I got delivery last week of an Orbis Ringflash adapter. I've read the blogs and the website promo and even had a look at some YouTube movies. While not cheap, it's certainly a damn sight cheaper than going the Full Monty and spending a few grand on a Bowens or Elinchrom studio equivalent. I guess the main motivation is portability, provided it lives up to its billing. While I was buying I decided to get the Orbis Arm mounting bracket. Some of the blogs I read mentioned that the bracket would be an invaluable addition to the set-up. It's not. It's a pain in the ass to attach to the camera body and the flash. When finally you do get it mounted, the weight of the flash plus ring means it wobbles about quite a bit. I'd be dubious about breaking the foot on the flash itself. Really it needs a supporting block to be bungeed between the flash and the bracket, just to give you the confidence you need to move the whole rig around in a normal fashion. This is out of the question though, it would just add to the effort needed to properly attach everything. As well as that when you're using a short lens there's not enough room between bracket and the flash control panel to punch buttons and turn dials to adjust EV or power. Look out on eBay for an Orbis Arm going cheap. I've found that attaching the lanyard that comes with the flash adaptor and letting it hang off your neck and simply holding it up with flash attached is a quicker more intuitive way of using it.
At around €200.00 for what is essentially a sexy piece of plastic, I suppose I'll get use out of it but if not I'll sell it on eBay and not lose too much and chalk the loss down to a stupid considered impulse purchase. I'll post some pictures as soon as I get something worthwhile.
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