So simple to use – grip the handle, squeeze the trigger and adjust. Letting go of the trigger locks (and I mean really locks) the head in the new position. Virtually no latent ‘sag’ at all.

Now, this isn’t a head to use if you are tracking moving objects – or panning. No, this AF-2100 is a head that functions in much the same as a standard ballhead. Just a whole lot more conveniently.

Slik provide quick release plates to attach to the bottom of your camera, and again, convenience is designed into the product. Rather than having to find a coin, screwdriver or Allen wrench, you simply tighten the QR plate with the fold-up tabbed screw. Awesome. Plates are readily available too.

The last, and possibly best feature, is how simple it is to change camera orientation from landscape to vertical. Again, squeeze, rotate, release. I am not sure it would hold a Canon EOS 1D Mk IV and a big telephoto in vertical position, but pretty much everything else would not be a problem.

This is a close up of the quick release plate, showing the rubber base that grips very well indeed. Notice the alignment spot on the notched rim of the plate – this makes it ridiculously simple to attach to the head.

The process of attaching the plate/camera to the head is simple but very secure: The grey triangular button at the top of the handle needs to be set in the unlocked position. The plate is then lowered onto the head with the white dot on the plate aligned with  a corresponding white dot on the top of the action grip head. There is a small grey button on the head, just under the plate at the front (you can just see it top right of the top image) which needs to be depressed to let the plate mate to the head. The plate is then free to rotate 360 degrees within its fitting. Once you have the camera pointing forward relative to the pistol grip, you set the grey triangular button to ‘Locked’, and that plate/camera assembly are not falling off for love nor money….

Squeeze the trigger, and move the head/plate/camera to where you want, and release. I must have done that routine a thousand times with each of these heads – they still hold absolutely rock solid. One of my heads has a 3/8th tripod thread, the other a standard 1/4-20, so I can put them on heavier or lighter tripods as necessary.

I recommend these for sure.

OK, there are a couple of minor complaints ……

The head is very tall. When doing low-level or ground work, it raises the camera off the tripod a good few inches. Not always welcome for closeup work.

I was lying – that is my only complaint…..!

More info after the jump…
Above is a couple of jousting hummingbirds, photographed automatically with the upcoming retroreflective sensor from Cognisys Inc. Furthermore, there is nothing exotic in this setup – the camera is standard, the lens is standard, and the lights are off-the-shelf lights. It is just a case of knowing how to use them. The two hummingbirds are a male Anna’s Hummingbird and a female Allen’s Hummingbird, sparring for territorial rights.

Images such as the one above are easily obtained in a manual fashion, or as here, with an automatic sensor setup with the Cognisys StopShot. My hummingbird workshops for 2011 are finished for the season, but next season they will include full tutorial on automated shooting, as well as the more common manual mode. After all, chasing a hummer with a big lens is a lot of fun!

If you are looking to learn about remote triggering photography for general applications, I am still running workshops that cover a plethora of equipment and applications.

Above is a male Anna’s in flight, nice and close…..

This time, a female Allen’s hummingbird triggered the sensor while performing some aerobatics!

I will post a few more automatically captured images of hummers over the next few days – I think you might be surprised

]]> http://quickblink.com/2011/11/hummingbird-photography-the-easy-way/feed/ 0 http://quickblink.com/2011/11/hummingbird-photography-the-easy-way/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Quickblink/~3/-Jksc0tZPIE/ http://quickblink.com/2011/11/a-recent-visitor/#comments Sat, 19 Nov 2011 02:38:04 +0000 admin http://quickblink.com/?p=616 I have been field testing a new sensor for Cognisys Inc. It is a game-changer for us wildlife photographers, and it has an ease-of-use factor that is beyond imagination. I won’t go into details until it’s impending product release (stay tuned), but if you have ever done any sort of beam trigger photography at all, you will want one of these. That simple.

