Another cheap DIY flash bracket for macro

This is my second macro rig design. It has better balance than the first, though it’s slightly less adjustable — in practice, I found I rarely took advantage of the flexibility of the first one, and the center of gravity was too far forward. Weight and balance is still an issue with this design, but not nearly as much, and the bracket doesn’t begin to droop over time. A lighter flash (i.e., practically anything but the Vivitar 285HV) would address both those problems.

Like the first design, this uses pretty cheap but sturdy parts. Instead of a flat mounting plate mounted to a ballhead under the camera, this one is an angle bracket mounted directly to the camera, with the flash on a ballhead. It’s a lot like the famous butterfly bracket, but the actual metal bracket is pre-built. I got it at the hardware store for about $3. Unfortunately, I don’t see one for that price on Amazon to link to, but I doubt it would be too difficult to find at most hardware stores. It’s basically a straight bar of metal, bent at a right angle in the middle, with holes drilled down the middle for screws. I’ve seen them called angle brackets, mending plates, corner plates, etc. Look for one that’s small and lightweight, with holes that will fit 1/4-20 screws — and you’ll need two of those, obviously not the kind with the sharpened tip.

The angle bracket is screwed on one to the tripod mount under the camera. If you have some thin rubber or plastic, I’d suggest using that as a protective layer so the bottom doesn’t get scratched. I screwed a mini-ballhead to the other end of the bracket, and attached an off-camera cord to the ballhead. Then I just mount the flash on the ballhead, adjust it for the correct angle, and plug the cord into the camera’s hotshoe. That’s it. Total cost of parts, not counting the flash or the camera, is about $30-$40.

Oh, and I’m using a diffuser on the flash, of course. I just taped that together out of cardboard and used a sheet of foam that was used to package some prints I got. I cut a circular shape in the hope that it would improve my specular highlights, but I don’t think the foam diffuses enough. It’s much better than nothing, but there’s not much to say about it.

So overall, it’s a pretty simple system, but I have good control over the flash position for creative adjustments, and the weight and balance aren’t too bad. Keeping things lightweight is critical to reduce camera shake; even a little bit at macro scales will translate into softness or even visible blur in the final image. The flash head is close enough to the subject that I’m getting good exposures at 1/16th power, which is important for a short flash duration — this too reduces softness, because the shorter the flash duration, the less time it has to record any movement of the subject or the camera, and so again reduces softness or blur. Many of the shots I’ve posted lately have been taken with this design, but I like this one in particular.

If you’re building this bracket, find this design useful in your plans, or otherwise appreciate my work on this blog, you can support this site by purchasing some of the basic parts for this design through these links to Amazon.
Zeikos ZE-OCSCC Off Camera Shoe Cord for Canon Flash
Zeikos ZE-OCSCN Off Camera Shoe Cord for Nikon Flash
Professional Ball Head Camera Mount