Apples

Apples

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I want to mount a torch to my camera body in the Flash hot-shoe.

I'm thinking about hacking up a mix of a rifle-scope accessory (to hold the torch, a led-lenser P7) and a ball head that fits in the hot shoe so i can move it about.

I'm looking for anything that's a cleaner solution though, off the shelf or whatever. I'd be willing to look at anything i can mount under the camera as well (in the tripod thread) so i can use two torches at the same time.

If there isn't any commercial solution, any alternative solutions will be welcomed as well.

If you have any suggestions or experience with doing anything like this, please let me know!

Thanks,

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6  
Torch = Flashlight to people not in the UK. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flashlight – dpollitt Mar 8 at 0:59
2  
Have you looked into a flash bracket of some sort? – D. Lambert Mar 8 at 1:03
Flash bracket? Nope. Not familiar with them. are they like the arms that underwater photographers use? Thanks dpollitt (i always forget that!) – D3C4FF Mar 8 at 1:06
1  
Gaffer tape.... – Matt Grum Mar 8 at 10:31
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3 Answers

up vote 3 down vote

If you sacrifice the clunky easy release, and bring the light close to the ball point (it is tall enough as it is), you can use Polymorph to fashion a holder for it. You put it in boiled water and once it is transparent you can shape it in your hands, with tools, colour it with dyes (knead it into the material), and when it is dry, you can drill in it, so your composition can be multiple parts that can be skrewed together.

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That's actually pretty cool. It looks like they do 3d printing by hand... How strong is it though. Cause the one thing my hacked up version has got is its damn strong. No chance of slippage, no chance of breaking it (the hotshoe will break first) and its quite light weight – D3C4FF Mar 11 at 10:27
its the material they use for prosthetics and dental fillings. And it is strong enough that you can drill in it and mount it with tight screws. If you make a part thin , it flexes, if it is thick it is rock solid. I made a thin ring that flexed and we tossed it around and tried to pull it apart, only 60+C can break it. And it is light weight. It takes some practice to make it neat :) You can fix the surfaces afterwards with an iron. – Michael Nielsen Mar 11 at 10:56
up vote 2 down vote

You could use a hot shoe mic holder, e.g. this one (no affiliation). They usually don't allow fine-tuning the angle though. As small-batch items, you can expect to pay more than you'd have thought.

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that looks like an awesome invention, but i think it might lead to my torch swinging around a bit (its quite heavy...) i may try and build something like that and experiment with it! Thanks for the idea – D3C4FF Mar 8 at 23:41
up vote 2 down vote accepted

So i ended up creating my own version enter image description here Using a few scrap parts i had lying about.

I salvaged a clamp from an old compact/collapsible scooter i used to have, An offcut of aluminum piping and 2x "L Brackets". Plus a couple of nuts and bolts and it all fits together quite well.

enter image description here

The clamp means i can release it by hand without need for tools which is an improvement over my original plan. I'll file down some of the rough edges and give it a coat of paint sometime soon.

Anyway, total cost for the 'rig' was about $35, 25-30 of which was on the hotshoe mount. The majority of the rest was scrap :)

Hopefully this helps other people who come across this need.

Cheers,

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1  
So you asked for "a cleaner solution" to "hacking". Then you voted this as the "accepted answer" a day after creating the question. I'm downvoting this because it did not provide a cleaner solution. It looks like a terribly dirty hack to me. – dpollitt Mar 10 at 19:29
1  
@dpollitt If someone else comes up with a cleaner solution, i'll mark it as correct/upvote it, the only other answer i got was for the mic holder from imre which wasn't suitable. This is what i've got but if someone can find a similar device thats off the shelf and looks more 'polished' i'm all ears. (as a side note I ended up needing this device last night hence the rush) Cheers, – D3C4FF Mar 10 at 23:07

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