503CW + CW winder but which flash bracket to use?

[maktime]

Hi all,

 

I would to purchase a flash bracket for my metz 45ct-4 and was wondering what are

other peoples recommendations. I was thinking if I had my cw winder attached what

kind of flash bracket would be viable? I'll have to use my left hand for

focusing,aperture and shutter. So I was looking at a few flash brackets but didn't

know which one to get. As it looks like theirs a big gap between the body and the

bracket which would maka it hard for me get my left hand around to change the

focus, aperture or shutter.

 

Or do people think I'm better off without the cw winder attached and get a jones flash

bracket? *shrugs*

 

Thanks for looking and replying!

 

Cheers,

 

Berry

[jay_.]

Any 6x6 flash bracket will work fine with the winder attached, but you may as well not get one with a handgrip and cable release since you'll be gripping and releasing with the winder. Unless you suffer from achondroplastic dwarfism you will not have trouble reaching around a bracket to get at the lens.

[picturesque]

I would get the lightest, most compact bracket so that when you grip the camera by the winder, the weight of the flash/bracket won't make the setup so unbalanced. In my opinion, that is the Stroboframe QR66 (Denis Reggie bracket), which has a Metz adapter as optional. I'd also use the left hand coming from under the camera/bracket, not around the left grip.

[maktime]

Hi Nadine,

 

Thanks for the reply. I also forgot to mention that I will be using the waist level finder as I

cannot afford any of the prisms yet. is the stroboframe flash bracket compatible with the

WLF? Will I be able to look down through the WLF without head butting the bracket or the

flash that is mounted on it?

 

Cheers,

 

Berry

[picturesque]

Yes, I believe the QR66 places the bar that holds the flash ahead of the prism area. You should really try to find one to try out. Flash brackets are a really personal thing, I've found. Its like the holy grail...always looking for the perfect one and acquiring too many along the way.

[kevin_kolosky]

I have the same camera and use the newest Hasselblad Bracket. I had to do some changing to get things to work, but it is by far the best bracket becasue you can then put a tripod quick coupler on your tripod and just slip the bracket right on when you need to use your tripod. works great.

[maktime]

Hi Kevin,

 

So you use a 503CW with a winder attached as well as the hasselblad flash bracket and a

45ct-4 flash attached to the flash bracket? Which model is the bracket? How do you get to

the focusing rings etc? from underneath the camera? I would like to hear more of your

thoughts and experiences please.

 

I was also looking at the stroboframe pro-66 frame too with the adjustable height bar

where the flash sits maybe that will stop me from headbutting the flash hehehe

 

thanks all for viewing and replying

 

Cheers,

 

Berry

[picturesque]

Berry, I'd be careful about getting too tall with the bracket and flash. It is already a very tall combo if you put the Metz handle above the lens. What will happen is it will feel top-heavy, and possibly wobbly when you try to do your gripping with the winder and adjusting with your left hand. I don't know about others, but I do my aperture and shutter adjusting with my right hand when using a bracket. Its pretty fast to go from the adjustments to the crank (in your case, winder/shutter button) or manual shutter button. The left hand grips the bracket handle all the time. Now, when I put a Sunpak 120J directly on the prism (no bracket), I use my left hand to hold the camera body from underneath, with my index finger pressing the shutter button. I use my right hand to crank and adjust.

 

If you used a bracket the way I described above (left hand holds the bracket all the time) then you wouldn't have to worry about how tall the whole thing gets (within reason) or how complex the bracket is. The winder will work with any of the brackets I can think of. Its just that you specifically said you wanted to adjust with your left and grip using the winder with your right.