I did a thing.
For a reason.
The reason.
Recently went a bit overboard for a headshot shoot for co-workers. Bought a cart and brought everything and the kitchen sink. Overkill? Of course.
Had fun and had a great result. Then a co-worker asked for a follow-up headshot since they missed the first. Not going back to the same place and it would be nice to not bring and set up everything again.
The thing.
A portable solution for an outside shoot would be great. This got me thinking about past on-camera flash solutions.
My first attempt early on in my MFT days utilized a flash bracket with a flash triggered by the in-camera flash which would free up the hot shoe for the E-P5‘s EVF. Not optimal. Returned the bracket soon after.
More recently I found success using a little overachieving Flashpoint/Godox TT350 aimed up with bounce card flash.
Much better. But I had since upgraded to Godox/Flashpoint V1s since.
The next step was a vertical grip. Had acquired a few lenses large enough to convince me that it was time to buy a real Sony grip. As mentioned in my post about my first wedding shoot I had used aftermarket vertical grips before. But I traded the A7II for an A7c and the inexpensive third-party A7III grip had packed it in. It still powered the camera, but the shutter button was a no-go. You get what you pay for. I was still not thrilled about buying a new Sony grip so I was glad to see a used copy show up on MPB.com. So here we have the franken-portrait-cannon.
What is the big deal?
<Deeply inhales.> Courtesy of the larger V1 flash and the add-on bounce card I find that it moves the fill flash far enough off of the camera center in a portrait orientation shooting bent flash configuration.
It gave more distance between the lens and flash than the actual flash bracket configuration mentioned above.
Why have I not mentioned the camera and lens?
Easy. Does not matter.
Camera.
Any number of the currently available Eye AF having cameras on the market would have done the job. And that describes most cameras on the market. If you do not mind placing an AF point on the eye even more cameras will do.
Lens.
One does not need the bazooka lens pictured above. Any number of the currently available greater than 85mm full frame equivalent, f/2 or faster sharp lenses on the market would have done the job. And that describes a great many lenses on the market. If you do not mind punching in and manually focusing the lens even more will do.
In all honesty, the grip is optional.
If you have a lens and camera that meets or exceeds the specs above all you need is the V1. Want to spend more? Profoto will sell you an A1 that will pull off the same trick. <Checks the internets.> Correction. Profoto is now selling an A10 that costs even more. Me? I will stick with the Godox/Flashpoint V1. (Flashpoint version is on sale for $189 at the time of this post.)
Was it successful?
To the toy sho… I mean to the camera shop! Wilson and I took some test shots and… Yep. It was successful.
So that was the test. How did the actual headshot come out? Great. Did not ask if I could use it for posts so no pic. If I remember to ask and I get the go ahead I will add to this space here.
Well done Godox/Flashpoint.
Eric L. Woods 