Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2000/06/15
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]"Philip Kokoczka" wrote Yup-the subject was correct. As anti-Leica as it may seem, I need to use a flash for some wedding photos comming up. Because of the off-center tripod mounting hole on the Leicas, they don't mount on flash brackets very well. What is your experience with flash brackets? Which work well for the LUG members? (I need one which will "flip" so to keep the flash directly above the lens with both horizontal and vertical shots). Thanks, Phil Dear Phil, As I wrote the other day, I have been using the Stroboframe Quickflip 135 on an M for quite some time. The good news is that the bracket is small, light and cheap, and the mounting screw can be moved along the bar under the camera to accommodate the offset tripod socket without the camera hanging off the end of the bracket, which can be a problem with some of these rigs. The bad news is that the camera has a tendency to rotate on the bracket especially if you use a camera strap. What happens is that your neck will pull on the camera strap, and the camera will "hinge." If that's not a problem for you, these brackets are fine and only cost about US$55 or so. The other thing you will notice is that your handling of the camera is very much affected because the grip of the frame is to the left, which if you are like me is your focussing hand. I tend to mostly work around the grip and hold the camera as close as I can get to the normal "Leica way," but nevertheless it does get in the way. Stroboframe has a new gripless frame which allows you to hold the camera body more normally, but I haven't tried it yet on my camera to see if that improves things. >From the pictures I have seen, I'm concerned that there might be obstruction of the viewfinder on a rangefinder body with that more complicated design. I'm also wondering about stability since I use a Quantum Q2 which is a largeish flash head. Yours may not be as large, so this may not be a problem to you. If you have to use flash on-camera though, you can do a lot worse than a bare bulb head located 30cm above the lens. You can find the Stroboframe models at http://www.saundersphoto.com/ Regards, Simon Stevens