Blog | 32 - Make or Break

September 21, 2017
bokeh photographic (Alistair Grant): Food & Drink Photographer; Commercial Photographer, Product Photographer & Packshot Photographer; Event Photographer; Portrait Photographer; Corporate Photographer & PR Photographer; Engagement Photographer & Wedding Photographer and Photography Training Courses in Cambridge, Huntingdon, Peterborough, Bedford, St Neots, St Ives and London. Freelance Photographer & Freelance Photography Services in Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire, Northamptonshire, Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Hertfordshire and across the UK.    
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   Alistair Grant 

Freelance Photographer Cambridge & London

     
     

bokeh photographic: Blog No: 32

 Freelance Photographer Cambridge Blog Image | Blog 32 | Make or Break (Precision-engineered, aluminium fixing brackets to replace the broken plastic fixing flange on speedlite triggers). © bokeh photographic (Alistair Grant): Freelance Photographer; Food & Drink Photographer; Commercial Photographer, Product Photographer & Packshot Photographer; Event Photographer; Portrait Photographer; Corporate Photographer & PR Photographer; Engagement Photographer & Wedding Photographer and Photography Training Courses, St Ives, Cambridge. Blog 32 – Make or Break (Precision-engineered, aluminium fixing brackets to replace the broken plastic fixing flange on speedlite triggers) | bokeh photographic - Alistair Grant | Freelance Photographer in Cambridge, Huntingdon, Peterborough, Bedford, St Neots, St Ives and London. Blog 32 – Make or Break (Precision-engineered, aluminium fixing brackets to replace the broken plastic fixing flange on speedlite triggers) by Alistair Grant. Food & Drink Photography; Commercial Photography, Product Photography & Packshot Photography; Event Photography; Portrait Photography; Corporate Photography & PR Photography; Engagement Photography & Wedding Photography and Photography Training Courses in Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire, Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Hertfordshire and across the UK.

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Make or Break 

In retrospect maybe this post would be better titled ‘break and make’. Read it as an open plea to the manufacturers of camera equipment to improve the all-round robustness of the kit they produce. To finesse the point: features that might seem of lesser importance when it comes to camera equipment are often the most important when it comes to practically using the kit. Invariably, photographers who use kit in the field (or in the studio) will always find the achilles heel of equipment that looks great on the shelf. It often seems that whilst great attention is given to features such as power output, accessories and aesthetics, comparatively little attention is paid to features such as fixing points. Whilst these may seem at a casual glance to be of minor importance they obviously limit, or even prevent, use of the kit when they break (or when they simply don’t cut the mustard due to poor design). Take the plastic fixing flange on my speedlite triggers. Ignoring the fact that I never really liked the moulded plastic design in the first place, the clearly under-engineered - relative to what the piece needs to do in the ‘real world’ - fixing flanges have broken, badly! The use of a plural is deliberate as the flange on both my triggers has broken in exactly the same place but on different occasions signifying an obvious design and/or manufacturing flaw.

Two arguments against this are that the triggers are relatively old and that they are not premium kit. I'll address the latter first. In my experience nearly all kit has a weak point regardless of how much it costs. Issues with features like fixing points seem to be a universal problem across all manufacturers and across the entire (i.e. budget-to-premium) range that each manufacturer offers. Occasionally cheaper kit even outperforms more pricey equipment. For example, my Lencarta light stands are not only beautifully air-dampened they are seemingly built to withstand a direct missile strike whereas my Bowens light stands are so flimsy they wave about in the slightest breeze which is rather disconcerting when you have bolted an expensive strobe head on top! As a slight aside I used to use, along with most other photographers, a more expensive trigger brand. When shooting at an event where other photographers were present flash would be going off everywhere as everyone inadvertently triggered each other’s lights. After ‘downgrading’ I have never experienced this problem. As to the age of the triggers - although admittedly a few years old they have seen little use as I have only recently returned to shooting with speedlites after mostly using portable studio strobes for the past few years.

Returning to my broken wireless triggers it was evident that the moulded plastic design meant that the broken plastic flange could not be repaired or replaced. Luckily a good friend is an excellent engineer and loves to solve problems placed in front of him. Consequently, thanks to Mr Scott I now have two robust, precision-engineered, aluminium fixing brackets that allow me to attach the triggers to a wide range of light stands without fear of breakage. It’s just a pity that this robust functionality wasn’t factored in by the manufacturer.

   
     

Call Alistair Grant on 07775 365507, Email [email protected] or click Booking Enquiries if you have any questions or would like to make a booking.

   
     

bokeh: "the aesthetic quality of the blur produced in the out-of-focus parts of an image produced by a lens"


Freelance Photographer offering Food & Drink Photography Cambridge; Commercial Photography Cambridge, Product Photography Cambridge & Packshot Photography Cambridge; Event Photography Cambridge; Portrait Photography Cambridge; Corporate Photography Cambridge & PR Photography Cambridge; Engagement Photography Cambridge & Wedding Photography Cambridge and Photography Training Courses in Cambridge. Also covering: Huntingdon, St. Ives, Ramsey, St. Neots, Peterborough, Bedford, Stamford, Newmarket, Sawtry, Alconbury Weston, Brampton, Hartford, Warboys, Houghton, Wyton, Godmanchester, Hilton, Hemingford Grey, Hemingford Abbots, Fenstanton, Whittesley, Yaxley, Needingworth, Somersham, Chatteris, Ely, Bar Hill, Grafham and Buckden.

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bokeh photographic - Alistair Grant | Freelance Photographer | Cambridge, London, UK

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