[TOUGEFC]

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Lets see your DIY Macro set-up!
I know there are a few members on here with diy setups so lets see them.

Just made mine from some pvc piping, lined inside with aluminum foil. Cap on the end has a cut-out the same size as the af540 head. The cap is also re-movable so you can swap the end with the paper towel end so you can reverse it for extra reach.

Photo's taken with the wife's Pentax P&S-

[wedgetail]

Lets see your DIY Macro set-up!
I know there are a few members on here with diy setups so lets see them.

Just made mine from some pvc piping, lined inside with aluminum foil. Cap on the end has a cut-out the same size as the af540 head. The cap is also re-movable so you can swap the end with the paper towel end so you can reverse it for extra reach.

Photo's taken with the wife's Pentax P&S-

Thats ingenious how well does it work . do you loose the power of the flash whith the extension .

[TOUGEFC]

Its works very well, the inside is lined with aluminum foil so the light can pass through it better, the af540 is very powerful. Ive tested it and its works very well and it is very bright. I will probably have to add another couple layers of paper towel at the end!

[imtheguy]

Ok, not much imagination with mine and not as sexy as the "tube" but I use a bracket with multiple flash mount points and the Metz 48 as a full swivel head so by moving the bracket, the flash, and the head I can get the light source and shadow anywhere I need. Only use this some of the time as the Pentax ring flash fills a lot of needs where shadow management is not as important.

Works just as well without the cable in wireless mode but the cable bracket for the flash give me another swivel point.

[Russell-Evans]

I too lack imagination, so this would be my solution.



Thank you
Russell

[GerryL]

I too lack imagination, so this would be my solution.



Thank you
Russell

Remids me of Spiderman and his battle with Doc Oc!

[Kerrowdown]

Hey don't point that thing at me.

[twokatmew]

I too lack imagination, so this would be my solution.

Russell, what are those doo-dads holding the flashes, and how have you attached them to the head? Is that a long plate on the head, or is it just a long clamp?

[GerryL]

Russell, what are those doo-dads holding the flashes, and how have you attached them to the head? Is that a long plate on the head, or is it just a long clamp?

I'll answer for Russell..those can be bought off eBay for around $60+ from what I have seen.
They have 2 flexible arms that stem from a plate which can be attached to the tripod and then the camera to it or you can attach the device to the camera and both to the tripod.

[GerryL]

Russell, what are those doo-dads holding the flashes, and how have you attached them to the head? Is that a long plate on the head, or is it just a long clamp?

Heres a link if you are interested: Flexible Duo Macro Flash Bracket Mount for Nikon Canon - eBay (item 250669576272 end time Jul-27-10 04:04:29 PDT)

Quite a nice set-up if you ask me even though it seems like a lot is going on becuase of all the wires and such.

[twokatmew]

I'll answer for Russell..those can be bought off eBay for around $60+ from what I have seen.
They have 2 flexible arms that stem from a plate which can be attached to the tripod and then the camera to it or you can attach the device to the camera and both to the tripod.

Heres a link if you are interested: Flexible Duo Macro Flash Bracket Mount for Nikon Canon - eBay (item 250669576272 end time Jul-27-10 04:04:29 PDT)

Quite a nice set-up if you ask me even though it seems like a lot is going on becuase of all the wires and such.

Thanks for the info! But ... when I look at the Ebay photos, the plate is attached to the camera's tripod mount. Russel's setup looks like there's an L-bracket on the camera and an extra clamp connecting the L-bracket to the plate.

It looks like a nice setup, except I'm trying to avoid having to remove my camera plate. (My Kx makes creaky noises when I remove/reinstall plates, so I try to minimize doing so. Itwould be nice if this setup could accept a clamp that allowed me to use my existing camera plate.

I suppose I could use one of these from RRS, but it would be nice if I could just use my spare Kirk clamp.

Russel or Gerry, can you comment?

Thx!

[marcinski]

Here is my setup:
Samsung GX20 with FA 43mm on extension tubes,
Arca Swiss rail with tabletop tripod attached,
Manual Sunpak flash with diffusor made from icecream box, triggered by Yongnuo radio triggers




Marcin

[Russell-Evans]

but it would be nice if I could just use my spare Kirk clamp.

