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no_surrender Offline • • • Upload & Sell: Off p.1 #1 · Flash shoe mount umbrella bracket *unsecure* I keep having problems securing my Speedlites to these brackets. Most of the time the flash is attached to a cold shoe or hot shoe adapter. Are the plastic tangs on the bottom even strong enough to be clamped down on with the bracket? I'm nervous to angle the flash in any position besides vertical because it slips. What am I doing wrong? http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/501169-REG/Westcott_5015_Shoe_Mount_for_Mini.html Mar 03, 2012 at 08:12 PM

hugowolf Offline • • Upload & Sell: Off p.1 #2 · Flash shoe mount umbrella bracket *unsecure* no_surrender wrote: I keep having problems securing my Speedlites to these brackets. Most of the time the flash is attached to a cold shoe or hot shoe adapter. Are the plastic tangs on the bottom even strong enough to be clamped down on with the bracket? The plastic tangs on which flash? I haven’t use that particular bracket, but I use a similar Stroboframe shoe with Canon 550exs (plastic feet) and 580ex IIs (metal feet) with no problem I'm nervous to angle the flash in any position besides vertical because it slips. It shouldn’t slip at all, it should be screwed in tight. What am I doing wrong? Well, that would be very difficult for anyone to answer without much more information – like an image of it not fitting? Brian A Mar 03, 2012 at 11:44 PM

BrianO Online • • • • • Upload & Sell: On p.1 #3 · Flash shoe mount umbrella bracket *unsecure* no_surrender wrote: ...Are the plastic tangs on the bottom even strong enough to be clamped down on with the bracket? You need to be careful, because the mechanical advantage given by the lever (a screw is a type of lever), combined with the low feedback of the small screwhead, could allow you to crush the hot foot on your flash, especially if it's a plastic one. no_surrender wrote: ...I'm nervous to angle the flash in any position besides vertical because it slips. What am I doing wrong? Here's what I do: I slide the flash into the bracket, then turn the screw on the bracket to size it down until it's just SLIGHTLY tight. Then I flip the locking lever on the flash. The locking lever often won't go all the way into its detent, but I haven't (yet) had one slip after doing it this way. Mar 04, 2012 at 01:28 AM

c2thew Offline • • Upload & Sell: Off p.1 #4 · Flash shoe mount umbrella bracket *unsecure* no_surrender wrote: I keep having problems securing my Speedlites to these brackets. Most of the time the flash is attached to a cold shoe or hot shoe adapter. Are the plastic tangs on the bottom even strong enough to be clamped down on with the bracket? I'm nervous to angle the flash in any position besides vertical because it slips. What am I doing wrong? http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/501169-REG/Westcott_5015_Shoe_Mount_for_Mini.html if the flash is being held at extreme angles with the flash in the supplied hotshoe bracket, then I recommend removing the hotshoe attachment and attaching the ettl cable with the flash attached directly to the flash bracket. that will absolutely prevent having too much stress on the sides of the hotshoe area. Mar 04, 2012 at 02:25 AM

BrianO Online • • • • • Upload & Sell: On p.1 #5 · Flash shoe mount umbrella bracket *unsecure* BrianO wrote: Here's what I do: I slide the flash into the bracket, then turn the screw on the bracket to size it down until it's just SLIGHTLY tight. Then I flip the locking lever on the flash. The locking lever often won't go all the way into its detent, but I haven't (yet) had one slip after doing it this way. Edit: I forgot to attach images to my post above. Here they are:   Canon EOS 7D    70 mm    f/4.0    1/60 sec    125 ISO    0.0 EV     Canon EOS 7D    200 mm    f/5.6    1/60 sec    125 ISO    0.0 EV   Mar 04, 2012 at 02:42 AM

BrianO Online • • • • • Upload & Sell: On p.1 #6 · Flash shoe mount umbrella bracket *unsecure* c2thew wrote: ...I recommend removing the hotshoe attachment and attaching the ettl cable with the flash attached directly to the flash bracket. Unfortunately, on this particular bracket the flash shoe is permanently attached. One could attach the ETTL cable to the bracket and then the flash to the ETTL cable, and if the cable had a metal foot that would give some extra safety. It would add to the length of the outfit, though. Edited on Mar 05, 2012 at 05:57 AM · View previous versions Mar 04, 2012 at 02:50 AM

no_surrender Offline • • • Upload & Sell: Off p.1 #7 · Flash shoe mount umbrella bracket *unsecure* Here is an example of what I'm dealing with. When using the cold shoe adapter with mini-phone jack, I wasn't able to secure the adapter to the flash bracket because one end of the adapter is raised higher than the other end. It looks like I can attach the adapter to the flash bracket more securely by positioning the adapter with the higher edge OFF the flash bracket. When it was sitting centered the clamp would basically only be touching the raised part which isn't a whole lot of surface area. It sucks I have to position it further back, but it appears more secure this way. The adapter is only used when I need to connect the external optical slave when the actual flash can't sense the pre-flash from the master such as when it's inside a softbox far enough away from the master that it can't see it. Holy run on sentence. Note: The adapter is positioned really far off center in the photo to make it easier to see what I'm talking about. Mar 04, 2012 at 05:31 AM

