Strobist Kits

[Caster]

Hey everyone, this is going to be a long read so here it goes...

I purchased a Strobist Kit (SN2) with the exception of the Bogen 3733 stand rather then the no name general brand one. Once the package arrived, I realized that I recieved the no-name general brand light stand rather then the Bogen one I opted for. I decided to give the light stand a try to see if maybe I could keep this one, save time, and recieve a refund for the Bogen stand. Well I gave it a shot, I met up with my friend that day before sunset to shoot his car to give it a shot in my first try at off camera flash. Well let me tell you it was nothing less then horrible, the stand was cheap and flimsy and would just tip over when connected with the umbrella bracket, flash, and umbrella. I decided to give MPEX a call the next day and they shipped over a Bogen stand, which I just recieved today, still no word on how I'm shipping back the first light stand either, but I'll wait for them to come to a conclusion how to fix it.

As I'm putting everything together, this stand isn't much better, a little sturdier then the no-name brand, but wow, if this thing tips over that'll be around $300 gone to the trash (Speedlite 430EX, Umbrella, Cactus Triggers, stand, etc). I was able to put it together, but now my umbrella and flash aren't even pointing upwards. I'm taking a look at the umbrella bracket and this thing is horrible. Everything is threaded to screw into something, but all these knobs just fasten and loosen things, and they just pierce holes into the umbrella. I put my flash and umbrella on and it wont even point upwards. The mount just points the umbrella foward and I can't adjust it upwards at all.

After a frustrating 20 minutes with the umbrella bracket, I decided to try and unscrew the bottom knob that holds the umbrella to the stand, I decided I'd take it out completely, which was a horrible idea, to see how it should/can sit securely on the stand. The knob came out and as I went to tighten it, it will not tighten anymore, forcing the thing in isn't going to work either.

To the point of my post, I just wanted to state what cheap quality the equipment is, but I'm also wondering if anyone can guide me through, as most of the equipment lacks directions and/or labels. I'm hoping that I can get past this and start shoting already, I've been waiting months to save up for this, find the right equipment, purchase the kit, wait for shipping, wait for errors to be fixed, and now when I finally have everything it seems to all fall apart.

If it helps this is the equipment:
Bogen 3733 Light Stand
Umbrella Bracket (Similar to this one (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/298709-REG/Impact_3117_Umbrella_Bracket.html))
Westcott 43" Silver Umbrella
Speedlite 430 EX
HSH Hothshoe to Houshold
HSH Household to hotshoe (for camera)
Gadget Infinity Cactus V2 Triggers
Bongo Ties
Gell Correctors

Thanks again for all the help, I'm hoping to just get this thing up, regardless of how cheap and unsturdy these parts are.

[turbodude]

firsty teh reason why you can;t point it upwards is because you have teh bracket installed incorrectly, its upside down.

i got my stuff from, mpex and it works just fine. excuse teh camera phone pic. its all i have readily avail

[Caster]

Thats how I have it set up, but when I tighten the knob at the bottom it becomes straight.

[turbodude]

what?

[Caster]

At the bottom of the bracket, the way it attaches to the stand. When I tighten that knob, it sets the bottom straight, and theres no way to have the umbrella pointing up. BTW I think what the knob screws into when it fastens the bottom of the bracket w/ the top of the stand is ruined because I took it out and now the knob will not screw in...great, cheap parts..

[pepperoni]

Sounds like I have very similar parts to you and I don't have any issues. The umbrella should pivot with the flash. If not, it sounds like you have the swivel upside down or something's not assembled properly.

I shot a few pics for you. It should look like this..

http://jellybeanracing.com/John/Misc./stand_9436.jpg

http://jellybeanracing.com/John/Misc./stand_9440.jpg

http://jellybeanracing.com/John/Misc./stand_9441.jpg

[DavidW]

I can't quite envision what is happening (pictures would help) - but is it possible that the knob used to secure the bracket to the stand is somehow colliding with the handle used to adjust the tilt of the bracket? If so, you can usually pull that handle out, rotate it without unscrewing the middle of the bracket, and let go of it to re-engage it in a more useful position.

Certainly you can do that with my Quantum supplied bracket, which is actually Photoflex brand - like this (http://www.photoflex.com/Photoflex_Products/Shoe_Mount_Multiclamp/index.html) only without the shoe part on the top stud. If you click Components on that page, then hover over the "Swivel adjust handle" area, you'll get an explanation of what I've just described.

In fact, I'm not awfully happy with the quality of the Photoflex bracket - if I ever need another kit, I'll buy my own Manfrotto bracket, and buy the Qflash specific L bar separately.



David

[Caster]

I feel like the biggest idiot in the world now...lol

Thank you for the pictures, I realized that I did have the bracket upside down. I was unaware of which way it went, and through frustration, anger, and confusion I've caused some damage lol, I really think they should supply pictures/documents on how to assemble everything.

Well, all my problems can be easily fixed if I could find another knob + metal tapered piece to secure the top part of the bracket. I'm wondering if I give MPEX a call if they could ship me the piece first class mail, I'd even offer to pay for it.

Thanks for all the help everyone...

[danbjorklund]

another thing you might want to do with those brackets is put a piece of electrical tape on the aluminium shoe, I had a problem where my 580ex would act weird anytime it was on the bracket until I put the tape on the shoe.

[FlashZebra]

another thing you might want to do with those brackets is put a piece of electrical tape on the aluminium shoe, I had a problem where my 580ex would act weird anytime it was on the bracket until I put the tape on the shoe.
The flash shoe in the image by "Pepperoni", the one with the small thumbscrew, typically does not need the electrical tape as there is a recessed area below the grove for the flash shoe.

Most of the time the contacts on the flash do not hit anything, they just dangle in air.

Note that there are many very similar umbrella brackets that have a slightly different shoe (no thumb screw) that may not provide the relief cited above.

But, a piece of tape cannot hurt.

Enjoy! Lon