Paul C. Buff recently released a brand new Vagabond battery pack, the Vagabond Lithium Extreme. With a price tag of $399.95 this might be the next product you end up buying tonight. There are a few great improvements from their older Vagabond models, and overall, it is exciting to see a new product release from Paul C. Buff.
The first thing I noticed when looking at this new product was that they FINALLY updated the clamp that connects to the light stand. I can't even begin to explain the amount of embarrassing stories I have trying to carry around the older battery packs connected to my stands by throwing them awkwardly over my shoulder or just watching them fall off and hit the ground. Thank you Paul C. Buff for finally changing this! Even though I think the price tag is a bit much on the battery pack, being able to have a (hopefully) more reliable battery pack holder on it would make my life a lot easier. When doing outdoors shoots, the last thing I want to worry about is whether of not my battery will fall and die any second.
The new VLX (Vagabond Lithium Extreme) is the fourth-generation battery for the Vagabond portable power line. The pack will offer a pure sine wave power source for use with AC powered studio flash units for those times when you don't have access to AC power. I use my older Vagabond Mini for every outdoor shoot when my studio flash, the Alienbee B800, gets used. I have loved my Vagabond, minus the clip, and if this product is truly a large improvement, I might just be adding it to my gear pack soon. Though, I may want to paint it a different color.
"A most important part of the design is the quick-change 26.4V 6.4Ah 170Wh LiFePO4 (Iron Phosphate) battery system. This is the latest, and far and away the safest and most durable Lithium made today. All other systems mentioned use either Sealed Lead Acid (SLA) or LiCoxNiMnzO2 (NMC) Lithium batteries. Depending on battery sizing and recycle speed, these battery types offer typical storage life of about two years and as few as 100 battery recharge cycles before depletion."
Product Specs
- current-controlled true sine wave portable power source
- operates flashes from internal lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) battery
- reliable power for multiple flashes (up to 3200 Ws)
- offers increased capacity, longer battery life, and faster recycle
- 120 VAC for use with all standard Paul C. Buff™ flashes
- complete system arrives with inverter and battery connected
- 3-hour rapid charger (supplied) quickly recharges battery
- compact and lightweight design (6 pounds total weight)
- can be connected to a light stand with built-in stand clamp
- NOT intended to power modeling lamps
- 60-Day Absolute Satisfaction Guarantee
- 1-Year Factory Warranty
You can view more info on this product by visiting the official Paul C. Buff Product Listing Page
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Looks great, but it's sad that they left EU market:-(
I gave up on ever having the chance of buying from PCB here in the EU. So I bought the next best thing, Elinchrom. And actually, I think I've made a good choice. I recently managed to drop my Ranger RX powerpack from almost 2 m down on concrete floor and it doesn't even have a scratch (and still works flawlessly) - these Vagabond powerpacks look like they could not handle much impact though.
Thanks a lot for info. Elinchrom is very good. Maybe I will buy it.
If you ordered anything from PCB EU in the past PCB US will ship direct to you (so that's great news). If you didn't order from PCB EU in the past, PCB US will ship to you via a freight forwarder (which you'll have to arrange).
They won't ship lithium batteries internationally though, so you aren't going to be able to get this sweetly coloured machine in the EU :)
I will not order anything, because they are not in EU. I don't want to pay extra taxes:)
Fair enough.
When I looked in to it I found that the quality and price was much better than their EU competitors.
I previously bought PCB via the EU store, but buying it from the US store, even taxes included was significantly cheaper than it was buying it through the UK reseller.
I'm really quite glad they're gone to be honest, they charged a massive premium on the US price, and I didn't have great service with them either.
I'd urge you to take a look at PCB US and just work out what the price difference is for the equivalent thing in the EU.
Undoubtedly the ugliest piece of equipment I have ever seen.
I was just thinking the same thing. The only time I can imagine using this as is, would be during Easter… and I'm even doubting that...
Oh come on, it could be worse. There could be glitter.
...
Pleas in the Buff Technical Forum for black were pretty much met with "it is what it is".
