Is anyone using these things. I thought about investing in one for weddings and
portrait work. My goal is to always keep the flash above the lens no matter what
position, be it landscape or portrait. I seen a few pro-wedding videos and didn't
see them used a lot. Pros-cons? Thanks!
I use the justrite bracket with my D1X and an SB-80DX flash. The flash is positioned at just the right height above the lens in vertical or horizontal camera position. Take a look at www.justritebracket.com
I use a bracket, in fact every pro wedding and event photographer I know uses one. The other not so often mentioned perk is that you can hold the camera in your off hand to direct groups.
Best
Joey
Edit. If you want a picture let me know and I will post one up.
marvinh wrote:
I use the justrite bracket with my D1X and an SB-80DX flash. The flash is positioned at just the right height above the lens in vertical or horizontal camera position. Take a look at www.justritebracket.com
Marvin Hey thanks. Cool set up. My only concern is they take away the
spontaneity of the shooter. I guess one just needs to practice the speed of the
flip...
jaa5090 wrote:
I use a bracket, in fact every pro wedding and event photographer I know uses one. The other not so often mentioned perk is that you can hold the camera in your off hand to direct groups.
Best
Joey
Edit. If you want a picture let me know and I will post one up.
Hey thanks, that would be cool. I was thinking of adding a battery grip to
my 5D so that may limit some of my selections or maybe not. Curious as
to what you have. Thanks!
Yes, links are a little goofy. I did find it. Stoboframes are a real affordable
set-up. At this pint I don't know how much I will use one so thats a good
entry level price. My question is how easy and quick are the stroboframes
to swivel from landscape to portrait positions? Thanks for the images.
If your not sure if brackets are for you, the stroboframe is a relatively inexpensive options and they have a number of models including a camera flip model however you can go with something like this:
This looks like an obvious stroboframe knockoff with a flip plate.
I hacked up my stroboframes anyway to custom fit them, they are very simplicitic but you need to get one to really see if it's for you or not. The above link could be your ticket without too much pain.
From all of the brackets that I have used I can say that they are not that hard to flip. It takes less time to flip than it does to change the iso for instance. all you do is turn that camera and grab the bar attached to the flash.
I just timed myself it took less than a second.
Best
Joey
I also use the stroboframe quick flip bracket. I think it's easy to use, but you do need to take just a little time to get used to it. It's especially handy on a monopod, which it enables you to flip to vertical easily. I use it on my tripod regularly for the same reason.
One issue with the model I bought is that w/ the 20D w/ the battery grip and canon's off shoe adapter cord, the camera will not flip within the normal area since the overall camera height including the cord on top is too large. I added on a home-made extension to give more space to turn the camera, and it works fine for me now.
By the way, the bracket was about $65 at a Samy's camera (in Los Angeles) and I took in my camera and put it on every bracket they had before I bought one. I was in the store for nearly 1 1/2 hours just looking at brackets, but at least I was confident that I made the right choice.
FWIW... While I used the bracket quite a bit when I was starting out, I rarely use it now. I prefer to simply bounce the flash whenever possible. You know, keep it simple.
I had a Stroboframe ProRL and sold it when I got my first LightShpere from Gary Fong. I've been happy without any flash bracket for the past two years. I've since switched over to the Flip It! and might try one of Joe's new flash brackets. The Stroboframe ProRL was really heavy and made my back hurt after a few hours.
I've been wondering about flash brackets lately myself. Though using the bounce card on the 580ex or an LSII give pretty good results, they aren't perfect for everything. Last week, I got a chance to try out two different brackets at a wedding. One was a $60 flash flipping version from Stroboframe, and the other was an older model from Stroboframe with a camera flip and nice wood grip handles. I did not like the particular flash flip model that my friend used. There was no tension adjustment (at least without tools) for the flash flip, and there were times when you'd angle the camera and the flash would just crash over on you. The camera flip was nicer to use for me. I still have my gripes with it though. On a 1series with a built in grip, it is pretty much impossible to use the vertical shutter release, since the attachment is at the base of the camera and fairly bulky. Also, I found that there was not enough room between the raised bar for the flash and the lens to get your hand in for zooming, and I have small hands. This wasn't an issue with primes.
Now, I am stuck wondering if one of the more expensive options like Custom Brackets works better in the areas I mentioned above. Is that why the high priced models all sell specific plates for each camera and flash type, so that they fit well without obstructing normal use? I welcome input from anyone using a custom bracket, especially with a 1D.
Say what you will, the Gary Fong lightsphere sucks! It's very bulky.
The BEST results I ever got were an omnibounce and index card. It's all about how you bounce and adjust the lighting. I use the Flipit because it is good for my needs and I love the way my pictures come out with it.
Brackets can get very heavy and tedious, especially when you're on a wedding all day long.