no_surrender Offline • • • Upload & Sell: Off p.1 #8 · Flash shoe mount umbrella bracket *unsecure* c2thew wrote: no_surrender wrote: I keep having problems securing my Speedlites to these brackets. Most of the time the flash is attached to a cold shoe or hot shoe adapter. Are the plastic tangs on the bottom even strong enough to be clamped down on with the bracket? I'm nervous to angle the flash in any position besides vertical because it slips. What am I doing wrong? http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/501169-REG/Westcott_5015_Shoe_Mount_for_Mini.html if the flash is being held at extreme angles with the flash in the supplied hotshoe bracket, then I recommend removing the hotshoe attachment and attaching the ettl cable with the flash attached directly to the flash bracket. that will absolutely prevent having too much stress on the sides of the hotshoe area. I'm looking into the Manfrotto bracket (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/546375-REG/Manfrotto_026_026_Swivel_Umbrella_Adapter.html), but not sure if the stud setup screws into the top of the flash bracket or what. If it does and allows for the 1/4 -20 on top then it should be money. Mar 04, 2012 at 05:35 AM

BrianO Online • • • • • Upload & Sell: On p.1 #9 · Flash shoe mount umbrella bracket *unsecure* no_surrender wrote: Here is an example of what I'm dealing with. I wasn't able to secure the adapter to the flash bracket because one end of the adapter is raised higher than the other end. ...The adapter is positioned really far off center in the photo to make it easier to see what I'm talking about. Ah, I missed the part about an adapter, and not all adapters will have locking levers. The raised portion is a "positioning stop," and as you say, it should be just outside the shoe. From your photo, it looks like you have the sliding portion of the shoe screwed all the way in. Is that correct? If so, your adapter may have a very narrow foot, and to get a firm grip you may need to wrap some tape on each side of the foot, or mill away part of the body of the cold shoe so the moving part can be screwed in further. no_surrender wrote: ...I'm looking into the Manfrotto bracket ...but not sure if the stud setup screws into the top of the flash bracket or what. If it does and allows for the 1/4 -20 on top then it should be money. Yes, the brass fitting, called a spigot, drops into the hole on top of the bracket and is locked in place with the screw with the sliding handle. You can then screw another spigot with the right size threads into that spigot, or just use the threaded spigot in the bracket if a shorter length works. If your adapter then has a female thread, it would screw right onto the male thread of the spigot. I don't have a Manfrotto bracket to show, but it's similar in concept to the Manfrotto Combi stand's business end:   Canon EOS 7D    121 mm    f/5.6    1/60 sec    125 ISO    0.0 EV     Canon EOS 7D    106 mm    f/5.6    1/60 sec    125 ISO    0.0 EV   Mar 04, 2012 at 07:56 AM

cgardner Offline • • • • • Upload & Sell: Off p.1 #10 · Flash shoe mount umbrella bracket *unsecure* The cold-shoe on that bracket is similar to these sold by Stroboframe... I stopped using them because the chewed up the base of an EC-02 cord and because they lack the feature which actually keeps the flash secure, a hole that mates with the retractable pin on the place of the flash. I also had some near misses with flashes slipping out. Hold your flash upside-down and work the locking level and you will see the pin extend and retract. You'll notice there is a corresponding hole in the hotshoe of the camera and the foot which comes with the flash. That's what keeps the flash in the shoe, even if the friction lock slips. There are cold shoes available which have a hole to mate with the locking pin, but I just use the foot that comes with the flash with the brass stud that came with the umbrella bracket: Mar 04, 2012 at 12:22 PM

no_surrender Offline • • • Upload & Sell: Off p.1 #11 · Flash shoe mount umbrella bracket *unsecure* BrianO wrote: no_surrender wrote: Here is an example of what I'm dealing with. I wasn't able to secure the adapter to the flash bracket because one end of the adapter is raised higher than the other end. ...The adapter is positioned really far off center in the photo to make it easier to see what I'm talking about. Ah, I missed the part about an adapter, and not all adapters will have locking levers. The raised portion is a "positioning stop," and as you say, it should be just outside the shoe. From your photo, it looks like you have the sliding portion of the shoe screwed all the way in. Is that correct? If so, your adapter may have a very narrow foot, and to get a firm grip you may need to wrap some tape on each side of the foot, or mill away part of the body of the cold shoe so the moving part can be screwed in further. no_surrender wrote: ...I'm looking into the Manfrotto bracket ...but not sure if the stud setup screws into the top of the flash bracket or what. If it does and allows for the 1/4 -20 on top then it should be money. Yes, the brass fitting, called a spigot, drops into the hole on top of the bracket and is locked in place with the screw with the sliding handle. You can then screw another spigot with the right size threads into that spigot, or just use the threaded spigot in the bracket if a shorter length works. If your adapter then has a female thread, it would screw right onto the male thread of the spigot. I don't have a Manfrotto bracket to show, but it's similar in concept to the Manfrotto Combi stand's business end: BrianO, that's pretty much what I was looking for, but where does the umbrella shaft go now? Mar 04, 2012 at 02:12 PM

