[Class A]

It's 2/9 of the way to the Hydra!

You Tube

You Tube

(the 2/9-Hydra starts appearing at 3:50).

Use https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sjto_TwiMCE&t=230 to jump to the right part.

[stevebrot]

It's 2/9 of the way to the Hydra!

ProMediaGear Boomerang Flash Bracket for DSLR cameras Made In USA (the 2/9-Hydra starts appearing at 3:50).

Use https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sjto_TwiMCE&t=230 to jump to the right part.

Best way to be the life of the party you were hired to photography


Steve

[BruceBanner]

The results are in!


I bought a Customs Bracket Mini RC to attach to the K1, and then improvised with a SLIK ballhead for extra manoeuvrability.

Oh and yes it can be Tripod mounted (some guy on B&H didn't think it could, he rated the bracket down because of this... just goes to show you can't trust some reviewers!



The anti twisting mechanism that comes with the bracket I found a bit naff to be honest. I found the bracket was very secure and twisted a lot less if I took the left mechanism around to the rear rather than the front as intended. This however would block the flip out screen, so I have lifted the screen out a tad before tightening and securing, which I don't mind as I have a Tenpa 1.22 eye piece attached as you can see and that actually kinda makes getting the screen out a little harder, so this way its easy to flip out



Landscape intended use.



This was actually a biggy moment for me, could I curl my pinky underneath the battery compartment comfortably? And could I access the battery compartment easily? Yes was the answer to both, phew!



The main advantage of applying a SLIK ballhead to the bracket, forward facing flash with additional welcome height in portrait mode.

(please excuse the unsightly model).

[Class A]

Looks very slik (sic).

Is changing the angle by using the ball head efficient or is cumbersome loosening and tightening required?

[morenjavi]

Thanks for the pics, Bruce, and enjoy your new toy ! It looks nice, professional with a bit 'sliky' touch.

Please tell us your impressions after a moderate use, that is, a couple of hours of intese use shooting vertical, horizontal, etc: if your arms/hands are tired or relaxed, if side shadows are avoided in portrait/landscape mode, this kind of things

BTW, I see that you have the Samyang 85mm, great lens, I have it too

[Mikesul]

It is always fun to see creative solutions to problems I do not have. I am glad you got it to work.

[BruceBanner]

Looks very slik (sic).

Is changing the angle by using the ball head efficient or is cumbersome loosening and tightening required?

That's going to be the issue I think. I'm a strapless kinda guy, but I think I will need a harness or strap for this set up, just so that I can quickly adjust the SLIK head and change the orientation of the flash quickly, doing it one handed (on first impression) seemed tricky. To be able to 'drop' the camera whilst I get to use both hands quickly to adjust the flash head would seem to be the fastest solution, we'll see. When I do shoot professionally I wear a utility belt that has various pouches attached, it may get the assistance I need by using a large pouch to assist with propping up the camera whilst I make the adjustment.

Thanks for the pics, Bruce, and enjoy your new toy ! It looks nice, professional with a bit 'sliky' touch.

Please tell us your impressions after a moderate use, that is, a couple of hours of intese use shooting vertical, horizontal, etc: if your arms/hands are tired or relaxed, if side shadows are avoided in portrait/landscape mode, this kind of things

BTW, I see that you have the Samyang 85mm, great lens, I have it too

Yes I will do. Just a few test shots around the garden and I discovered the following complaints;

With the Magmod diffuser on, it just weighs too much for the Cactus RF60x (or any flash head tbh) to stay upright like that for long, a quick movement of the camera/apparatus and the head flopped down. This isn't a grip with my set up (this would happen in the shoe of the camera as well) but rather a general complaint of the magmod system (or any diffuser system, I had the same issues with the Fong head), or rather more specifically a gripe with speedlights in general!
I actually just detest the entire flash design, from the hot shoe connection through to the design of the head, it's trash engineering imo, it's 2018 now, I think we could come up with some better engineering for this connection and overall design, even a 'stiffness' knob to help the user select how hard it is to bend the flash head, because sometimes you have it 'naked' (which is how it is designed to be used from the factory), but it's like they turn a blind eye to the idea of attaching anything to the head for 'on the go' shooting, meh. I may try some gaffer tape or cloth tape to try and 'stiffen' the head of the flash unit, so that it takes more effort to change the direction of the flash head, better that than constantly flopping around.

Secondly, I find it wobbles a bit, but this stems from the part of connecting a coldshoe + plate to the bottom of the RF60x unit. I always find my flashes feel precarious and slightly wobbly anyway when directly mounted to the hotshoe of the camera, but this additional coldshoe+plate step makes it feel it's a tad more wobbly than I'd like, and probably accounts for more 'head flopping down unintentionally'. No doubt those that stack a flash unit on a receiver get what I'm saying, same amount of wobbling would occur had I put the RF60x on the V6ii trigger, so again this isn't quite a complaint from the concept of bracket + ball head rig.

The RF60x has a 1/4 screw hole, so I could skip the whole cold shoe part entirely, instead taking the SLIK QR plate and screw that directly into the RF60x head unit than bother with a cold shoe etc. I'm pretty sure this will solve a few niggles, with the ball head I should still have a good degree of rotation and positioning of the flash head, it will just mean I lose height from anchoring it to the bracket from there, how much it impacts shots is unknown at this time, will definitely report back real world usage (I have a Christening to snap next weekend, a good small job to test the waters).

It is always fun to see creative solutions to problems I do not have. I am glad you got it to work.

I'm glad I have got it to set up and play with, 'work' is something I am not quite confident to put my name to just yet

[BruceBanner]

Questions were being asked elsewhere on different forums about possible flash set ups, I made a vid, thought I'd share here as it may assist others with where they're going with their flashage. I've modified things ever so slightly and feel I have a really good 'indoor' solution. Check it out.

You Tube

You Tube

[morenjavi]

Thanks for the video, I enjoyed it a lot! Now is clearer to me how the bracket performs, flash position relative to camera/lens, etc.

Thanks for your time.

[BruceBanner]

Thanks for the video, I enjoyed it a lot! Now is clearer to me how the bracket performs, flash position relative to camera/lens, etc.

Thanks for your time.

Glad someone appreciates it