Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2000/06/15

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Subject: Re: [Leica] Flash bracket
From: Simon Stevens <simon@camera-craftsman.com>
Date: Thu, 15 Jun 2000 15:55:22 -0400

"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