High Speed Synch Flash Info

[Arthur Morris]

Artie, Another flash question. Did you have the flash on the camera hotshoe? Did you use a Better Beamer or other device? Eleanor

I no longer use a flash bracket when doing handheld flight with intermediate telephoto lenses; the flash goes right in the hot shoe. Bad for sales :) but much lighter and easier to work with. With a flash bracket, there is a lot of torque which makes things tough. I did use a Better Beamer as noted in the original post.

[John Chardine]

Artie- I have noticed the torque with the Mongoose flash extension arm which ruins the nice balance you have with the head and makes it critically important to always remember to tighten the gimbal before moving. So you have given me a thought which I suppose I should test- what about mounting the flash on the camera bracket for long-lens photography as well- say the 500 F4?? I predict the main problem might be red-eye/steel eye but I am getting this occasionally anyway with the arm. What do you think?

PS I have tried the physics of mounting flash and beamer on camera bracket and it is all very easy to balance again and produces no catastrophic flopping of the lens.

I no longer use a flash bracket when doing handheld flight with intermediate telephoto lenses; the flash goes right in the hot shoe. Bad for sales :) but much lighter and easier to work with. With a flash bracket, there is a lot of torque which makes things tough. I did use a Better Beamer as noted in the original post.

[Arthur Morris]

Hey John,

You have confused me...

I have noticed the torque with the Mongoose flash extension arm which ruins the nice balance you have with the head and makes it critically important to always remember to tighten the gimbal before moving.

That is always a good plan with or without the flash... Are you saying that there is more torque with the flash on the Mongoose Integrated Flash Arm than there is with no flash mounted? As for the nice balance with the head, that happens with the Mongoose 3.5 and the 500mm f/4 lens only with certain camera bodies. And even then, when you add a TC that balance is off a bit. With either Wimberley head, you can raise or lower the platform so that the rig will sit like a dog when you point it up or down. Most folks are not that careful... With the Mongoose what you get is what you get. In other words, you are almost always gonna get some front to back torquing. I live with that as a trade-off for the incredibly light weight of the 3.5.

So you have given me a thought which I suppose I should test- what about mounting the flash on the camera bracket for long-lens photography as well- say the 500 F4??

Do you mean in the camera's hot shoe???

I predict the main problem might be red-eye/steel eye but I am getting this occasionally anyway with the arm. What do you think?

The closer the flash is to the center line of the lens the more the chance of eye shine in one form or another. And the lower the light levels the more chance of eye shine. Furthermore, I am fairly sure that there will be a front to back torque problem whereever you mount the flash. It will of course be marginally more with the flash higher.

PS I have tried the physics of mounting flash and beamer on camera bracket and it is all very easy to balance again and produces no catastrophic flopping of the lens.

As Joe Pesci said in "My Cousin Vinnie," "Are you saying that the laws of physics were suspended when you cooked your grits???" I would need to see that in person...

[John Chardine]

Artie- All I'm saying is- what if you mounted the flash/beamer combo on the camera hot shoe when using a super tele like the 500, as you do with the 70-200? Is there something about do this with a super-tele that causes problems compared to your experience with the smaller tele-zoom?

I have no problem at all balancing the 500 and the 40D on the Mongoose. Just find the right place fore and aft to fit the Arca-Swiss plate on the Mongoose and you are away. If you add more weight to the camera end, like a 1.4 tc, just slide the plate forward a little. As suggested in the Mongoose instructions, I have nick-marks on the plate which I line up depending on whether I have the tc attached or not. Either way the system sits like a dog as you say, at all angles. I will soon add a battery grip to the 40D and expect that there is enough room on the plate to move the rig forward again to another balance point. The problem with the extender arm is that suddenly you are placing a mass some distance away, and right above the pivot point on the Mongoose. If you have the system balanced, as you tip the lens forward, the flash eventually wants to pull the system more forward with nothing to counteract this. Same if you tip the lens back. The distance the flash is from the pivot point gives it quite a bit of leverage. I like a balanced system at all lens angles in case I forget to tighten the Mongoose.

Hey John,

You have confused me...

I have noticed the torque with the Mongoose flash extension arm which ruins the nice balance you have with the head and makes it critically important to always remember to tighten the gimbal before moving.

That is always a good plan with or without the flash... Are you saying that there is more torque with the flash on the Mongoose Integrated Flash Arm than there is with no flash mounted? As for the nice balance with the head, that happens with the Mongoose 3.5 and the 500mm f/4 lens only with certain camera bodies. And even then, when you add a TC that balance is off a bit. With either Wimberley head, you can raise or lower the platform so that the rig will sit like a dog when you point it up or down. Most folks are not that careful... With the Mongoose what you get is what you get. In other words, you are almost always gonna get some front to back torquing. I live with that as a trade-off for the incredibly light weight of the 3.5.

So you have given me a thought which I suppose I should test- what about mounting the flash on the camera bracket for long-lens photography as well- say the 500 F4??

Do you mean in the camera's hot shoe???

I predict the main problem might be red-eye/steel eye but I am getting this occasionally anyway with the arm. What do you think?

The closer the flash is to the center line of the lens the more the chance of eye shine in one form or another. And the lower the light levels the more chance of eye shine. Furthermore, I am fairly sure that there will be a front to back torque problem whereever you mount the flash. It will of course be marginally more with the flash higher.

PS I have tried the physics of mounting flash and beamer on camera bracket and it is all very easy to balance again and produces no catastrophic flopping of the lens.

As Joe Pesci said in "My Cousin Vinnie," "Are you saying that the laws of physics were suspended when you cooked your grits???" I would need to see that in person...