Einstein E640 Flash Unit Vs Profoto D1 Air 500 w/s

[gandhi]

Guys
Can some one do a comparison between Einstein E640 Flash Unit Vs Profoto D1 Air 500 w/s
I am planning to buy a good flash equipment. Einstein looks cheaper than profoto, but looks like I need to get bunch of accessories that might cost little lesser than profoto, where as profoto is selling the whole kit in popular websites like B&H and Adorama and it has inbuild receivers and does not have the head ache of attaching a separate receiver like Einstein 640.
So can anyone suggest the Pros and Cons?

[peety3]

I read the commentary on Strobist regarding the three choices he compared (which unfortunately was the old-style Alien Bees units, not the Einstein), and I decided to follow his logic of "investing" in the durability of the Profoto gear by picking up a D1 Air 500/500 kit (used). I'm thrilled with the results, and haven't ever wished I'd picked something different. The light has been perfectly predictable and absolutely rock-steady. The Air remote leaves a tiny bit to be desired (can't tell the power level from the remote), but I may pick up the USB/computer solution next year to take care of that. My third shoot with the D1 Air kit was a non-profit board meeting where they wanted fresh headshots of staff and board, plus anyone else who wanted a new headshot, and a variety of group shots. I had no idea what to expect, and the group shots did keep me on my toes, but the Profoto kit made the shoot easy. I'm happy that there's a world of expensive (but durable) light modifiers waiting to be bought that will all mate with the D1 units.

At family Thanksgiving, someone tripped on a light stand and knocked over one unit. The frosted glass that protects the tube popped out, but otherwise the unit emerged unscathed and it's happily flashing away still.

[gandhi]

I read the commentary on Strobist regarding the three choices he compared (which unfortunately was the old-style Alien Bees units, not the Einstein), and I decided to follow his logic of "investing" in the durability of the Profoto gear by picking up a D1 Air 500/500 kit (used). I'm thrilled with the results, and haven't ever wished I'd picked something different. The light has been perfectly predictable and absolutely rock-steady. The Air remote leaves a tiny bit to be desired (can't tell the power level from the remote), but I may pick up the USB/computer solution next year to take care of that. My third shoot with the D1 Air kit was a non-profit board meeting where they wanted fresh headshots of staff and board, plus anyone else who wanted a new headshot, and a variety of group shots. I had no idea what to expect, and the group shots did keep me on my toes, but the Profoto kit made the shoot easy. I'm happy that there's a world of expensive (but durable) light modifiers waiting to be bought that will all mate with the D1 units.

At family Thanksgiving, someone tripped on a light stand and knocked over one unit. The frosted glass that protects the tube popped out, but otherwise the unit emerged unscathed and it's happily flashing away still.

Thanks for your advice, Looks like D1 Air for sure is a good product, but what I am really interested is how good is D1 Air when compared to Einstein ,
I see some charts provided by Einstein website.

[neuroanatomist]

I haven't used the Profoto D1 500, but I have had an Einstein 640 for a while, and it's a great monolight. You're getting a lot of spec for the money, as the graphs you posted indicate.

The Einstein's 9-stop range tops out ~0.3-stops higher and bottoms out ~1.6-stops lower than the Profoto D1 500 (and still bottoms out ~0.67-stops lower than the weaker Profoto D1 250). Personally, I've found the 1.6-stops at the low end very useful, particularly in smaller indoor spaces. Without that capability, I'd have had to use an ND filter on the lens, or an ND gel on the monolight (except I don't have the latter).

I use PocketWizard triggers, so I can have a blended system of Speedlites and the Einstein. If you have only monolights, the CyberSync setup is more economical. Either way, the receiver plugs directly into the top of the monolight with a dedicated connection. If you're using up to three groups of lights, I don't think there's an easier/faster way to adjust power levels from the camera than with the thumbwheels of the PocketWizard AC3 Zone Controller. There's a caveat in that the AC3 limits you to a 6-stop range, but I haven't had an issue with that - I've never needed the full 9-stops in one session. You can pre-select the subset of the power range you want (via computer) - I use the low end indoors and/or with 'weak' modifiers (ones that don't attenuate the light much or at all - reflector, grid, beauty dish, etc.), and the high end outdoors and/or with a large softboxes. If you have multiple Einsteins, you can set the ranges independently.

The Buff modifiers are easy to use, high quality, and economical.

I suspect you can't go wrong either way, but your money will go further with the PCB setup.

[gandhi]

Excellent. That makes my decision easy. This forum is awesome.