That's all I'm doing with the bracket. I mount a 1.75" Kirk QR clamp to the flash mount. The flash bracket has a 1/4-20 mount a little off the center of the mount and I'm using a set screw in it to keep the QR clamp from rotating. I think the mount would be pretty unusable without the QR clamp, as I can't see a single screw holding the torque something in the arms generates. The Duo Flash mount was less expensive than $60, here is one for $41. After I bought mine, I saw them for even less. Since the Pentax hot shoes don't have clamps I had to replace the flash mounts that came on the unit with a set of locking clamps. If I had of bought the Pentax hot shoes with the 1/4-20 mount in the bottom, I could have simply mounted them to the little ball heads. As is though, I used $10 flash clamps and a little loctite on the threads.

I bought the 220FG flashes at a closing Ritz Cammera so the cost for both flashes cost was under $100. If I was buying from scratch I would probably buy Rokinon D20AF-P TTL Flashes, although I would probably buy from Overstock.com and use the Bing Cashback to get the cost down even further. I bought the Pentax P-TTL cords used, one piece at a time from the usual places. This helped keep the cost for them down. The cost of third party P-TTL cables has come down enough to where I would probably just buy two of them and then mod the cables to provide the dual head needed. I bought one of these to use with the flash clamps. I have a plastic clamp to mount to it. The idea is to use one flash in one arm, have the adapter with clamp in the other to hold whatever I was photographing. Sort of a McClamp/Plamp with flash. Other uses would be to hold square filters in place, or hold something to provide shade, or sunlight diffusion in place.

Thank you
Russell

[twokatmew]

That's all I'm doing with the bracket. I mount a 1.75" Kirk QR clamp to the flash mount. The flash bracket has a 1/4-20 mount a little off the center of the mount and I'm using a set screw in it to keep the QR clamp from rotating. I think the mount would be pretty unusable without the QR clamp, as I can't see a single screw holding the torque something in the arms generates. The Duo Flash mount was less expensive than $60, here is one for $41. After I bought mine, I saw them for even less. Since the Pentax hot shoes don't have clamps I had to replace the flash mounts that came on the unit with a set of locking clamps. If I had of bought the Pentax hot shoes with the 1/4-20 mount in the bottom, I could have simply mounted them to the little ball heads. As is though, I used $10 flash clamps and a little loctite on the threads.

I bought the 220FG flashes at a closing Ritz Cammera so the cost for both flashes cost was under $100. If I was buying from scratch I would probably buy Rokinon D20AF-P TTL Flashes, although I would probably buy from Overstock.com and use the Bing Cashback to get the cost down even further. I bought the Pentax P-TTL cords used, one piece at a time from the usual places. This helped keep the cost for them down. The cost of third party P-TTL cables has come down enough to where I would probably just buy two of them and then mod the cables to provide the dual head needed. I bought one of these to use with the flash clamps. I have a plastic clamp to mount to it. The idea is to use one flash in one arm, have the adapter with clamp in the other to hold whatever I was photographing. Sort of a McClamp/Plamp with flash. Other uses would be to hold square filters in place, or hold something to provide shade, or sunlight diffusion in place.

Thank you
Russell

Wow, Russell. Thanks for all the detail and links! I have a couple questions though:

1. My 1.75" Kirk clamp is the newer one with the rounded front w/ level. It looks like yours is the older one with the square front. Do you think my newer clamp might be able to use your set-screw lockdown? If not, I suppose I could always use loctite after aligning the clamp.

2. What plastic clamp do you use, and how did you attach it to the arm? I'm assuming the little ball heads are mounted by 1/4" tripod mount?

Thanks so much!

[Russell-Evans]

1. My 1.75" Kirk clamp is the newer one with the rounded front w/ level. It looks like yours is the older one with the square front. Do you think my newer clamp might be able to use your set-screw lockdown? If not, I suppose I could always use loctite after aligning the clamp.

2. What plastic clamp do you use, and how did you attach it to the arm? I'm assuming the little ball heads are mounted by 1/4" tripod mount?

I think any QR clamp can be positioned to work with the set screw. Loctite probably will also work. I use a logo approach to things, so reuse the QR clamp on a Ultrapod, monopod, another flash bracket, and a Bush Hawk.

As far as I can tell, the little ball heads are glued on the arms. I just drilled a hole in the clamp to mount the flash adapter plate to the clip. The adapter mounts in the flash lock so I have no need to remove the ball head. I'll take a photo of the set up and post it later. It's easier to see than describe.

This is the type of clip I use, not the exact one, but what I could find an image of. I bought the clip for probably $0.50 at a Black&Decker Outlet store. I do have a piece of 6mm foamie material in the clamp to spread out the force as it is pretty strong. The clip is about 2.5-3 inches in real life although this my be a photo of one of the larger sized one.


Thank you
Russell