sock fits over it and there is no chance of the fabric hitting the bulb. It helps you deal with the offset, as well.

What offset are we talking about?

The einstein umbrella mount is at the top of the strobe, so it does not center in the sock hole as well as a speedlite does, especially if you run the speedlite parallel to the umbrella shaft, like I do.

The diameter of the seam where the sock is sewn to the SL material is smaller than the insert diameter, so when I stretch the sock seam completely over the insert, it is not going anywhere.

NOTE: my Softlighter II is fairly old, and the sock design may have changed, and/or they may vary.