Flash bracket for Tele lenses - recommendations ?

In January, I will join a trip to Costa Rica for photographing birds, frogs and other small wildlife in the rain forest. It's my first trip there. From the packing list I got  I could see, that an external hot shoe flash and flash brackets for tele lenses are highly recommended. It's understandable that a flash is almost mandatory for shooting small birds in the dark foliage. I already have an older Canon off shoe cord but I have to check if it works with my 600 EX and 580 EX flashes. I also found an old Flash extender  in my cupboard that I can use on those flashes. I don't know if it's a Better Beamer though it looks like that.

But I have no experiences of flash brackets for the tele lenses. For the 600mm II or 200-400mm I exclusively have used a Wimberley gimbal Head while the 300mm/f.2.8 or 100-400 sometimes have been attached via a RRS BH 55 on the tripod, too. So the question is, if anybody can recommend a suitable flash bracket which doesn't cost a fortune and nevertheless is stable and easy to handle. I've seen that there's a flash bracket offered by Wimberley which must be attached on the gimbal. It's pretty expensive and it seems that's it cannot be used for the tele lenses if they are attached on a ballhead. I'm sure that RRS also has offerings but there are no distributors in Europe that can deliver in time before I leave. All suggestions and recommendations are very much appreciated.

Thank you in advance

Wolfgang

With the disclaimer that I have never used flash brackets, I have owned RRS, WImberley and Stroboframe flash brackets. The RRS is by far the best in my opinion. Since you want one that doesn't cost a fortune, I see no reason not to use the Stroboframe if it works with your ballhead. The Stroboframe attaches to the camera tripod mount, while your lens foot attaches to the ballhead. I'm not sure if it would work on a gimbal head, but I think it will if it clears the gimbal.

Joe

Hi Wolfgang
I've used the Wimberly in combination with a Better Beamer and their gimbal - which works well.
They seem to have a version which may be compatible with a ball head:
https://www.augenblicke-eingefangen.de/ ... &anc=y#pic
I suggest you give Christian Lübke at Augenblicke a call - he's very helpful.
Good luck and have a great trip
S

The Wimberley modular system is the most versatile as it can be used attached directly to a Wimberley or to a lens foot if not using a Wimberley.  You can configure these pieces to work in just about every scenario:
This:
https://store.naturescapes.net/wimberle ... i-bracket/

Plus:
https://store.naturescapes.net/wimberle ... lease-arm/

You might like to consider the Wimberley macro module as well if bugs and frogs are of interest. You can make a very effective diffuser from your better beamer, just take off the Fresnel and replace with a piece of white foam packaging that is often used to wrap things like electronics, just add two thin strips of Velcro stick on material at each edge to attach to the beamer arms. Provides nice lighting for things like frogs if you can position it nice and close to the subject on an arm.

+1 for Wimberley

A Wimberley with a Markens Ball Head works perfectly for me

I have bought a few different flash bracket designs in my time. Most of them have been quickly discarded. The one that I come back to is the Wimberley modular bracket with Wimberley head fittings and the fittings to use on the Arca Swiss plate attached either to the lens, or the RRS L-plate on the camera body. The Wimberley flash bracket was permanently fixed either to the tripod (Wimberley Head) or to the lens plate when I was in CR in 2015.

In terms of a flash extender, I would highly recommend getting a Harbour Digital Design flash extender. I'm not sure if they are available in Europe - you may have to order from the US (Naturescapes? or B&H). This is a much more effective (less hit and miss) flash extender design and will put the flash on the target that you are aiming at.

The best camera set-up for humming birds (imo) is a 7D2 + 300/f4 with flash. My long lens is a 600/f4 II and at most of the feeder set-ups for toucans etc, I thought a 500mm was probably optimal - with the 600 you may have to back-off a little, but with a 1.4x, it works great for the smaller tanagers etc.

Hope this helps.

Another vote for wimberley here at the NSN store - much more flexible than anything else. RRS are too bulky and less flexible IMHO.

Greg Downing wrote:Another vote for wimberley here at the NSN store - much more flexible than anything else. RRS are too bulky and less flexible IMHO.

I would say solid, rather than bulky. Regarding flexibility, there are several versions and configurations of RRS flash brackets available.

http://www.reallyrightstuff.com/More/Fl ... shBrackets

And on this page, if you click on the right hand side where it says "see more", and scroll down to the last image, it shows the versatility or the RRS WPF-QR2 folding bracket. It's hard to do that with a Wimberley:

http://www.reallyrightstuff.com/WPF-QR2 ... ding-Mount

Edit: Here's a direct link to that image, thanks to Scott Nuss, CSR at RRS:

RRS Bracket with attachments

I don't discount the Wimberley. It is a really good bracket, but it is not as tough as RRS. It just comes down to preferences. Both are pricey.

Joe

Thank you all for your comments and very helpful hints. I ordered the Wimberley F9  from the "augenblicke-eingefangen" distributor here in Germany, now. I really would have preferred to purchase it from the NSN shop, of course, the more as EJ and Greg tried to help, too. But the time needed for the international shipment and the possible hassle with the customs clearance and pickup at the inspection office seemed too risky to me to get it in time (Greg, I'm on your trip to Costa Rica 3 weeks from now, btw, ). I hope I can buy from NSN next time. Phil, I've seen the Harbour Digital Design flash extender which seems more advantageous than the Better Beamer. It's not available in Europe, unfortunately. So my old BB extender must do it for this trip.

Anyway, thanks again and happy holiday

Wolfgang