This bobcat visited us a few weeks back. I had the camera setup as simply as possible – camera, integral flash, sensor. Yep, that simple. You can use this sensor independently of the StopShot, or with the StopShot – doesn’t matter. Did I say flexibility? So this less-than-flattering image is as a result of direct, harsh, on-camera flash.

I created a much more exotic set over the next several days, but of course, the bobcat did not return. Or if he did, he didn’t like the look of my creation and avoided it. Then the weather came. Here in the hills of Southern California, we have to deal with Santa Ana winds which, as a wildlife photographer, are a pain in the ass. If you leave any form of light modifier out, it is usually blown into the next county. Flattering lighting for nocturnal mammals? Forget it.

Nonetheless, I am determined to create an image that does this guy justice (I say guy, it could be a gal!). The cool thing with this specimen is that he is not yet tagged, but I am sure it will not be long before the carnivore tracking folks of the NPS have done their excellent work on him

Now, back to the sensor from Cognisys. It is really, really useful. For mammals, rodents, birds and even hummingbirds – but that is material for other posts…..

The people at Costco think I must have a really sweet tooth – I buy several 5lb bags of sugar a week! Right now, the hummingbird population around the property must be over 150. My hummingbird photography workshops are in full swing, and we are getting some great images. I am producing well over 10 gallons of sugar water a week – I have around a dozen 72oz feeders out, each needing to be refilled about every other day. It is astonishing how much these birds drink!

It should be noted that the feeder above is my recommended Best1 72oz feeder. These are industrial sized, and easy to clean. See this page for more details. It should also be noted that there are only 8 feeding ports on the base! There are at least 11 hummingbirds perched at the feeder – taking it in turns to dip their beaks into the feeding holes – it is comical to watch. My observed record is 15 actually perched on one feeder…

There are a couple of species above – the prevalent Anna’s Hummingbird and the feisty Rufous/Allen’s Hummingbird. Males and females of both species are present.

The above shot was taken with a Canon 7D, through a Canon 100-400mm zoom lens on a Gitzo tripod, with a Wimberly Sidekick mounted on an Arca Swiss Monoball. The distance to the feeder was about 10 feet, and the shot was taken remotely with a wireless remote release.

Below are some recent shots taken at the natural light setup that students can use during any workshop they are attending. I have created an artificial pond/fountain, and surround it with seed and suet feeders. The songbirds just love it.

A finch of some description

A California Thrasher

Mexican Scrub Jay

Another finch

The ubiquitous House Finch (female). Every season we have at least a dozen nesting pairs of these birds. They insist on building nests in the most ridiculous locations – on top of exterior light fittings, precarious ledges above doors and so on. About half of the nests get destroyed by natural causes – wind especially. About half of the hatched chicks end up falling from the nest. Not the sharpest tools in the shed, these guys.

Frio Cold Shoe

New kid on the block is the Frio. A long overdue improvement to standard cold shoes, it has the simplest of locking mechanisms that permits easy, simple, and above all, solid, mounting of any hotshoe flash.The Frio has a number of features: First is a metal 1/4-20 thread insert, so can be mounted on any tripod. Second is the simple push-button tab at the rear of the shoe that securely (very securely) holds the flash in place, while being ever so simple to depress and release. Third is their size – small and convenient. They are made of what appears to be a very strong ABS plastic, in an interesting blue shade. A little expensive for what they are, but what price insurance? I have three of these – will probably be getting more.

Proprietary Flash Stands

Next come the proprietary stands that come with many flashes.

Canon

First of all, the Canon, which is included (at least) with the 580EX and 580EXII…..

These are the most pathetic excuses for suppoerting a flash I have ever used or even seen. Yes, they have a threaded hole for a tripod mount but it is plastic! They are flimsy, and should only be used as a last resort. When you pay close to $500 for a flash, one might expect to get a half reasonable stand with it, but alas, no. Even if they were just to add a metal thread insert, it would be a huge improvement, but miserly Canon choose to save a few cents (literally) per flash, and prove that quality is not forefront in their business goals. If you ever want to replace one of these (I have no idea why you would) I am told they are about $20 each. What a joke. Shame on you, Canon. Great flashes, crap accessories.

