The Strobists are on a roll. Not only has the first batch of the community-design LumoPro LP120 flashguns sold out (don't worry -- they'll be back in stock in a couple days), but Moishe of MPX and David Hobby, the Arch-Strobist, have come up with a new accessory, also cheap, also useful and also incredibly open.
Named the Universal Translator, the tiny cube lets you use pretty much any flash with any camera. Here's a list of the connections in this little black box:
- Male hotshoe (attaches to camera)
- Female hotshoe (attaches to foot of flash)
- PC socket (allows triggering via PC cable)
- 3.5" mini-jack socket (attach two flashes via dime-store cables)
That, you will see, covers just about anything. You can adapt any strobe to work with the cable of your choice, you can turn a cheap compact digicam into a wired flash commander, and you can use the minijack to hook direct into PocketWizard wireless remotes. The price is $19, and the only drawback is that they won't fit Sony cameras or flashes. But then, when you gave Sony your money, you weren't expecting it to use any standard parts, right?
Product page [Midwest Photo Exchange via Strobist]
Photo: strobist/Flickr
