Questions about Monolights:

[Mark Elberson]

+1 on the PCB Einstein - have one, love it, considering a second (and one of Mark's PowerMC2s if I decide to get one, assuming one is available).

Have four and love them! I would not hesitate to own an AlienBee or a White Lightning either though. The fluctuations in Kelvin in the AlienBee line are quoted to be around 200 degrees. That's really not that big of a deal. The spec on the Einstein is about 50 degrees.

David Hobby over at www.strobist.com estimates the 580EX to be at around 60 watt seconds. The reason why the 580 has a guide number of 190 is because it's measured at its tightest zoom of 105mm. The standard reflector on an AlienBee has a spread of about 80 degrees which is probably much closer to 24mm of zoom on a 580. The fastest duration on an Einstein though is 1/13,000 which can easily be beat by a 580. 1/13,000 isn't too shabby though :-)