Really, bro? A true professional does not care what his gear looks like, as long as it delivers results, bro. My camera has so many scratches and chipped paint it's not even funny. As do most of my lenses. It's the results that count, not how the equipment looks. If there was a tie dye camera out there that somehow (hypothetically) made my pictures even better, I would use it. Sure, it's ugly. But clients aren't paying me so that I walk around a shoot with a pretty camera.
Grow up, bro. If you hope to make it, and I mean truly make it in this industry, you're going to have to change your attitude.
Or perhaps you're trolling us. If so, well played, you got me at the least.
While I mostly do agree with you, I just cant shake the psychological effect professional equipment can have on a lot of people.
Up to a point man. When you're shooting multi-million dollar residential/commercial properties like Mike does, or a big commercial shoot for clients like Nike or American Express, your gear kinda have to look the part. This isn't saying you can only shoot w/ Profotos, but you can't have funky colors like this VLE. The Einsteins are great and look great, at least.
That's what you think. I've been on a couple of high dollar shoots, and I have used my own garage-made accessories. To be honest, they were put together with random stuff I had, and look the part. They wouldn't even pass for Chinese ebay quality.
But no one cared, because I carry myself confidently and know what I'm doing. THAT makes far more difference than the appearance of your equipment. It's the appearance of YOURSELF, your attitude and your demeanor.
Hey Bro,
Check your facts on who you're bashing before you type brah. And there is a huge psychological impact on professional appearance. Bro.
That's because you let it. If you carry yourself well/confidently, guide your subjects appropriately, and produce results, then there is no psychological impact of professional appearance. The most important thing is what I highlighted in italics. Again, if you're not confident, the professional appearance will help. If you are confident, assertive, and take charge, you could have the worst looking camera and still not have your subjects psychology negatively impacted.
"Really, bro? A true professional does not care what his gear looks like, as long as it delivers results, bro."
I would love to see you filling shadows in a client photoshoot with a Glowing Dildo, "as long as it delivers results, bro"
You, sir, are the perfect example of someone who takes things completely too literally. I doubt you'll ever have a successful argument if you keep at it the way you just did.
Any intelligent person knows what I'm referring to. Let's use your ridiculous example in an appropriate way. If I use a halogen lamp to fill shadows, I can get the results I need, and I don't care that it looks like a $10 Home Depot purchase. Guess what, neither do my clients. Because when they see the photograph, they can't see what it was lit up with. They just see the light caressing their bodies in the beautiful portrait I just made. I've even used a flashlight a few times on set instead of a snoot. No one thought anything weird, and the results delivered. It's because I know how to carry myself confidently and have a demeanor that shows that I know what I'm doing.
Anyway, I gotta give it to you, you did make me spit up some coffee when I read your response bro. I was like "lol really? talk about no common sense and taking shit waaaay too literally". My associate had a good laugh at your expense too.
Nice speech man, I was Trolling you and i succeeded that´s all.
And before i leave you alone I can tell this i saw all your comments in you disqus profile, hell man you are a professional pessimist, you love to fight and i wont give you that.
oh! by the way nice DP picture it really shows you are a professional and last but not least man choosing ninjas as team mates that is clever.
For someone saying bro a lot, it's kind of ironic to see you telling someone to grow up... bro.
But seriously, lets see these shoots you've been working on with your garage based concoctions! Show us, please, how it's done.
matte black spray paint should do the trick :P
I'm with you about changing the color, no idea why they made it look like this. But some tape and spray paint will fix it rather quick.
... and potentially cause warranty problems if it is determined that a failure of the unit was caused by the paint job
True, but it's ether that, or I won't use it. Hopefully putting it in a bag won'tcause oit to over heat. In truth, I'll probably just buy two minis, one for each light rather than to have this Ugly thing. It's sad that a color would deter me so much, but I guess that's a lesson learned for the company.
Two VLM's gives you greater fault tolerance though! If one unit or battery dies, you've got a 'spare'/can get by - Much smarter IMO.
If you do it right, and mask the proper areas off, there's no way the paint can cause damage to the unit. You just can't be a dumbass about it. Don't go spraying into the vents or outlets, duh.
This has to be the dumbest color scheme for something in recent memory. I'd rather have a red dSLR than this thing.