Nikon

Next, the Nikon version – or at least what I think comes with Nikon flashes. I acquired this with some other flash gear from a Nikon shooter one time, so I am supposing this is the Nikon stand equivalent to the Canon above.

Wow, what a difference. First, a metal thread insert. Second, a much stronger, rigid plastic material is used. Third, you can see there are actually three coldshoes. I guess Nikon think a little more than Canon do when it comes to accessories….. (Remember, I have been a Canon shooter for 30 years, and they have been good to me, but in this particular area, they flat-out suck). This is a really nice flash stand and costs under $10.

Cold Shoes and Hot Shoes (Coldshoes and Hotshoes)

Next come the more traditional cold and hot shoes -

These are standard and can be found pretty much anywhere. Cold shoes have an insulated shoe that prevents the contacts on the foot of the flash unit being closed and firing the flash. Thus, the flash must be triggered either optically (infra-red or optical slave), via an RF trigger (such as a PocketWizard) or manually, via the Test or Fire button. Hot shoes enable remote triggering of the flash, usually via a PC socket. These sockets can be seen on the middle pair of shoes above, as well as the top row on the left. The shoes at the top left (3 of the same shoe to show different views) are very flexible. They contain a male and two female PC sockets, along with a small push button for testing. Metal shoe and metal foot also mean they are pretty rugged.

Optical Slaves

Optical slaves contain an ‘electric eye’. This eye detects rapid transients in light levels, such as another flash going off, and instantaneously sends a trigger signal to the flash sitting in the shoe. Instantaneously is actually tens or even hundreds of microseconds, which is essentially instantaneous for most flash applications.

I have more optical slaves than I have hairs on my head these days it seems. They come in all shapes, sizes, sensitivities and so on. Some slaves are simply that, and need to be connected to a flash by a PC cord. Others are integrated into hot shoes. Both styles can be seen above. Some are quite directional, such as the Sunpak Auto Slave (long thin, top left) and others almost omnidirectional, such as the two Wein examples (far left).

A couple more examples above, demonstrating further diversity in design. The Wein Ultra Slave was designed for studio lights (note the household synch plug) and is incredibly sensitive. This slave can be used (hacked) to be a lighting detector to trigger cameras to capture lightning. Unfortunately, my own experience with this slave is that it is so sensitive to be a pain. Even the slightest shadow passing across it will cause an attached flash to fire, resulting in wasted images and batteries.

A further word on Canon……

The 580EX (and I believe early 580EXII’s) suffer a major drawback with optical slaves – they fire once, then won’t fire again until they are switched off and on. Almost certainly due to an internal SCR (Silicon Controlled Rectifier – otherwise known as a thyristor) latching. Poor, poor circuit design. I am told that latter 580EXII’s have this problem resolved – would appreciate feedback one way or the other.

]]> http://quickblink.com/2011/09/flash-support-systems-part-2/feed/ 0 http://quickblink.com/2011/09/flash-support-systems-part-2/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Quickblink/~3/6NzTNhKJpjU/ http://quickblink.com/2011/09/flash-support-systems-part-1/#comments Tue, 27 Sep 2011 05:23:05 +0000 admin http://quickblink.com/?p=526 A common question from my workshops is “What do you use to support the multiple flashes that you use in your setups?”. Indeed, many students note down the names of the clamps, stands, tripods, heads and arms that I incorporate into the workshop setups. This and subsequent posts will include descriptions and images of a selection of my bits and pieces. Most of the gear is commonplace, but some may be new to you. I also use a lot of this same gear to mount my camera triggers, sensors and reflectors when out in the field. This is the first in a long series of posts about the gear I use in the field to support flashes, sensors, reflectors, control systems, cameras, lasers, transmitters, receivers and whatever else cannot stand or climb by itself. 

Most folks are surprised to learn that I use just about anything to support my flashes - whatever is on hand, and whatever does the job. While it might be important to use the best camera gear and lenses that you can afford to maximize image quality and perhaps indulge in a high-end tripod and head for ultra stability, supporting flashes can be done very conveniently and cost-effectively. You just need a little imagination.

