Umbrella Adapter with Hot Shoe Mount Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)This thing has a lot going for it. The cold shoe is a nice design where there's a gap at the bottom and it has a spring-loaded screw. I'd say it's pretty much the bar for what a cold shoe should be. The middle adjustment knob is spring loaded. The male stud is reversable and has both thread sizes. Plus, it's a solid hunk of metal so it will probably survive a war.
What's wrong?
The hole for the umbrella shaft isn't at an angle. It's just straight out. This means that your flash has to dump into the top half of the umbrella leaving the bottom unlit. Heck, unless you can figure out how to angle the flash head down a fair bit, you'll might even get some undiffused spill. This means that it's pretty useless for its main purpose in life which is to hold an umbrella at such an angle that the flash hits more or less the center of it. Not all flashes can angle down. Even those that can, can't angle all that much.
With most other umbrella adapters, you have to make sure you stick the shaft in the correct side. With this one, both sides are the wrong side.

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This bracket is designed to hold any shoe-mount flash unit and allow you to use it with an umbrella. It will fit on nearly any light stand with its 5/8 female mount and a reversible, 3/8 and 1/4-20 threaded, female mount insert. The bracket s swivel joint allows you to tilt the head and umbrella up to 180deg..

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Westcott 2332 43-Inch Collapsible Umbrella Flash Kit Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)This was my first flash umbrella kit purchase, after using it for about 50 shots of whoever I could get to stand in front of the camera. I am pleased!
Note- I am a hobbyist, I am sure professionals can find better products for more money, but for home use and light traveling needs, this feels like it will fit perfectly.
I used this with a Nikon SB-600, and some of the CowboyStudio remote triggers.
I took off the black umbrella cover and was using this as a shoot-through soft light. In doors everything was stable and worked as expected, I wouldn't recommend using this outdoors due to wind.
This being my first umbrella purchase, I don't really know if dollar for dollar where this stands, but I am happy with my purchase, and after a few hours of playing around, I am tempted to pickup another.


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When portability matters, this kit delivers.Designed to fit into a backpack, the included 43" umbrella has a telescoping shaft, yet offers a full 43" spread. Collapsed size is only 14.5".The umbrella is made of a high-quality white diffusion material perfect for diffusing harsh light.In addition, a black removable cover is included.When this cover is attached to the umbrella, it offers an ideal bounce light source for any style studio lighting.The included adjustable shoe mountfits a variety of off-camera flash units.All metal construction provides added strength. The included 8' lightstand is durable yet lightweight.Perfect for travel.

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Orbis ENLORB1A Ring Flash Kit Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)The Orbis Ring Flash works quite well, especially for something that is portable! The results can compare favorably to a more expensive and traditional ringflash unit however it can depend on your flash unit and settings. Traditional ring flash units require AC power and are a pain to use in the field because of that fact. The Orbis performs surprisingly well enough that I was able to get rid of my studio ring flash unit which was a lot more cumbersome to use!
I find the Orbis pretty easy to use once you get the hang of holding it in front of your camera. One plus is that you can use it when you want to and easily put it down when you don't want to use it (it's not permanently attached to your camera). I like that it uses my existing flash unit as well. Further, I can hold it out and away from the camera and use it like a mini softbox too.
I tried the Orbis Arm but didn't like it. You cannot change lenses easily while using that and it added a lot of bulk to my already heavy DSLR system. For me, it's much easier to have the Orbis Ring Flash be a separate piece that I hold up in front of the camera when I want to use it. Since I use Pocket Wizard wireless system. The Orbis/flash combo is not attached to my camera at all while shooting and I can just grab it when I want to and then set it back down. If you use a flash cable, this becomes slightly more of a hassle, although not that bad.
Note that I believe the Orbis performs better than it's nearest competitor, the Ray Flash. The Orbis is also more universal in that it can fit almost any camera and flash combination.

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The Orbis Ring Flash uses your existing flash/strobe to create the same beautiful, characteristic ring flash look that has previously only been possible with expensive studio systems. A patent-pending 'one-size-fits-most' dock means that the Orbis works with a huge range of flash/strobes with no need for add-ons. Conceived by a full-time professional photographer and developed by top optical designers, the Orbis Ring Flash is made from durable ABS plastics, weighs around 17.5oz and is totally portable. The patent-pending ‘light-tunnel\' redirects the light from your flash/strobe transforming it into an incredibly effective ring flash. A patent-pending 'one-size-fits-most' dock means that the orbis works with a huge range of flash/strobes with no need for add-ons. The Orbis enables you to take photographs with shadowless quality ring flash light without the high costs associated with buying or renting a bulky studio ring flash. All you need is a standard flash/strobe unit and an off-camera cord (or other remote triggering method). The Orbis is handheld or bracket mountable (bracket sold seperately) so neither impedes your camera system's functionality nor relies on the fragile hotshoe connection. The Orbis was designed to give passionate photographers an edge; by enabling you to quickly and easily take beautifully lit photographs, and to get the most out of your equipment.

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