Firing A Shoe Mount Flash In To A Standard Speed Ring: Solutions?

Ah, boom arm, good idea. Anyway Robert, you have the Vagabond, why still mess around with the speedlight? I mean if you are going to carry the light stands, boom arm, and large SB to location, why not just use the strobes?

Lotto wrote in post #5719874
Ah, boom arm, good idea.

Yes, the boom arm. But it's not required unless you really need a hard angle and with smaller modifiers it's a complete non-issue.

The answer is simple. One thing I've learned is that you need to expect the unexpected and be prepared. Should the V2 or one of the Elinchrom's fail then I'm screwed. I'd much prefer to switch over to Speedlight's than to have to cancel, reschedule or go rent replacement gear. It's much different when you're shooting in your living room or in the backyard.

A few weeks ago I had a shoot and at the end we decided to quickly go down to a floating dock to get some shots with a sunset in the background. The dock was small, narrow, moving from the water and we were losing light by the minute. There wasn't enough room to have the full kit down there and it would have taken more time to move the gear and setup, perhaps missing the shots.

Another example would be a location where the cart simply can't make its way over the terrain and I don't have an assistant to help me carry the gear (I actually need 2 extra people if I don't have the cart) then I have no choice but to move with the lighter kit.
The lighter kit uses 7.5' Norman light stands that are lighter and smaller than the others, which are between 9.5 and 13 ft., and much heavier.

If I were shooting an event with flash and at the last minute I was asked to do some quick portraits, again, the speedlight and softbox will do an excellent job and won't require another additional setup and gear. I can also add a second flash and do some great portraits on the fly using Nikon's CLS to nail exposures and balance between main and fill.

When you're talking about a full blown kit it's not as easy as you might think and it's not that I could be using my strobes and chose the Speedlight's. Generally speaking, if I can use the strobes I will but it doesn't always work out that way. I use the best and most appropriate tools for the job.

The point is simply that I like to know that I can pull off a job with a portable, lighter kit and still be able to do it well and deliver great product. To rely solely on the V2 and studio strobes doesn't seem like the smartest or most practical idea.

Here's a quick snap of the bracket in use with a Photoflex 36" x 42" Q39 softbox. I have it angled down as far as it will go without pushing against the riser of the light stand. Other than hair light's I can't think of a time that I've needed a harder angle than that, so it's the rare occasion that I would need a boom or arm to extend it away from the riser.

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TMR Design wrote in post #5720370
Here's a quick snap of the bracket in use with a Photoflex 36" x 42" Q39 softbox. I have it angled down as far as it will go without pushing against the riser of the light stand. Other than hair light's I can't think of a time that I've needed a harder angle than that, so it's the rare occasion that I would need a boom or arm to extend it away from the riser.

That's a very elegant and well-executed solution, Robert. I wonder if Photoflex is the only manufacturer's whose speedrings have the required 1/4-20 hole on the edge.

I think I'll try drilling and tapping a similar hole in my Amvona ring tonight (gulp!).

What are you using as a riser between the Bogen 2905's socket and the Photoflex ring? Since the height of the ring relative to the Bogen is fixed, I would imaging the length of the riser has to be computed such that the shoe mount flash is centered in the ring when mounted.

Dave F.

tetrode wrote in post #5720679
That's a very elegant and well-executed solution, Robert. I wonder if Photoflex is the only manufacturer's whose speedrings have the required 1/4-20 hole on the edge.

I think I'll try drilling and tapping a similar hole in my Amvona ring tonight (gulp!).

What are you using as a riser between the Bogen 2905's socket and the Photoflex ring? Since the height of the ring relative to the Bogen is fixed, I would imaging the length of the riser has to be computed such that the shoe mount flash is centered in the ring when mounted.

Dave F.

Hey Dave,

Thanks man. I know there are other speed rings with the threaded mounting holes. I just don't know which they are.

I'll take some closeups of the hardware fittings but I'm not using a riser. I'm mounting the speed ring directly to the 3/8" threads on one side of the 2905's provided spigots.

I did check the bracket on a generic $15 Impact umbrella bracket and it centered the flash just fine. My guess is that give or take some small differences, this will work with almost any umbrella bracket. I don't think there is a standard but the angle and distance from the top of the bracket does seem to be coincidentally indentical.

On the link you posted, I posted some pic's of what I bought.

It comes with a small softbox, speedring and brackets.

https://photography-on-the.net …hread.php?t=444​190&page=4

I have been able to use the Speedring to fit my Photoflex Medium Multidome Softbox. It's not an exact fit, but it is secure.

If you want to see a pic with the Photoflex Softbox with the Morris Speedring that comes with it, let me know and I'll post it...

-Mario

TMR Design wrote in post #5720917
I'm mounting the speed ring directly to the 3/8" threads on one side of the 2905's provided spigots.

Ahh, so the Photoflex ring is tapped for a 3/8" rather than a 1/4" bolt? Hmmm, I think I may have a 3/8" tap on hand somewhere.

One thing does trouble me a bit about your mounting arrangement, Robert: What prevents the Photoflex ring/softbox assembly from unscrewing itself from the Bogen spigot? It would appear that you're relying strictly on the tightness of the spigot to keep the softbox firmly in place.