Think about it – when a flash goes off, it is a split-second event – the slowest flash duration is probably 1/1000th of a second, so even if the flash stand is shaking, you aren’t going to see any blur as a result. So flash supports don’t necessarily need to be anywhere near as sturdy as a camera support.

There is an adage - a photographer can never have enough clamps and supports. This is absolutely true for a wildlife, flash and/or studio photography. They make great birthday and Christmas presents, and provide great flexibility as to where you can mount your remote flashes.

So, what do I use? Well, it depends on the setup, where I am, and what needs to be supported. If I am using remote hot-shoe flashes, or even hammerhead flashes (such as Metz 45 or 60CT series, or Sunpak 544, 555, 622 series), I am liberty to exploit many lightweight and cheap solutions. If I am using studio flashes and/or big, heavy monolights, such as Paul C. Buff Einsteins, the options are fewer, but can still be very cheap. This post describes a few of the things I use, but not in any order of preference or priority, and subsequent posts will expand the list further. They are not limited to flash supports either – my remote photography systems all have sensors, receivers, control boxes and things, all of which often need to be supported in the most inconvenient of locations.

This and following posts will list gear I use – not in any order of priority:

Duct or gaffer tape.

If you are one of those photographers who likes to keep his gear pristine, then duct tape probably isn’t a good thing for you. If however you are a wildlife photographer who regards your photo gear as working tools rather than icons of worship, then duct tape will hold your flash to a tree branch, a rock, a sign, gatepost or whatever. Oh yes, it can leave big sticky gobs of yuk on your flash when you remove it, but you will cover it all up again with the next setup. And it holds rock solid when applied correctly, even in the rain. A roll of duct tape is a whole lot smaller and lighter than a bunch of dedicated flash supports…. Resale value of your flash will be reduced, but I don’t tend to resell my flashes – I stockpile them. Flashes are flashes, and I use nearly all of them in manual mode, so they are kept and used (and abused) until they fail. It should be noted that I have only ever had 3 commercial flash units fail – 2 x Canon 580EX’s and a Sunpak 555. The latter just had a tube wear out, and Sunpak replaced it, reconditioned the entire unit and returned it in a very timely manner for minimal cost. Canon repair the 580EX for a very reasonable fixed flat rate – one of mine needed a new tube, zoom mechanism, lens assembly and power switch – as I said, my flashes are sometimes abused.

Small, cheap, flimsy tripods

You know, the ones that sometimes come for free with a camera kit, or a camcorder. They don’t last forever, but then they usually cost less than $10 too. Many is the time I have been to the tropics with several of these, and having served their purpose, I have either trashed them or donated them to locals. The beauty is that they have some form of primitive tripod head, enabling rotational adjustment of the flash (pitch, yaw and roll for the aviation-minded folk). They are always light, and usually small. Most cannot even stand with a flash on them, but are perfectly suitable for duct-taping to a tree branch, post, or whatever.

The tripods above I found online at 5 for $10. Yep, $2 each, shipped. They are really useful – they fold flat, have  a tiltable head and are remarkably stable. They jam into cracks in rocks, and are easy to tape to branches. They weigh almost nothing. The brand name is Tripodguru – not sure if they are still available.

Tabletop tripods like this are prevalant. Meant for (very) small point’n'shoots, they are of little use for much else. Again, best to tape it to something else! Not worth the money unless you are desperate (which I was, in this case!).

Small, not-so-cheap tripods and ballheads

I have so many of these I have lost count. Many shapes and sizes, and I definitely have my favorites, but all are useful in some form or another.

These Bogen or Manfrotto table top tripods are easily my favorite in this genre. I think they go under several model names – 209, 3007, 709 for the legs, and there are a plethora of micro-ball heads to attach to them. They are solid and very stable. I have used these in the field at ground level (on flat concrete) to support a Canon 1D MkIIN with a 70-210 f2.8 L EF Zoom lens. No kidding. The legs fold in close such that they can be stored nearly anywhere in your bag. Very reliable, but not very cheap.

