What's with the hotshoes??

It just occurred to me that there are these flashes on the market such as the Lumopro, Vivitar etc.. are geared for the "off camera flash community" but they still have a hotshoe on them.

Who would use these flashes on the camera? Would it not make more sense to make them more like a monolight that takes AA's?

I would rather see a solid 1/4" bolt connection on the bottom and side for a more solid mounting point to a lightstand. How about a few slots where you can pass a strip of velcro around to secure a radio reciever too.

There is a whole industry of knick knacks for workarounds because of these flimsy hotshoes.

What do you think?

The flashes weren't made for the "off camera flash community" - the "off camera flash community" came about as an alternative way to use those flashes.

Only the Lumopro is geared to the Strobist bunch. And it was made with an off the shelf generic enclosure design. This was the cheapest way to go rather than investing in a new mold design.

besides, its kinda handy that i can just grab one of my flashes and stick it on top of my camera for those times when i can't setup light stands and such.

There's still a large community of people that pop a generic flash on top of their camera and use them in manual mode and get great results because they know what they're doing and could care less about ETTL.

All my Canon flashes came with a "stand" that also has tripod threads in the bottom. My umbrella stands have a hotshoe mount and for triggering my 430 EX II I've used a PC-to-Hotshoe adapter before which was about $10.

I think hot-shoe attachment makes it easy to pop flashes on and off and move them around if needed. If the lightstand is particularly high, I also sometimes pop the flash off to adjust it.

Long story short, hot-shoe mount is still a good idea since it's been a standard for a long time and there's tons of accessories for it.

Look at post #10:
Simple "every-day-emergency" location lighting

TMR Design wrote in post #7924352
There's still a large community of people that pop a generic flash on top of their camera and use them in manual mode and get great results because they know what they're doing and could care less about ETTL.

I agree completely. I have a Vivitar and two Sunpaks, none of which are ETTL capable.

OK you've convinced me. The hotshoe stays.
But there would probably be a market for a monolight type flash that runs off AA's
Something that's ment to be on a light stand.

There are monolights that can run off small battery packs but trying to use AA's would be extremely inefficient and not practical. Manufacturers like Norman and Photogenic are just two that have AC/DC monolights and they make compact external battery packs for those strobes. Quantum also makes packs that can be used with those strobes as well as with most of the popular Speedlights and shoe mount flashes.

I LOVE my Norman 200B's!!!! They're absolutely amazing.

Zansho wrote in post #7927266
I LOVE my Norman 200B's!!!! They're absolutely amazing.

Hi Zansho,

I don't want to drift too far off topic but I've always wondered how you attach modifiers to the 200B's. Is there a standard speedring that allows you to use common softboxes and octas, or is it s proprietary mount?

I've wondered the same things as the OP, thinking that maybe a slightly larger flash that would run on maybe 6-8AA's with a stand mount that included an umbrella hole instead of a hot shoe. Something in between hotshoes and monolights maybe with a guide number of 75.

I've also wondered if a company like Canon couldn't make money by making such an item that worked with their ETTL system and you could still use your 580EXII on your camera for fill and for triggering, or imagine it with the new Pocket Wizard setup.

Having one 580EXII and two 75 guide number units that work ETTL would be amazing. But until that happens, I'm really happy with my 2 580EXII's and may get a third, and I am seriously thinking about the new Pocket Wizard ETTL setup or something comparable as soon as they get the bugs worked out. Lot of money though but I do like ETTL with one off camera key light and sometimes uncomfortable using a corded setup for this but it does work well, I just worry about tripping on or snagging the cord when outdoors.

I'd prefer Canon update the aging ST-E2. Hopefully with pressure from the likes of Radio Popper, they'll do this before long.

I'd also like to see shoe mount flashes with the option to use them as bare bulb or add different reflectors. That'd be really useful when using different modifiers.

There are many flash units that are not designed to fit hotshoes, and which are not designed to be mounted at/on the camera. Some are AC powered, others are battery powered, some are quite low in output and intended to be used (in many cases) as fill sources hidden in table lampshades to appear to be ambient illumination. Go search B&H and you will see many non-hotshoe units.

http://www.bhphotovide​o.com …_Flashes_Access​ories.html

As for being designed specifically for umbrella use while DC battery powered, there might be some but I can't refer specifically to something of that ilk. Certainly the Quantum Q flash and the Norman 200B can be used that way.