Home Made L bracket for 20D

[Lotto]

I use the vertical format 3 times more than horizontal, and really like the idea of mounting the camera vertiacally on top of the tripod. Instead of spending $160 + new tripod head with the L-plate, why not try to made my own:lol: . Here's what I came up with...

Easy on and off, heavy duty steel bar
http://home.pacbell.net/coolbit/bracket2.jpg

Can be used as flash bracket when shooting hand held
http://home.pacbell.net/coolbit/bracket1.jpg

Works on any camera, just matter of tapping the right holes
http://home.pacbell.net/coolbit/bracket3.jpg

What do you think? And please feel free to add your inputs to impove.

[dandan]

damn.. thats prety smart....

how did you get the hotshoe thing? make it yourself? take it off some trash cam?

[lmelendez]

How much? :):)
Great idea man

Leo

[Lotto]

I chopped up this old junk for spare parts.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=82284&is=REG&addedTroughType=categoryNavigation

[CyberDyneSystems]

Nice Lotto!

Could you add a link to this thread..
In this thread here;
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=80467

Or Cut and paste your first post into it?
It's our "camera hacks" thread ;)

[dewmuw]

Where you inspired by the A-team? Chop up some old stuff and away you go! :)

[Lotto]

CDS, I will do that.

Yeah, I enjoy collect old junks and try to make the best out of them:o :D

[Dante King]

Think you need to make and seel them. very nice. I woul dbe interested.

[Danny Boy]

I'm impressed. You're a regular Mac Gyver.

[Lone Wolf 75]

Where there's a will, there's a way. Good idea. You've engineered a nice 90 bracket. I'll bet you could sell plenty also.

[tonytony]

I'd buy one, man. Let me know if you start a "business" :-)

[tonytony]

PS: is that a SLIK 300?

[sixshot]

Smart idea.

How much??

[TheObiJuan]

I recieved a free broken flash bracket along with some other goodies from an FM member.
The part you salvaged from the generic L bracket made me think about actually making my own.
I did, but it turned out to be too heavy and make the camera unbalanced.
I wish I could find some L bend aluminum. I was using cold rolled steel.

[Curtis N]

Those "cold shoes" are available at most camera shops for maybe $10 US. They have a 1/4-20 female thread to go on a tripod or lightstand. Similar L shaped brackets are available at most hardware stores. Add a few short 1/4-20 screws, and I would recommend a 1/16 x 2" neoprene washer to go between the camera and the bracket (this will prevent it from turning on the bracket without too much torque on the screw). A drill press and a 1/4-20 tap should be all the tools you need.

Nice job, Lotto. Looks good! A little flat black paint and no one will know it was homemade.

[Lotto]

Thx guys. And sorry, it's not my intent to make and sell it, more of out of self enjoyment and sharing the idea.

As Curtis mention, it's pretty easy to find the parts and make it yourself. I think the hardest part is that not everyone has a set of tap and die at home. My original plan for the cold shoe part was to take the old one off the old bracket and screw it on the steel bar, but I couldn't get those 3 tinny screws off, so ended up cutting the whole end off. Otherwise it would look more nice and compact.

I am still working on the finish of the bracket, may even try to paint it. As soon I am done, I will show all the small parts involved.

And yes, the tripod is a Slik 300.

[prairie pics]

Finally. A realistic homemade bracket. I have been searching high & low for a simple bracket. Do you think I could find one??!? -- NO!!
I'm glad that you put your parts list down so that now I can search for the misc. hot shoe items that I need.
I knew this site would come in handy!!

[Grimnar]

The next prototype should be able to hook up the cables on the side of the camera.
For instance the remote controll. Make it longer on one side and everything is good.

[JDubya]

what did you use to bend the steel? It looks pretty beefy.

[Hollywood703]

he didnt bend it, he took apart an old one.......

[Roach711]

You can get aluminum bar stock at your local hardware store that should work fine. Easy to bend in a bench vise and lightweight. Should be just the thing.

[wannabegood]

Try local welding shop, unbelievable the odd pieces they have lying around and they'll usually bend if for you for nothing! Just a thought.

[jjlad]

I had a great bracket which my wife has stored somewhere and I can no longer find. It accomodated the camera with flash on camera and had an approx 0.78m umbrella on it. The slot also allowed for mounting the flash independently of the camera for an offset. It was great for it's portability and helped me take many portraits with my 35mm back then. Wish I could find it now! I've searched pawn shops and ebay and couldn't find another one.

[ben_r_]

Id be interested in buying one if you made one for the 5D! Dont need the hot shoe part, just the threaded holes lined up center to the lens.

[ThomGascoigne]

Bravo man, I'd buy one

[2005GLI]

wow, im glad i found this link. i've wanted an l bracket for awhile, but $160 for a RRS bracket is way out of my budget.

[ben_r_]

Yea I ended up just going the RRS route. There really isnt any better way...

[pradeep1]

Some black paint and it would look like a professional big $$$ solution. Well done.

[Lookin4filters]

This is very nice. Wish something this simple was easy to find prefabbed. But, when you do it yourself and it works like a charm, all the better it feels. Good job!

[argyle]

It will probably do the job with some very lightweight gear, but I wouldn't use it with a larger lens. With an engineered L-bracket by RRS or Kirk you're able to keep the load centered over the apex of the tripod, whether in portrait or landscape orientation, without having to utilize the drop slot. In the second image, the camera/lens/flash combo is really slung way off to the side of the tripod head, which will create instability. There's also no way to attach the remote cable. Not knocking the OP's efforts, but a few more mods and he'll have a workable, alternate solution.