Ultra-pods are great too. There are two sizes – small and medium. They are light, and have a deceptively strong simple ballhead. Notice the integral Velcro strap that enables you to strap it to a post, branch or tripod leg. I have had 3 or 4 of these for something like 20 years, and I still use them. I see they are still available on Amazon under the name Pedco Ultra-pod, but unfortunately now lack the Velcro strip. Very cheap though – approx $12 and $16 for small and medium respectively.

A selection of small ballheads, and other accessories

A suction-pod, produced (I think) by Cullmann. Useful for attaching things to windows or car panels. Deceptively strong.

This is a garden stake with a modification to hold an aluminium bracket. Notice the 1/4-20 threaded hole in the middle of the plate. Typical use for this is to have an infra-red transmitter or receiver clamped to it at ground level for trail photography of nocturnal mammals.

Broom handles

1.5″ dowel with 1/4-20 tripod thread. I have probably produced over a hundred of these in the last 30 years. So simple, so cheap, and so effective. Cut the dowel (or an old broom handle is perfect) into various lengths – from 10 inches to 5 or 6 feet. Whittle, carve or turn one end of the dowel into a point or blade, so it can be easily stuck into the ground. At the other end, drill a 1/4″ hole, and insert a length of 1/4-20 threaded stud into it, leaving about 3/8″ protruding. You now have a supremely portable, light and cheap flash stand. Jam it into the ground either vertically or at whatever angle is suitable, screw on the remote flash (or flash shoe) and voilà - you are set. An alternative is to attach a small ballhead for extended flexibility. Can be made up for a trip, and left onsite to minimize weight on the way back home. Biodegradable, too…..

Female Anna's Hummingbird checking out an Agapanthus flower

Hi All,

Welcome to the new and improved Quickblink website, with a much more contemporary structure and improved navigation. It is still undergoing some structural development, and will become more robust in time. I will be filling the galleries and archives with some of my better images, and will be producing a lot of posts on many topics – gear reviews, high speed flash techniques, hummingbird photography and such. 

One of the main reasons for the new site is to establish a portal for my Photography Workshops, which include Hummingbirds, Advanced Hummingbirds, Remote Triggering and High Speed Flash, and in time you should be able to enroll for a session online. Meantime, simply contact me here for more details. Feel free to look around, and leave comments. I think you can Facebook and Twitter things (not entirely sure what that means) too. I intend for the site to become a reference for anything High Speed Flash, as I have a lot of experience and material that I can share. I have generated a list of articles I intend to write over the next several months – it is numbering 80 already, so I need to get busy…..

Happy Shooting!

]]> http://quickblink.com/2011/09/welcome-to-my-new-website/feed/ 0 http://quickblink.com/2011/09/welcome-to-my-new-website/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Quickblink/~3/GWWfQ0QRX0I/ http://quickblink.com/2011/09/hummingbirds/#comments Thu, 01 Sep 2011 19:46:10 +0000 admin http://quickblink.com/dev/?p=21

 Adult Male Black-Chinned Hummingbird photographed with High Speed Flash © Roy Dunn

I have been photographing hummingbirds for well over 10 years, in fact ever since I moved to the US in 1996. My first attempts (like most people’s) were small blurry dots, as I tried to chase Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds around my garden in North Carolina. Since then, I have developed and experimented with techniques and equipment, to the point where I would rate myself as expert in this field. I now run Hummingbird Photography Workshops from my home in Southern California. Photographing hummingbirds is both challenging and rewarding. To get a good close, crisp image of a hummingbird in flight takes a lot of preparation, via research and observation. To obtain images where even the wings are sharp requires high speed flash. I now use high speed flash, elaborate sets and long lenses to achieve full frame, well exposed, tack sharp, frozen images of hummingbirds in flight. My personal goals in hummer photography are to create images that reveal the extraordinary beauty and detail in these exquisite birds, illuminate them in as natural appearing light as possible, in poses that demonstrate their incredible aerobatic skills, or feisty behavior toward one another. After spending thousands of hours observing and shooting well over a hundred thousand images, I can say that so far, I am pretty happy with about 6 of them. It is a long road……