Dave F.

tetrode wrote in post #5721066
Ahh, so the Photoflex ring is tapped for a 3/8" rather than a 1/4" bolt? Hmmm, I think I may have a 3/8" tap on hand somewhere.

One thing does trouble me a bit about your mounting arrangement, Robert: What prevents the Photoflex ring/softbox assembly from unscrewing itself from the Bogen spigot? It would appear that you're relying strictly on the tightness of the spigot to keep the softbox firmly in place.

Dave F.

The Photoflex speedring has three 3/8" threaded holes and one 1/4"-20. Since mounting a box to a light stand by way of the speed ring means that the box no longer rotates, it's best to choose the 3/8" hole on either top or bottom, allowing the softbox to be vertically oriented. The placement of the 1/4"-20 hole is in a strange place and makes no sense for a softbox but if you were using an octabox and wanted or needed to use the 1/4"-20 it's there.

Ahhh, no need to be troubled Dave. Were it not for the 3/8" lockwasher in between the speed ring and the spigot you'd be absolutely right, and it would untighten very easily. With the lockwasher on (and tightened with a wrench, not hand tightened) this thing isn't budging. Believe me, I tried

I've designated that spigot as a permanent part of the speed ring. I also mount my D-Lite's this way, using the Bogen 2905 mounted speed ring to get rid of the stress on the cheap swivel mount, so every instance of using the box needs the spigot, or... if I didn't want to use it that way or had someone else's spigot to mount to then I can flip the box upside down and use the other 3/8" or the 1/4"-20 mounting hole.

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TMR Design wrote in post #5721426
The Photoflex speedring has three 3/8" threaded holes and one 1/4"-20. Since mounting a box to a light stand by way of the speed ring means that the box no longer rotates, it's best to choose the 3/8" hole on either top or bottom, allowing the softbox to be vertically oriented. The placement of the 1/4"-20 hole is in a strange place and makes no sense for a softbox but if you were using an octabox and wanted or needed to use the 1/4"-20 it's there.

Ahhh, no need to be troubled Dave. Were it not for the 3/8" lockwasher in between the speed ring and the spigot you'd be absolutely right, and it would untighten very easily. With the lockwasher on (and tightened with a wrench, not hand tightened) this thing isn't budging. Believe me, I tried

I've designated that spigot as a permanent part of the speed ring. I also mount my D-Lite's this way, using the Bogen 2905 mounted speed ring to get rid of the stress on the cheap swivel mount, so every instance of using the box needs the spigot, or... if I didn't want to use it that way or had someone else's spigot to mount to then I can flip the box upside down and use the other 3/8" or the 1/4"-20 mounting hole.

A couple of suggestions.

#1
I would use a spigot that is full length. In other words, does not have that 1/4" stud on the bottom. This would give a more secure fitting in the umbrella adapter hole.

#2
If you are not going to use a through bolt in compression (just more secure that a threaded stud screwed into a tapped hole into the speedring) and intend to leave the spigot on the speedring, I would epoxy the threads.

The moment arm that you will have with the size of that softbox is huge, so even tightening with a wrench is likely to be insufficient to keep the stud from being loosened in use.

Cutting off that 1/4" stud, and drilling out the spigot you have, then fitting a 3/8"-16 socket headed cap screw through the entire spigot might also be a nice approach. The socket heads cap screw's head is likely to be about the right thickness and diameter.

Enjoy! Lon

2 more shots.

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I still would like to know what kind of aperature you can get with that set up.

Sure Jim.

With a 36" x 48" softbox placed 4 feet from the subject, shooting 1/125s, ISO 100, I get f/8 at full power. Normally I shoot at ISO 200 and get another stop out of it should I need or want it, but if I can get readings between f/4 and f/8 I'm fine with that.

If I were just shooting single subject and didn't need the modifier to be 4 feet from the subject then it would be 12 or more inches closer as well. With the smaller box the numbers go up of course, but this works very well and gives me beautiful even light in a large softbox.

I'm very satisfied

In my attempt to have a a lightweight Speedlight kit and a heavy duty kit with studio strobes I've concluded that other than the greater firepower of the strobe, the Speedlight can do the same job as the studio strobe beautifully. It's very important to me that I an produce the same quality images with either kit.

I shot the 2 images below at ISO 100, 1/125s, f/7.1, 4 feet from subject. One image is with the Nikon SB-800 and the other is the Elinchrom D-Lite 2. I'm firing in to the Photoflex 36" x 48" Q39 softbox with the internal baffle and outer diffusion panel installed. There is the slightest, most subtle difference and even then, in my opinion there isn't one that stands out as a better image or better lighting. Keep in mind that for the purpose of the demonstration there is only a main light at camera left and no fill source.

See if you can tell which is the flash and which is the strobe. Since there are only 2 images you have a 50/50 chance, so if you're going to guess then please tell me how you determined which is which.

I'm sorry to say that there is a slight difference in exposure so do not base your decision on the overall brightness.

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#1 with the Speedlight (I'll hold off on telling you until I find out whether I'm right ).

Hey Rudi,

Care to share how you came to that conclusion?

I'll reveal the answer tomorrow after a few guesses have been made.