Considering the usefulness of a flash bracket

So I'm considering purchasing a flash bracket (and the off-shoe cord... bloody combo will cost me over $100).

Main thing that's stopping me is the cost. (Would much rather spend this money on another lens or something

So a flash bracket does what....

One: Places the flash above the lens/camera in portrait orentiation.
Why this is useful: No ugly shadows to the side.
Question: Will this help bounce?

Two: Increases distance between flash and lens/sensor.
Why this is useful: Reduces chance of redeye.
Question: I don't even get any redeye in my pictures, so this is not so confusing.

So... spending ~$150 on a flash bracket that just removes ugly shadows to the side. Seems like a lot of money, but I guess I'd have to buy this combination one way or another *sigh*.

I'm looking at the Stroboframe Pro-T, can't really afford anything more than that.

Will be used with Drebel + Grip + 24-70EX.

Good?

One: eliminates side shadow, the shadows drops behind the subject and is usually not a problem.
Two: Yep reduces red eye. You will get redeye at least sometimes if you don't have one.

I have the pro t, 20D, and grip, I find it a bit uncomfortable in portrait mode, which is the whole point of a bracket. The metal bit beside the vertical shutter release digs into my finger. I'm gona get a newton bracket some time, they cost a bunch more.

If you're not a pro, skip it. If you are, buy a good one.

KevC wrote:
So I'm considering purchasing a flash bracket (and the off-shoe cord... bloody combo will cost me over $100).

Main thing that's stopping me is the cost. (Would much rather spend this money on another lens or something

So a flash bracket does what....

One: Places the flash above the lens/camera in portrait orentiation.
Why this is useful: No ugly shadows to the side.
Question: Will this help bounce?

Two: Increases distance between flash and lens/sensor.
Why this is useful: Reduces chance of redeye.
Question: I don't even get any redeye in my pictures, so this is not so confusing.

So... spending ~$150 on a flash bracket that just removes ugly shadows to the side. Seems like a lot of money, but I guess I'd have to buy this combination one way or another *sigh*.

I'm looking at the Stroboframe Pro-T, can't really afford anything more than that.

Will be used with Drebel + Grip + 24-70EX.

Good?

I never do any handheld commercial flash jobs without a bracket (a Stroboframe Pro-T). The elimination of side shadow is manditory from my point of view and I love to see competitors NOT use a bracket for that reason.

Red eye reduction takes place with the bracket as well but I don't think that it's all that important. As you say a flash like the 550 is far enough away from the lens that I don't think that you'd get red eye. If you do there's only thousands of red eye fixer programs (CSII even) out there. The other thing about red eye is that if you use a long enough lens (the 200 part of a 70-200 for example) you will STILL get red eye since the distance from flash to lens isn't enough even with a bracket.

The other thing I like about using a bracket is if I'm using the Canon Wireless system which requires direct line-of-site Master to Slave views. With a bracket the Master flash sits high above the camera in both vertical and horizontal positions. With the Master flash in the hot shoe it would be over on the left (if I'm shooting vertically) and it'd be the same height as the camera. That would make it very difficult to set up the slaved flash to my right as the slave couldn't see the informational light pulse from the master.