Typical Hummer Shots:

Natural Light

Are taken at bird feeders or flowers in natural daylight. Sometimes the photographer is lucky and gets a pretty sharp image, but more often than not, there is blur due to wings flapping or birds moving too fast. It is usually very difficult for the photographer to get very close to the birds in this case, so the ‘microdot’ in the frame reveals little detail.

The image above is ‘almost’ natural light. The overriding light component is ambient, however I did use an on-camera flash just to create catchlights in the birds’ eyes. The illumination from the flash is insignificant.

I shot this to demonstrate the ‘typical’ images that people may produce if photographing their hummer feeders in the back yard. Not exactly jaw-dropping……

Flash

Then, there is the midnight flash shot. These are taken with hotshoe flash, sometimes even managing to freeze the bird in flight, and even exposing the bird quite well. But the images suffer two major letdowns: First, the background is black, suggesting the bird was photographed at night. After more observation of these creatures than most, I feel I am authorized to state that hummingbirds do not fly at night. Late dusk is the very latest I have ever seen them airborne, so these midnight shots are falsely representative. As a wildlife photographer, I abhor images of animals out of natural context. Just a personal peeve, but a strong one. Secondly, even though the bird itself might be well exposed, (albeit in the context of flying in the middle of the night), the lighting is usually harsh, producing intense specular highlights. Hummingbird feathers, particularly the gorget (the brightly colored collar of many males), are iridescent. They reflect light in a very metallic fashion, thus producing nasty blown highlights if illuminated with a small, intense lightsource. Looks horrible, in my opinion.

Here is an example of what I mean:

 This is a typical flash shot of hummingbirds. The flash is not powerful enough to illuminate the background or sky, due to the flash falling off rapidly. (Inverse square law). This results in an impression of hummers feeding at night – something they do not do. Such misleading imagery is not helpful for folks researching the natural history of hummingbirds, yet images like this abound on the internet.

In order to achieve a shot with a close to full frame image of a hummingbird, tack sharp, frozen in flight, naturally lit, takes a whole lot more effort than sticking a flash on your camera’s hotshoe and firing with TTL or whatever. You have come to the right website to learn a lot more about making images such as the one below. Better still, come on over for a workshop, where you can learn by shooting!

A Rufous/Allen’s Hummingbird in flight, amongst foliage – tack sharp, large in the frame, in context and frozen in an instant of time. (Remember that hummingbird wings beat about 80 times up and down a second….!)

Take a look around the website, and please leave comments!

Happy Shooting,

Roy.

Roy used to run a company on the East Coast – Fotronix Inc., which was responsible for producing a range of HSF units known as StopLights. The principal product was the StopLight SL-80, which was sold internationally to many photographers, most of whom are still using the system today with great results. The StopLights were designed to very different specifications than the VHSF system – the main requirements being for portability, weatherproofing, fast recycle time, and the ability to stop most fast-moving wildlife action, such as insects and birds. The final specifications are shown:

StopLight SL-80 Specifications:

• Guide Number: ~100 in feet, ISO 100
• Flash Duration: ~ 1/15000th of a second (~ 67 microseconds) (t0.5)
• Recycle Time: ~1 second
• Size: ~ 9” cubed
• Weight: A few pounds including battery
• Power Supply: 12V sealed lead acid battery (1.2AH)
• Charging Current: ~ 7A (for ~1 second)

This series of high speed flashes was produced from 2002 to 2004 in the US by Fotronix Inc. out of North Carolina. It was designed by a photographer, for photographers. A 9x9x9 inch sealed polycarbonate unit capable of 1/15000th of a second flash duration, yet with a Guide Number of around 100 at ISO 100. Weatherproof and portable, it is the ideal system for photographing hummingbirds. Each head can be setup in isolation with its own battery (attached to the mounting bracket), or used as part of a 4 or 6 head system with a common supply, via a ‘StopBox’. They were light, practically indestructible, and perfect for freezing fast moving wildlife subjects such as hummingbirds. The units operate at an internal voltage of approximately 1300 volts, yet the only external voltages were the 12V supply (7 amps) and the flash synch voltage (5V). The flash tubes were purpose-built for these units, and offered color correction at 5250 degrees Kelvin – much warmer than more traditional high speed flash units.

