Hey Folks,

Anyone using the Paul Buff PLM? I am debating between the 64 and 86 inch umbrellas.

Thanks
James

Yes. I have the 86 (LOVE IT) as well as the smaller ones. He just announced a new versions of them. I have the old ones and the more recent ones, but not the newest.

Preston has been looking at them too I think.

Thanks, Jim. What kind of difference in light spread do you see from the 64 to the 86?

James

I have a collection. For shooting people the 64 and 86 are great. Not so much for cats. I'm now testing a couple of 51" soft silvers. They are great, but the jury is still out for my apllication. Take a look at the soft silvers, they are really something special.

James,
I have the silver 64 which I use for shows and it works great. I've also used it alone (at shows I fill with a regular 36 silver umbrella) for baby and pet studio work and I love the way you can control the spread with how close you set it up to the bulb. For shows, shadows are bad. For portraits, shadows are sometimes good if you can manage them. The PLM gives you some nice flexibility in that area. Mine is the last version and not the current one. I'm thinking of adding the 86 for shows just to see if it will give me the coverage I want as a single light.

Jim

I can light a whole set evenly with the 86 which makes it great for some things. Not so great for dramatic lighting though.

Oh, to answer the question, I haven't really compared it with the smaller one. I need to do that and start playing with some shadows more.