Real World Review – Best Flash Bracket We’ve Used: Newton’s

If you have ever covered an event, or just needed the ability to shoot vertical and horizontal with a similar light pattern, you’ll need a flash bracket.

You know that wonderful piece of metal that attaches to the camera and holds the flash away from the body. It can either flip, rotate, or…..hmmm…. those are about your choices as you change formats.
We have been on a hunt for the best solution out there. So we looked all over.
Now, of course, everyone has different needs, and can handle different sizes and weights of bracket.
Custom Brackets makes a great system, with brackets that can be, well, customized to your needs. It has some weight to it, though.
JustRite also makes a similar system that will rotate your camera on ball bearing track to shift from vertical to horizontal.
Both are in the $300 -$400 range and are units that are easy to carry with camera mounted, but a little unwieldy to pack in your bag.
Stroboframe has some solutions which are simpler, but we found that we had to carry a micro leatherman pocket tool to tighten stuff up, after a real assignment workout. Also, not a small unit.

And we asked all of the shooters around us. Honestly, when we were in the photog pits in SXSW, you see a bunch of shooters and ask what works for them. No one seemed happy with what they had, but all recommended this one:
The Newton Flash Brackets!

After visiting the site, it seemed like a right deal. Size appeared right, nice and small. a coupla photo illustrations helped.
A phone call with the owner confirmed a purchase.

When the box came, it was almost shocking how small the box was. A good sign.

Newton Bracket Folded

Newton Bracket Folded


The unit was in it’s folded position, and it was TINY!
We ordered the needed flash plate, and set about to setting the rig and putting in all in hand.
Nikon has us checking out a D90, so that was the guinea pig unit , with an 18-200mm lens.

_dsc0070fBracket in the center, with small bag of included tools
The instructions are thorough but we still had one more call with the manufacturer who guided a perfect fit. he was happy that we called instead of just sending it back.
No way. This looked like the real deal.

Horizontal position with speedlight and TTL cord in place

Horizontal position with speedlight and TTL cord in place

Ready to shoot!

Ready to shoot!

Well, we are very happy to say that after a coupla shoots, this is a love fest.

You hold the camera, not a grip, so you’ve saved some space.

In mid-shift to vertical position

In mid-shift to vertical position

The move from horizontal to vertical is smooth and solid, like you need it to be.

Set for vertical, view from above

Set for vertical, view from above

The Nikon SC-29 TTL Coiled Remote Cord we use is in a tight pattern and you have to shut off the sensor on the camera because it will just hit the back of the speedlight in the horizontal mode.
They also offer a quick release piece for the flash mount so you can change out flashes easy or pack with the cable off.
Still not sure if we need it.
They offer a service to shorten your cord (you can see it wrapped around the bracket). We understand the reason, just not ready to commit to that, since we may still want to pull the flash off camera. Want the option, anyway.

So we love this unit: solid, small, and does exactly what it says it should and designed by a shooter who knew what we need. It’s a small operation so you may have to wait but it’s worth it.
Cost? for what we demo’d about $230. USD. Well worth it.
And we have a bunch of images here because we got some but until it was in our hands we didn’t full get the awesomeness of this.
Some more images after the jump. And just because we wish there were more on the site, to fully get the brilliance.

Unfolded, ready to mount to camera

Unfolded, ready to mount to camera

view from underneath

view from underneath

bottom view, folded: silver knob is where camera is attached. Please note the bracket will fold flat but we set it for this smaller, consumer camera

bottom view, folded: silver knob is where camera is attached. Please note the bracket will fold flat but we set it for this smaller, consumer camera

This is the right unit for the shooter who needs to pack light and small. It’s a solid pro bracket backed by a solid citizen. Highly recommended!


5 Responses to “Real World Review – Best Flash Bracket We’ve Used: Newton’s”

  1. Matt C Says:

    Thank you for this post! I’ve been obsessing over what bracket to buy and it seems like my search has ended! Keep up the good work!

  2. Damon Says:

    Very cool. Tell em where you read about it!
    Cheers!
    damon

  3. Ana Delgado Says:

    I’m a female photographer with small wrists. I have been avoiding getting a flash bracket as the extra weight on the camera I feared would do me in. Also I hate the way they look on the camera. When I saw the small size of this I decided –this is for me. I looks great on my camera and it doesn’t have my flash way up in the air where I believe it would unbalance things and make it more difficult to handle. I plan on shortening my SC-28 chord as I like things neat and compact. I am beyond happy and so lucky I didn’t buy something else (I almost did because I thought there were no alternatives). I accidently found this article which led me to the website. Thank heavens for my habbit of browsing the web!

  4. Damon Says:

    Glad you like it! So do we. It’s was a long search for the right one. Hopefully we can keep turning you on to the gear that works.
    Cheers!
    Damon

  5. Tony Ryes Says:

    Great review, great bracket. I had one way back when, and it worked great. It was a looong time back,I even forgot the name. But I do remember the bracket. Solid, compact, superbly designed and machined, will last forever. does not add much bulk to the camera, and the weight is negligible. You’ll wonder what took you so long…

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