Quad Set
This was the most popular system sold by Fotronix, and incluced 4 heads, 4 15 ft connecting cables, a 4 way StopBox, and a power cable for a single 12V supply or battery.

This system gave photographers the flexibility to use each head in total isolation, or have a single 12V power supply for all 4 heads, along with a single synch input for all 4 heads. The 12V battery would be attached to the yellow cord, which was then plugged into the StopBox. Up to 4 heads were then connected to the StopBox via a 15ft heavy duty cable. This cable provided both power and synch to each head. You will notice in the photograph above there are two synch leads nestled inside the yellow cable. The photographer had the choice of a PC flash connector from the camera, or a 3.5mm (PocketWizard etc) to synch the four heads.

The StopBox had a green ‘Test’ button, a waterproof synch input connector (for either of the two synch cables) and then a charger input socket. An 18V DC adapter (supplied) could be plugged into the StopBox to charge the 12V sealed lead acid battery when connected via the yellow cable. This was a complex 4 stage SLA charger that was incorporated into the StopBox design for convenience.

When the StopBox 4 was employed (The 4 head StopBox was called a StopBox 4), all heads fired simultaneously.

6 Head (Turbo) Set
This set provided the most flexibility. In addition to the 2 extra heads, it utilized the 6 way StopBox 6T, which had the added dimension of enabling each head to be triggered separately, facilitating complex stroboscopic effects.

The 6 head Turbo set enabled everything the Quad set could do, plus a lot of extra flexibility. Obviously, one to six heads could be connected to a single power supply, and the charging current was dynamically increased to produce a cycle time of around 2 seconds for 6 heads. You will notice in the image above that the StopBox 6T is much more complex than the StopBox 4. Each head has its own dedicated synch input if required, however if it was not used, all heads would fire simultaneously. For stroboscopic effects, typically a number of PocketWizards were employed, with various delays, however any of the many folks out there that possess one of these systems could now utilize the Flash Sequencer from Cognisys. A very useful piece of gear. The list price (from memory!) for this system was around $5000.00 .

Individual Components of the StopLight SL-80 System:

StopBox 6T

This was the heart of the 6 heads system, as described above. Here is an image of the box, which also included a synch out connector.

The StopBox 6T

The power cord for a single SL-80 to be connected to a local battery – see further below.

The power cord to connect a StopBox to a single battery

The SBC-15 cord – a 15 foot cord that connected a StopBox to an SL-80 head. Includes power and flash synch.

Closer detail of SBC-15 cord, showing waterproof connectors

PC flash synch cord with waterproof connector

PocketWizard flash synch cord with waterproof connector. (Mono 3.5mm jack)

Detail of StopLight SL-80 rear panel, when connected to local battery. This battery was good for around 300 full power flashes

Full rear view of SL-80 with both battery and synch cord connected

Front and rear view of a single StopLight SL-80 Flash

The Cokin Creative Macro Flash system

The Cokin Creative Macro Flash was developed and sold in the 80′s by Cokin – the French company still best known for its wide range of filters and accessories. Staggeringly flexible, powerful and innovative, they were a well-kept secret in the macro photography fraternity of that era. I bought my first one circa 1986, and have been using it ever since.

