The SIMPLE INTELLIGENT BRACKET:
The NEW DOUBLE BRACKETS are doing very well as folks discover the usage for the double brackets. Notably, when you have wide shots or double the power, tall or vertical shots with variable power. We'll soon post a whole section on these techniques.
PHOTO ONE:
They work on anything. VIVITAR, NIKON, CANON, METZ, LUOMO, PROMASTER, SUNPAK and others. The front holes are for the TRANSMITTERS like the R616, Pocket Wizards, Radio Poppers, and Micro Sync's Etc.
PRICE: $45.00 which includes shipping US and includes custom thumbscrews and rubber anti-slips. With postage via Priority Mail direct to you.
As shown assembled. Please note the neat screw kit we have for the bracket. It comes with all the additional hardware except the Umbrella holder.
The screws, bolts and lock nuts are chrome or stainless with knurled plastic ends and rubber anti-slips complete the package.
For years all our accessories have been sold nearly at cost because we don't believe in screwing our customers! To save money we make the screws complete with knurled ends ourselves on our press. This cuts the cost by 60% to you.
HISTORY:
Double brackets are not new. The original credit I would give is to Robert Newton of the Newton Bracket fame many many years ago. It basically posed two Vivitar's on the same flash bracket a little top heavy for portable but today we use a light stand.
At the 2009 PMA this year in the Canon booth, they did not attend the 2010, there was a semi-working Photographer with a celebrity name using two Canon 580 EXII's on a light stand with a soft box (and you could do the same thing with two Vivitar's and a shoot through umbrella). He was doing modeling work using three strobes. Two on one stand and a single on the other lightstand
PHOTO TWO
RESEARCH:
After years of testing, months of field evaluations, many fresh, cold / warm forgotten beers and a couple skinned knuckles, the guru has the perfect double bracket for all the STROBIST fans aka "The frugal shooters".
THE STROBISTS:
(Vivitarous Strobistus Economus). With double mounts you can work off camera without dragging the Lightning's, Bees, Elinchrome, Normans, and all that heavy stuff to a Wedding or Sports Shoot and those car batteries and so forth.
The Strobist's are lighting fans who discovered you don't have to sell the family car to support your business or hobby. Their mantra is that all that power in studio gear is not needed with digital. And in some cases I agree, but of course, not in all cases. Single portraits, low-key, small groups Ok.
STUDIO GEAR:
PRO'S:
Good quality studio gear costs a lot of money. The cheap China stuff is not worth it. Revelations and epiphanies to all. Everything is a trade off and larger studio lights certainly have more manipulation, flexibility and internal fans for cooling. Don't bring a knife to a gun fight. Medium price units work better.
CON'S:
The mental downside is the possibility long cords which folks can trip on. Thats what gaffers tape is used for. And a wide awake helper if needed to herd the cattle. I do not recommend for a wedding a helper or someone keeping an eye on things. Some locations, you can't use corded or it might not be safe like in the rain. You could get one of those heavy portable battery packs. They have a downside.
• They frankly do not deliver what they claim till you get into the thousand (s) dollar bracket.
• Let me caution you, if they do not get used you will be buying batteries for them and they are not cheap. Like three times a normal battery.
• So you will need two when the first runs out, or your wallet runs out.
• Just tell the Wedding folks you need a two hour break to recharge.
• Sometimes you do need to increase the punch because the umbrellas, diffusers, boxes, bounce devices all lower the light. You will be at max and with a slow mover Wedding or event, you will run out.
THE PERFECTION BRACKET IDEA: So we double the light, with two flashes on a Perfection Bracket. and this has advantages.
• Double the light output or a full stop.
• Maintain the power and double the width.
• Use one vertical and one horizontal to cover almost every conceivable vertical or staircase.
• Most peoples heads are about a foot wide and a foot high so why drag a ton of gear to shoot a simple portrait. Use one flash forward and the second bounced.