no_surrender Offline • • • Upload & Sell: Off p.1 #12 · Flash shoe mount umbrella bracket *unsecure* cgardner wrote: The cold-shoe on that bracket is similar to these sold by Stroboframe... I stopped using them because the chewed up the base of an EC-02 cord and because they lack the feature which actually keeps the flash secure, a hole that mates with the retractable pin on the place of the flash. I also had some near misses with flashes slipping out. Hold your flash upside-down and work the locking level and you will see the pin extend and retract. You'll notice there is a corresponding hole in the hotshoe of the camera and the foot which comes with the flash. That's what keeps the flash in the shoe, even if the friction lock slips. There are cold shoes available which have a hole to mate with the locking pin, but I just use the foot that comes with the flash with the brass stud that came with the umbrella bracket: Chuck, the base of the cold shoe is mounted to the top of the bracket via a spigot, right? The problems I will still have is 1) flash assembly sitting too high on the stand now relative to the center of the umbrella/SB and 2) No locking lever on the mini-phone adapter so now it would be unsecure from the cold shoe. Hmmm....should just be able to screw the adapter directly onto the spigot though. Either way, I'm going to end up with problem one again. I did get a couple of those "L" shaped adapters that BrianO suggested in a different thread, but I'm missing something and can't get it to work. Call me dumb, but I can't figure out what it is that I'm missing. Mar 04, 2012 at 02:22 PM

Roland W Offline • • • Upload & Sell: On p.1 #13 · Flash shoe mount umbrella bracket *unsecure* I use an umbrella adapter that allows you to change out what is on top. The Manfrotto 026 is all metal for the body, and works well. Plus it will never break in normal use, while some of the plastic umbrella adapters will. http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/546375-REG/Manfrotto_026_026_Swivel_Umbrella_Adapter.html I then use the following flash hot shoe adapter mounted to the 1/4-20 adapter that comes with the umbrella adapter. http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/540457-REG/Crane_CCSLS_SLSC_Locking_Shoe_Mount.html This particular adapter is made from high strength plastic with a metal insert for the 1/4-20 threads. It also has a hole in the right location to allow the locking pin of the flash to engage, preventing the flash from sliding out when the flash attachment locking extends its pin. Any extension cords or other Canon related accessories that have an extending locking pin will also fit fine. The adapter is expensive, but very well made. Mar 04, 2012 at 03:20 PM

Roland W Offline • • • Upload & Sell: On p.1 #14 · Flash shoe mount umbrella bracket *unsecure* Reguarding the position of the flash in relation to the umbrella, be sure you get the angle for the umbrella shaft pointed in the right direction. By setting that correct, you should be able to get the flash close to the "center" of the umbrella. Also, it all works quite well even if the flash is off center some. I supose some umbrella adapters may not have an angle built in for the umbrella shaft, but I know the Manfrotto 026 does. Mar 04, 2012 at 03:25 PM

BrianO Online • • • • • Upload & Sell: On p.1 #15 · Flash shoe mount umbrella bracket *unsecure* no_surrender wrote: ...I'm looking into the Manfrotto bracket ...but not sure if the stud setup screws into the top of the flash bracket or what. If it does and allows for the 1/4 -20 on top then it should be money. BrianO wrote: Yes, the brass fitting, called a spigot, drops into the hole on top of the bracket and is locked in place with the screw with the sliding handle. You can then screw another spigot with the right size threads into that spigot, or just use the threaded spigot in the bracket if a shorter length works. If your adapter then has a female thread, it would screw right onto the male thread of the spigot. no_surrender wrote: ...BrianO, that's pretty much what I was looking for, but where does the umbrella shaft go now? It will still go into the umbrella hole on the Manfrotto bracket. Your flash will sit higher than it did before, but if you're shooting into an umbrella it shouldn't be a problem. If you're shooting into an Apollo it may be too high, so you may want to rig something to lower the flash. no_surrender wrote: I did get a couple of those "L" shaped adapters that BrianO suggested in a different thread, but I'm missing something and can't get it to work. Call me dumb, but I can't figure out what it is that I'm missing. Do you mean the Westcott L bracket for the Mini Apollo? If you can post a photo of what you've done with it so far, I may be able to guide you in the right direction. Mar 05, 2012 at 05:55 AM

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