I think I now own 11 of these systems, purchased on Ebay through the years, generally for less than $50, which is an absolute steal, however my first unit is still going strong to this day. The features of this flash system are numerous:

• Can be mounted as a hotshoe flash, or a ring-style flash, by way of a standard Cokin Filter adapter
• 3 independently movable reflectors
• Compatible with Canon, Nikon, Minolta, Pentax, Olympus and others
• Automatic and manual operation (not TTL – the sensor is in the flash head)
• Powerful Guide Number
• Quick recycle time
• Auxiliary battery pack available (also compatible with Quantum Battery 1′s, 1+’s via a dedicated cable)
• Included a filter set (for each reflector) comprising colors, ND and diffusion
• Manual operation could set power levels down to 1/16th, making it perfectly suitable for high speed flash.
• Cheap. I think my first one cost about 150 pounds in England, and I have one in an original box with a $135.00 US sticker.
• Clever use for closeup work enabled two ratioed key lights and a background light – all from one flash head!

I have used this system in many different applications – mainly macro, but not always. I often used them for photographing subjects that were very reflective (such as jumping spiders with very large anterior eyes) because unlike true ringflashes, they did not produce the tell-tale donut highlights, instead, 3, 2 or 1 distinct spot, depending on how many reflectors were pointed to the subject. I have even butchered a system to build a dedicated high speed flash system for photographing insects automatically in flight.

The image above was taken automatically, as a bee flew through an infra red plane of light, triggering an auxiliary shutter, my camera, and a (heavily modified) Cokin Creative Macro flash. Three reflectors were employed – two on the subject and one on the background. The manual power setting on the flash was set at 1/16th – almost (but not quite!) fast enough to freeze the motion of the bee’s wings. This automated insect trigger will be the subject of an upcoming post.

The controls were standard as for any similar contemporary hotshoe flash system – auto mode with different ranges, or manual mode with adjustable power (flash duration) down to 1/16th power. A selector switch on the base enabled compatibility with a slew of camera types.

What might surprise a few folks is that I still use the system today. Yes, I have a Canon MT-24EX Twin Macrolite, which is TTL, flexible and all that, but the Cokin has THREE reflectors, and in some circumstances (Such as if you want the background illuminated), it beats the Canon hands down.

No, it isn’t TTL, but frankly in this day and age of digital technology, who cares? I can figure out a pretty close exposure (manual) setting – take a shot and adjust the power up or down to correct. Done. Sorted. AND, I can point the two lateral reflectors at the subject, and the top reflector over the subject and onto the background. Awesome!

The power supply unit sits and locks into the camera hotshoe. The flashead can clip directly to the power supply, mount on the front of the lens via a standard Cokin filter adapter and adapter ring (with the appropriate filter diameter for the lens you are using), or, as you will notice in the image above, that it has a tripod socket in the base of the head for further mounting flexibility. Yes, they thought of just about everything with this unit. It was never widely advertised, which surprises me, yet every time I used to do a lecture on macro photography to a camera club in the UK in the late 80′s and early 90′s, there would be a knowing person or two in the audience who had one. Invariably after my presentation, those folks would come up to me and we would almost giggle about our wonderful secret. Never saw it advertised or written about in magazines or at shows. I’m not saying it wasn’t, but I sure never saw it.

Here we see the flash head attached to the power supply. This would then sit directly in the hotshoe. The printed table is my own reference for settings at certain magnification values when I used this in conjunction with my FD 200mm f4 macro lens. The filter wallet contains a myriad of useful filters for the flash head.

Another great way of using it was for portraits. The flash head could be mounted on the front of the lens, or attached to the hotshoe power pack, and the two lateral reflectors pointed toward the subject. I would often slip one of the convenient ND filters (supplied with the unit, and could even be stored on the flashead!!) over one of the lateral reflectors to get a left/right power ratio. I would then pop a diffusion filter on all three heads, then usually point the top reflector toward the ceiling for some bounce. I would sometimes get redeye, but usually not. The overall light quality was very impressive though.

This view shows the rear of the flash head. Each reflector could be rotated on its axis about 135 degrees. Also notice the inbuilt receptacle on two of the corners – these could house any of the small rectangular filters that were not being used. As stated above, these were supremely well designed units, and I still use mine today, over 25 years after purchasing it.