A real photographer knows what he can do with light because of schooling. The shooter thinks the gear will make up for that lack of knowledge. It's in the knowledge and techniques. These are the fans who have discovered the joy of placing two strobes side by side and doubling the light shooting direct or through or reflected with an umbrella. In addition the two flashes can be angled off center for wide or extra tall shots. And using what you got instead of taking out a second mortgage.
I APOLOGIZE:
To those selling overpriced and expensive brackets, sorry we had a better idea. To those with plastic and wheels, too many loose ends. To those with bent aluminum, how cheap can you go. This is solid and has a lifetime guarantee against breakage. PERIOD! They are so strong I use a galvanized pair with a short chain as chocks for the wheels of my airplane.
HOW WE DID IT: PHOTO THREE
• We start with stamped and cut 1/8" steel plates that are not that expensive BUT are electro plated galvanized. Too shiny, too slick and the wrong color with sharp stamped edges.
• So we first use a strong solution of Hydrochloric acid. Price a gallon of it and it self destructs so you now have a neutrality and disposal problem. This is to remove the galvanization. Flushing it down a toilet is not an option. You will have No toilet, No Floor, No Foundation, No Plumbing.
• The next step is to round the sharp edges and then the "white" metal is then sand blasted for a rough no glare final finish.
• It then goes through a wash, a neutral and is wired to go into the nickel tank where they are nickel plated which rust-proof's the steel to and makes it favorable to accept the external which is a six hour electrostatic baking process which is done for me in ALABAMA. It now looks dull almost black grey.
• In the last step,
these jewels are finished in Black Dura-Coated Finish, similar to Teflon or Powder Coating used on guns, machine gun barrels and other things used for war. It's a tough piece. Overkill yes. But I am Dr. Overkill, no returns, less headaches and lifetime builds.
WARNING and DISCLAIMER:
I’m not encouraging anyone to try to remove the galvanization via acid. This is a very dangerous process and the reason I farm it out. I am in no way responsible for acts of idiots or those who do not heed this warning. Acid burns last a lifetime.
HOLES:
There are several holes in the metal and several indents to the edges and the sides and they give you more room for those large hands and access to the screw heads. The center section of the three is for the top of the lightstand, if if it is hollow or for the little brass filet they provide with the suggested brands of umbrella stand. You can take the center hole and either drill it out to 3/8 or tap it to fit lightstands with 3/8 taps.
The two outer holes are for the feet of the strobe as in the plastic table foot mounts that came with your Nikon or Canon, ProMaster or SunPak strobes. See PHOTO ONE:
On Vivitar upgrades use the screw from the back of the bracket through the hole, place the rubber washer (we provide four) over the screw and then the female hole of the converted Vivitar metal foot, and tighten. This finishes the use of the three holes on top and allows rotation of the flashes for left to right axis movement. SEE PHOTO TWO:
UMBRELLA BRACKETS:
No tools, no drilling, no brains needed, with the VIVITAR I convert. The umbrella bracket and shoes for the VIVITAR 285's are not included. They come from the A-B-C crew. Adorama, B & H, and Calumet. The parts below are what I recommend after trying them all and going at a comparison of "price vs. usability".
SP-SYSTEMS SPB Multi Bracket Umbrella Holder
Cost: $16.50 at B&H.
NOTE: Now this comes with a metal shoe. Metal shoes can short strobes. Easily solved by using a piece of electrical tape over the center or you do not have to use this extra part at all.
I machine a center slot so it will never happen. otherwise this is a robust piece of gear and cheaper by 8.00 over the next competitor.
After I established the size of the inserts, those brass holders, I replaced the two fore-screws (those screws with four arms as shown) with Allen Heads reduced to exact size. I hate overhanging participles. Still, I was not enamored with the metal shoe and a quick shot at B&H for a nicer BLACK mount with a more liberal surface for mounts of various flashes and found what I needed.
Shoes Stroboframe STAS General Purpose
Cost: $ 9.95
Vendor:B&H
Note: Comes with Screws
ADDENDA: In the photo at the top you see it also mated with the excellent Photo Flex Umbrella adapter for your light stand. We tried a bunch of those from Aetna, Kalt and others while most look the same, this is the best one for the dollar. DOT LINE was also OK. In extreme use or with heavy soft box's, some in the thirty dollar range are made of aluminum metal alloy, thus costing more but they support the heavier load.
