Desmond Arca Compatible Camera Flash Bracket Top Mount All Metal Lightweight DAFB-1
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- Desmond brand
- Integral Arca Style Clamp & Clamp style flash mount
- Reduces "red-eye".
- Ideal for use with a telephoto lens and a double dovetail ARCA compatible plate.
- All metal construction
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Product information
| Product Dimensions | 10.3 x 6.4 x 0.6 inches |
|---|---|
| Item Weight | 7 ounces |
| ASIN | B00987STOK |
| Item model number | DAFB-1 |
| Customer Reviews |
4.1 out of 5 stars |
| Date First Available | January 13, 2011 |
| Manufacturer | Desmond |
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Product Description
Desmond brand.Integral Arca Style Clamp & Clamp style flash mount.Reduces "red-eye".265mm (10.5") tall. 20mm (0.8") wide.Weighs 7.6oz (215 grams) Ideal for use with a telephoto lens and a double dovetail ARCA compatible plate. Integral 20mm wide Arca Style clamp mounts to any arca-swiss compatible double-dovetail plate or rail. Integral 20mm wide clamp style shoe mount includes 1/4" screw socketBlack anodized aircraft aluminum and all metal hardware. Includes Rubber grip, 1/4" metal screw & 1/4" bottom mount.
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Top reviews
Top reviews from the United States
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It is designed to attach to the top of a lens plate or attached by some custom method. The lens plate thus must be a double-dovetail (grooved on top and bottom of plate) design.
The clamps are both "built-in" to the bracket, they are milled of a single piece of aluminum not attachments or arca clamps added to the bracket.
Very nicely milled and finished.
The upper clamp also has a 1/4" thumbscrew with lowered shoulder that can attach to the bottom of a flash unit. I found this a bit redundant as the clamp alone works quite well at holding the flash unit. Removing this screw makes a very sleek and simple flash bracket. Saves a bit more weight as well.
And light weight -- 7.6 oz.
Prior to this product becoming available (thanks to the wide availability of CNC milling machines and good quality aluminum), I looked at the other commercially available (name brand) units that were all much $$ and coping them, built my own using off the shelf components from that bay place, Amazon and the hardware store:
* 2 piece generic bracket from China = $18.
* Generic arca clamp for bottom = $27.
* Misc hardware for holding flash unit and attaching clamp = $5
* Grind bracket to allow tightening knob of clamp to move freely
* Tweak adjustments of height and how to attach to lens plate!
* Materials = $50. !!!
* Labor A couple hours !!
* Weight = 13oz
It worked ... but man is the Desmond unit Sleak! Cheap! Light!
As far as I can tell, this is the same as the Jobu flash mount that costs $149! A Great deal.
BELOW: Why I like this type of setup vs the gimbal mounted brackets. This unit stays on the camera/lens combo rather than being mounted on the tripod or gimbal head. Thus you can remove the camera/lens as integral unit (I know it doesn't happen with the big boys often, but when you want to shoot handheld or brace the camera/lens using something other than your tripod, you can do it and keep the flash attached. With the gimbal mounted brackets, you also have to disconnect the off-camera flash cable from the body before before disconnecting body/lens from the gimbal head. Conversely, for setting up your rig, if you choose to pre-mount your body on the lens, you can premount the flash on the bracket as well and mount the entire thing at once. You can then take it apart as a unit as above to store the camera for quick handheld or window mount use. Much easier in my experience.
The other issue that folks like to argue is the merits of an adjustable flash bracket both in height and angle. My homemade unit had about 5" of adjustable height. Once I had it finished, I found that I never adjusted the height - it stayed at almost the identical height that the Desmond unit is. As far as angle adjustment, my experience has been that with a super tele, the angle of straight ahead rather than up or down a bit, is pretty much perfect. When shooting stuff really close - think macro - it might behoove one to aim the flash down a bit but that simply doesn't factor in with what these units are designed for - far away shooting!
Hope this helps,
Steve
Now to the negatives. It can only be attached when the Arca Swiss plate's groove is facing upward, which is typically not the case. It can't be attached to the side mounted Arca bracket and it can't be attached to the bottom mounted bracket, unless the Arca is facing both ways - top and bottom. Its height can't be adjusted and the tilt angle of the flash can't be adjusted.
I bought 3 of these brackets. One will be a sacrificial one - I'll cut the arca connector and glue it to the new bracket, so that the two Arcas face the opposite directions and the glued Arca can be clamped the bottom Arca bracket.
On the third bracket I'll cut the Arca connector and cut the bottom angle of the bracket. Then I'll glue the Arca to the side arm of the bracket, so that the bracket can be attached to the L-bracket of the camera.
As the bracket and the clamps are milled from a single piece of aluminum, the bracket is reasonably light and strong enough that it won't bend or break in the hands of a careless user. It also has the convenience of being a single item, as opposed to an assembly of frame and clamps. The downside might be slightly less versatility (e.g. fixed height, fixed angle, it can't be mounted on an L-plate or on the bottom of the lens plate QR) which might be a limitation in some use cases (e.g. for macro photography the flash can't be tilted down; the only way to move the flash to the side is to turn the camera).
The clamp for the flash includes a 1/4" thumbscrew that can attach to the bottom of the flash socket of an off-camera shoe chord, but that seems redundant as these usually (always?) fit securely in the clamp (if the flash socket breaks, it will most likely be the top part so the thumbscrew won't make the assembly more secure).
At this price point, the quality of the milling and the finish are quite impressive.
For the specific use case of flash photography with a flash extender this bracket is the perfect addition to noticeably improve the quality of the lighting.
Top reviews from other countries
Permet d'avoir le flash centré avec le poids du téléobjectif et plus haut pour réduire les yeux rouges des oiseaux.