Cool stuff, the color is an obvious give away. If you look at the origins of Paul C buff and how they wanted to build this really nifty edgy art deco installation (it's an interesting read) as their business HQ, you'd know why it has that color combo. Not the most appealing shapes or color but if the device delivers on the ability to power a PCB light at full power for at least a few hours, then you'd be hard pressed to find a reason to complain about it.
I.am.sorry. I LOVE PCB and with a lot of pride can say that I get to eat every night thanks in large part to their products. But the color in this thing is worse than the old plastic bracket. It is so rotten it makes my eyes bleed. I hope it does well inside a black bag. I know from experience the Mini's start acting up almost instantly the minute they are not well ventilated.
Or you could just rattlecan it. Cheap and easy.
Yeah! or gaff the crap out of it. I already went through the PCB forum and the old man seems to be quite proud of the color and got pretty defensive as soon as people started to bitch about it, so it looks like (at least for now) there won't be too many options.
PCB is a megalomaniac who is convinced his ideas are always best. He ran marketing for a period of time and what appeared in magazines were truly baffling. Melting clocks and badly photoshopped animals on the surface of what could have maybe been the moon? No idea.
Wow I remember those.
That's just the way he is. Obvious demand from the market will be stonewalled. People may remember how proud he was when the Einsteins were introduced. He boasted about how compact they were. Yet the bulb covers were pulled from a old parts bin and bloated out the size of the Einsteins unnecessarily. As with the Miami Vice colors for this product people has to home brew a solution for the bloated covers. Requests for an updated cover designed for the Einsteins were met with sarcastic responses from PCB. He eventually updated the covers. I think PCB contributes a lot to the strobe market but he does have the maturity of a two year old toddler.
HAHAHAHA, it looks like they strapped two minis together, added a clamp that might actually work, and painted it the most flamboyant color scheme they could come up with.
That being said, if it's a significant upgrade I will most likely be picking one of these up.
Someone would make a lot of money taking PCB components, and repackaging them into some better casing. Not just look-wise, but the Cyber Commander I just got feels like it's going to break any day! I almost want to just tape it up as a precautionary measure!
I superglued the foot of mine so it's permanently standing up. I was sick of it falling forward and spilling it's intestines (batteries) onto the lens and then loosing the light config!
I have done that as well and have gaffers tape on the battery doors of my receiver because that they have broke.
The battery door on mine already broke and PCB sent me a new one. The casing and tilt mechanism on the CC is so horrendous and cheap it's amazing they actually put their name behind it.
Kawasaki did the same thing with their infamous KLR 650 back in 1994. It's called in the community 'the Barbie edition'
BTW Putting my order in, I went through the accesories section on the website and they list the new braket separately for $14.95. Picking one up to see how hard it is to retrofit into one of the Mini's. Will report back here when I get it.
Awesome! I might grab one as well
Screw a spigot into the old clamp's thread on the VLM and then attach it to a light stand or even a super-clamp - those things clamp to ANYTHING. Problem solved.
I've had a super-clamp for the longest time and never knew...Thank you for the idea!
Has anyone here ever successfully modified a VLM to attach a superclamp? When I saw this, attaching a superclamp was the first thing I that popped into my head to fix the dangling issue with it's predecessor.
A simple stud connected to the super clamp will do. I use mine attached like that all the time.
Here's how you do it....just gotta buy the correct brass stud, and the super clamp fits flat up against the VML.....
While the updated clamp on the Vagabond Lithium Extreme is certainly much better than the old crappy plastic clamp that came with the Vagabond Mini, it's still not as stable or secure as it should be. Tightening the wheel enough on the new clamp to ensure a solid lock on a light stand isn't as easy or as stable as it looks, unfortunately. And those little fins on the wheel…they break. For those who don't move their stands around a lot during a shoot, then the new clamp might be okay. But for those of us who are always on the move, the new clamp (while better than the old one) isn't going to cut it.
The best option out there for mounting a VML to a stand using a Super Clamp is the VML Bracket (http://www.vmlbracket.com). There's another version of the VML Bracket coming out soon for the new Vagabond Extreme which will also use a Super Clamp. It doesn't get any better.
Careful w/ that...on the old VML, the bracket screwed into a piece that was surrounded by plastic...
People who used a superclamp ended up ripping out the socket from the plastic (though it would probably have worked better if the surrounding area were filled in so it couldn't torque out like that)...