My latest ebay acquisition...

...new for $50.

I'm not a bracket user, either, and don't think I ever will be, but that's an impressive bargain.

Peacefield wrote in post #9183559
I'm not a bracket user, either, and don't think I ever will be,

Understandable. They aren't for everyone. And bouncing the light makes them even more worthless for most. But I haven't figured out how to bounce my strobe in a big-assed church with vaulted ceilings or how to bounce it off a cloud.

You need the right one if you're going to use it though. With a battery grip mounted, most brackets will only extend the flash an inch or two above the camera's hot shoe so it's pointless. Most will, "flip" the flash head when you shoot in vertical though but they're a pain in the ass for me.

This thing will get me a good 12 inches of height if I need it. I will often shoot groups with my flash on an elevated light stand right next to me. (2 other strobes to the sides). Now I'm hoping I won't need to.

I don't think the guy knew what he was selling. Or maybe he did... I'll need a trailer hitch and wheels to cart this thing around.

RT McAllister wrote in post #9183661
But I haven't figured out how to bounce my strobe in a big-assed church with vaulted ceilings or how to bounce it off a cloud.

We all have the same issue. I use one of those home-made diffusers out of fun foam. It's big and dopey looking, but it does make the light source bigger and moves much of the reflected light about as far enough away from the lens as a bracket. I've been real happy with this solution. The only downside is that when shooting vertically, the light is to the right of the lens instead of above so you run the risk of shadows. But since it's people coming up the aisle with little behind them, I've not found it to be a problem. And I don't use it the rest of the day as I can usually come up with some better solution; it's really only for the processional.

I don't believe in diffusers like that anymore, with or without brackets. It has to be safely away from camera axis and large enough to make a difference from farther than 10 inches from my camera, or I won't use it.