Macro setups - show yours

Overread · Feb 16, 2011

Ok so I think I've finally finished building the monster that is my macro setup -

(ignore the typo...)

Sadly I've only one camera so there are a few differences of this setup to its real world use. For a start the control box for the twinflash sits on the hotshoe and the white bracket isn't part of the setup with the fotopro twinflash bracket being mounted instead to the bottom of the camera (via tripod screw).

And what can this setup produce : (with the addition of a paper cone over the lens front not shown here)

And now for a part by part quick overview/review (excluding the MPE and twinflash as they are more common parts)

Pixel TD 381: This is an AA battery cell which boosts the recharge rate of the flash unit (in this case the twinflash, but it also fits the 580EX2 and some other canon flashes). It will work with either 4 AA batteries or a full 8 batteries and does the rather unique feature of using them in the 4 battery cells to provide a much faster recharge rate (faster than canon's own battery pack).
It's well built and pretty light (till you add the AA batteries) and comes with the shown pouch (you can also see the two little indents in the cap which show the charged/charging lights which are on the unit - one light for each 4 battery cell). It's recharging speed effect is very noticeable and really does boost the recycling rate of even the older twinflash unit (on the 580 its even faster). The cable connection has a rubber seal to the flash unit (won't keep out heavy rain, but will work for light water contact) and clips into place tightly and securely.
It will mount to a camera base (via tripod screwthread) but its design leaves it rather too long and an end will stick out once mounted. For that and the weight factor its better to use it on a belt or other support so that its not on the camera at all. The case it comes in has a provided belt loop.

Twinflash bracket (by Fotopro.cn)- newest part of the setup and will probably take a little getting used to. The device is mounted to a kirk esqu tripod bracket, which is quite long. This has to be mounted in the forward position (as shown) so that the brackets will reach the end of the lens with ease, though this does mean you end up with a metal lump getting in the way of the left hand used to hold the lens. Mounting to the tripod collar and rotating it out of the way is an option, though it leaves a long protrusion of metal sticking out of the front which might get in the way for some framed shots. Something to experiment a little more with and is possibly the one downside of this mount.

The flexi arms themselves are fantastic, the joints are very sturdy and don't have any problems supporting the light twinflash light heads and you could probably get away with slightly heavier flashes too (580EX2 is too heavy however). This stiffness makes them great for holding the lights in place and their flexi nature allows you to put those lights anywhere you want. The downside is that they are quite stiff (this might change with time as they are used more) and this can make quick adjustments a little clumsy. Further unlike the end of lens mount that the twinflash comes with the flexi arms won't move as the magnification changes - this means any large changes in magnification require stopping and moving the flash lights.
So you gain versatility and you lose some - time and practice will tell if its an overall gain or not (I'm expecting/hoping that practical field use will show an overall gain with the loss of bulk of the forward mounted flash holder).