More testing with the new lighting rig (pic heavy...again..)

[tirediron]

The woodlouse is my favourite but all are good. What are the flash arms that you are using?

They are a commercially available product used in the manufacturing industry. It's not something that, often crosses into the photography world.

They look like the same arms I use with my dial indicator on the lathe.

They're actually used to deliver liquid coolant to the cutting tools in mills, lathes, etc. I used them for years as a tool & die maker, which is why I knew they were exactly what I was looking for They are used for other applications, periodically, but coolant delivery is their primary function.

Ohhhhhhhhhhh... okay. I thought they looked like coolant tubes, but I figured they wouldn't be stiff enough. I have a couple for my dial gauges that look very similar.

 

[crimbfighter]

The woodlouse is my favourite but all are good. What are the flash arms that you are using?

They are a commercially available product used in the manufacturing industry. It's not something that, often crosses into the photography world.

They look like the same arms I use with my dial indicator on the lathe.

They're actually used to deliver liquid coolant to the cutting tools in mills, lathes, etc. I used them for years as a tool & die maker, which is why I knew they were exactly what I was looking for They are used for other applications, periodically, but coolant delivery is their primary function.

Ohhhhhhhhhhh... okay. I thought they looked like coolant tubes, but I figured they wouldn't be stiff enough. I have a couple for my dial gauges that look very similar.

I'm not sure what diameter yours are that are on your indicator, but the ones I used are the largest diameter available. The smaller diameter versions definitely don't have the holding power for the weight of a speedlight. I also made some other super secret modifications to increase the holding power of the segments

 

[davholla]

The woodlouse is my favourite but all are good. What are the flash arms that you are using?

They are a commercially available product used in the manufacturing industry. It's not something that, often crosses into the photography world.

They look like the same arms I use with my dial indicator on the lathe.

They're actually used to deliver liquid coolant to the cutting tools in mills, lathes, etc. I used them for years as a tool & die maker, which is why I knew they were exactly what I was looking for They are used for other applications, periodically, but coolant delivery is their primary function.

That explains why I couldn't find brackets like that to buy.

 

[smoke665]

After seeing your rig, I found some heavy stranded copper wire in the shop. Wondering if that would work for arms

 

[crimbfighter]

Great looking setup. Ive tried the flexi arms before but the ones I used were probably half as thick andvwere no use for a steady speedlite flash.

One thought is you might consider a diffuser that is the opposite way around to the ones you have there . The idea being that most bugs are a 3d shape, but light falls off inverly over distance, thus a flat or convex light source will have more light hitting the middle of the bug and less at the edges. Whilst is you mack a concave light source you are changing the distances to be a little more even. Ive also seen this done with a second diffuser over tge lens hood and curved with the lend body profie, though tht tends to be on the mpe65mm, which has very small working distances

I made up some new diffusers which create a concave surface and are still double diffused. I'm still having difficulty with them drooping because of the new design, so there needs to be some tweaking yet. But, I think it made a difference in terms of the lighting. Here's a few test shots with the newest design diffuser.

The woodlouse is my favourite but all are good. What are the flash arms that you are using?

They are a commercially available product used in the manufacturing industry. It's not something that, often crosses into the photography world.

They look like the same arms I use with my dial indicator on the lathe.

They're actually used to deliver liquid coolant to the cutting tools in mills, lathes, etc. I used them for years as a tool & die maker, which is why I knew they were exactly what I was looking for They are used for other applications, periodically, but coolant delivery is their primary function.

That explains why I couldn't find brackets like that to buy.

Indeed it does

After seeing your rig, I found some heavy stranded copper wire in the shop. Wondering if that would work for arms

It very well might. Just depends on the strength of the wire. Weight might become an issue with thick heavy wire, though. My rig is already at the heavy end of my preference.