PCB 86" Silver PLM vs 79" Visico Octabox

Today, is a geeky post. Skip it if you aren't interested in Studio Lighting.

If not read on for my quick comparison and evaluation of the two.



I've had a my Visico for a while now, but its extremely unwieldy and broke one of my lights before, so i was looking at more... friendly options. Thus came the 86" PLM from PCB.

I was trying to decide between the silver and white version, ended up going for the silver with white front diffusion.

The two things i will be comparing today in a mini review are the :

1- PCB PLM 86" Silver + Front Diffusion
2- Visico 79" Octabox + Elinchrom opaque deflector

Heres a quick shot of what these look like when lit.

iso 100 f11

iso50 f16

Yeahhh... Keeping in mind, the Visico will run you a bit more especially if you add the Elinchrom Deflector which gives it a nice advantage, not to mention a metal swivel since its much heavier. Think it totals some 200$ vs 125$ ish. Also the PLM is far more efficient.

Heres some shots of what they actually put out:

AWB SOOC.
5D2
iso100 f5




Not tooo bad... lets correct them a bit.





 Alot closer. Things i note,

Harsher shadows on the PLM,
 +Point Visico
Magenta tint skin on the Viscio with yellow tint skin on the PLM
 +Point Visico
Blue tint shadows on the Visico, neutral blacks on the PLM
 +Point PLM

 So thats not too bad considering the price difference and the ease of use.

At the end of the day, i like the PLM design, but will want to try the White one instead. The visico is amazing, but ridiculously hard to use without heavyduty lights or something. I don't unpack it, so it takes a big corner of my studio, it takes my best light stand, a heavy duty metal swivel, a permanent sandbag, and the eli deflector.

Another point to keep in mind, is i did test the Parabolic factor of the silver without the front cover, and its very efficient modifier, but i didn't like the effect on the 86", i prefer the 64" version of this. And its odd, but the 64" ended up being bigger then i expected, while the 86" ended up being smaller then i expected... Go Figures.


Conclusion: 

Visico, super soft even coverage, especially with a deflector. More expensive, much harder to use, not for travelling. PLM an interesting modifier, much easier to travel with. I would prefer personally the 86" white, with maybe a 64" silver to keep in the bag in case i want a more focus'd spot of light.