Friday, November 20, 2009

Paul Buff PLM

A few months back I purchased a 64in Silver Paul C. Buff PLM. The PLM is my new favorite lighting modifier. I bought the PLM for a shoot for a community college. I bought it because I needed a big light source that was also light weight and portable, and had a small footprint. The PLM fit the bill perfectly. I also purchased the white front diffusion panel for it. It produces a great softlight when the front diffusion is on. It is also parabolic and allows you to use less power to get a good amount of flash output. With the front diffusion panel off it produces a nice contrasty light. Also the PLM is very afforadable at under $100 for the 64in. You can buy the PLM at http://www.alienbees.com/plm.html. I am in no way related to or funded by Paul C. Buff this is my unbiased review. I will post a few pictures that were made using the PLM later.

4 comments:

  1. is it any different than a Photek Softliter?

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  2. It actually is a little different than the Photek Softliter. The PLM has 16 rods instead of 8 also the shaft seems to be stronger on the PLM. The PLM uses a metal spill kill instead of the sock on the Softliter. Also the PLM cliams to be parabolic where the Softlighter does not. I have broken a few of the Softliters with in a few uses and the PLM has be holding strong for about 3 months.

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  3. Hi Nick,
    Have you tried this with hot shoe flashes?
    Thanks
    Terry

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  4. Terry,

    I have not tried the PLM with hot shoe flashes. The main concern is if the pattern of the flash is wide enough to fill the size of the PLM.

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