NOTES: Lots of mergers this year and acquisitions in the photo import industry as nothing is made in the states anymore with the exception of companies I recommend like Custom Brackets, and Kirk. On the other hand many companies tool toward the frugal shooter.
iSHOOT, is an eBay vendor out of CHINA. They do ship to the US sometimes getting the stuff here faster than buying locally. Known for excellent pricing, made the smaller umbrella holder in PHOTO THREE. This is for small lightweight umbrellas only. Do not think a large softbox will work with this. Also the knobs are smaller and a little tough for older hands like mine. Everything is a tradeoff.
PUTTING IT TOGETHER:
For those of you who think things are new in this industry... few things change. Especially when you see all the gizmos and gadgets made or recently praised as inventions. For better than forty years I have been building these things "invented just yesterday".
A: Perfection bracket with the fore-mentioned Stroboframe STAS General Purpose shoes.
Mounted on the SPB Multi Bracket Umbrella Holder.
B: I had one of the WEIN slaves doing nothing important at the time and decided I wanted a trigger for flashes I have adapted with a 1/8 audio monaural port.
Finally found something I can use Quantum locking modules for. Thats an RCA jack on the box for quick changes to the cables like 1/4, 5.5, 3.5 sizes and types. It also has prevented the loss of that peanut trigger reportedly missing in action no less than forty times last year.
C: The Gizmo Stud and smaller parts are all from the collection available at any ACE hardware store, thats where I get them. A tremendous array of gizmos may be built from simple parts.
D: This is a variable ratio module made for the 285 Vivitar which replaces the front module, you plug it in and you have a variable ratio light.
LEFT:
Samples of the screw kits that come with the bracket, picture may vary slightly as to the shape of the head. But we do supply the little parts and washers you need but not the umbrella holder.
VIVITARS:
You can build this super strong, dynamic, incredible double flash ensemble for the cost of the bracket as the VIVITAR replacement feet I install are shown are already threaded for 1/4 x20 VOILA! When we convert your Vivitar, you no longer need a shoe for the perfection bracket.
NIKON and CANON PLEASE NOTE:
The bracket works perfectly with the NIKON SB and Canon SERIES with the added benefit of their internal transceivers and the free factory foot. See PHOTO ONE at the top of the page. So the cost of a Nikon or Canon is not that much as you eliminate the transceivers.
On the downside, nothing beats a set of the Wizards for distance and in high RF conditions....even the new Wizards which reportedly are having problems. Mans quest must be to take a good thing and screw it up. I use and like the Plus Two's.
NIKON SUMMARY:
It's slick, affordable and totally professional looking. You save on hot shoes and transceivers. For you Nikonians, we have a solution that really makes sense. Tag team two SB-600's as shown above and use the SB-800 for the trigger and mains. "Badda da Bing" as Tony would say.
You have the small table foot that comes with these strobes so little else is needed. Combined with the Nikons built in transceivers on the 600-800 series you have an easy job. CANON owners will have their own small foot or use a small shoe to support the flashes.
The Black Box with dual DIN ports powers the little units beautifully.
Questions call me.... 
COMMENTS:
Hi Al,,,
Just a few words to express our complete satisfaction with this product. We were particularly impressed with the quality construction and level of detail you put into the final assembly. In functional terms, this bracket's design allows multiple configurations for strobes and Pocket Wizards that exceed our expectations. For the price, this product is an exceptional value! Well done.
Garry and Karri Fraser
Grande Prairie, AB. T8V 1J7
(780) 402-9154
My name is Raymond Forbes. I just received the 2 dual light brackets which I ordered a week or so ago. This note is to let you know how happy I am with my purchase. You have certainly exceeded my expectation. The brackets are solidly built and the extra connectors which you included are very much appreciated. I even think that I'll be able to mount 3 lights per bracket. Again, thank you very much.
One satisfied customer,
Raymond Forbes
7139 Hwy 85
Riverdale, GA 30274