Pro Tip: Swivels, swivels, swivels...

Which one is the best?

(This issue reminds me so much of what Vesper Lynn said in the Bond movie Casino Royale: "There are dinner jackets and there are dinner jackets; this is the latter!")

Now, before I answer you, allow me to introduce what a Swivel is.
Shooting with multiple off-camera flashes have been a very popular technique of flash photography for quite sometime now. This is because it's cheap and portable to use hot-shoe flashes.Off-camera means that you place the flashes away from your camera and you fire them remotely (using either IR or radio frequency or even optically triggering them).

They also allow you to 'stick' an umbrella to a flash/light-stand. There's normally a hole in a swivel and a screw to tighten the umbrella.

A photo of multi-flash photographers doing what they do best.
And when they shoot, even the traffic gives way and the police's assistance is always required! (LOL)

Photo credit: Edmund JP

Why not I do a mother-of-all swivels review so that you can choose your swivels effectively?



Manfrotto's Lite Tite Swivel
Pros:

• Robustly built. Made completely of metal.
• Made by one of the world's best name in grip-manufacturing, Manfrotto.
• has a large swivel handle (with spring-stop)
• consistent design. Manfrotto has not changed this 'time-proven' design for a long long time, which may sometimes be a good thing. Don't fix anything that is NOT wrong.
• superior quality control.
• I own a couple, and I use them only in the studio (read below why I never take them out of the studio).
  

Cons:

• Heavy. IT'S ALMOST HALF A KILOGRAM PER PIECE!
  When you shoot multi-flashes outdoor a lot like me, carrying 4 of these swivels will really weigh you down.
• Expensive. At RM108 in the academy's Online Store, it's the costliest.
• Frequently out of stock in the market, because there's only one main distributor of Manfrotto products in Malaysia.
• You would need your Nikon flash's base (AS-19) to make this swivel work. Let me explain: remember that little 'triangular' plastic that comes with your Nikon flash when you buy it? It's called AS-19. AS-19 has a little hole (with screw thread) at the bottom of it, if you notice. Yes, this is where you screw the base to the brass-chuck that is included when you purchase a Manfrotto Lite Tite.

Generic Umbrella Swivel
Pros:

• Easy to use.
• Light,because it's made of plastic. I use this swivel all the time. My default swivel.
• Despite being made of plastic, it's still strong enough. I have been using 15 pieces of this for more than 4 years now and only managed to crack one (and that's not even cracked by me. *Thanks, 'Iron Man' Braendan*)
• When i shoot outdoor, i use this, because it's smaller and lighter.
• Cheap. Almost half the price of a Manfrotto. (RM69 per piece, at the academy's Online Store.). When you own 15 light-stands and 15 swivels, like me, saving money MAY be important.
• A few distributor brings this in directly from China.

Cons:

• Inconsistent design. HOWEVER, it's ok because the 'nameless' manufacturer from China does improve the product. So far I have seen it being improved 4 times over 3 years.
• Slightly lacking in quality control if compared to Mr. International Manfrotto.
• Unlike to Manfrotto's swivel, you may need to put a little bit of work when you initially get this swivel out of the pack. You will need to screw on your Nikon flash's base to it and make sure it's correctly aligned. And once you get it aligned, you may not want to remove that base.... this is because getting it aligned may take a good 5 to 10 minutes of vigorous turnings (may requiring the use of a small spanner). Also, you are required to 'sacrifice' your base to this swivel. You see, once you put on the AS-19 base to this swivel, you may not want to take it off anymore.
  Ah,... also your hands may suffer a little pain (unless you are 'Iron Man' Braendan) from screwing the flash-base to this swivel.

FV Umbrella Swivel
Pros:

• Small. The smallest. You can keep one or two in your shirt pocket. :)
• Light,because it's made of plastic.
• Cheap. The cheapest of them all. (RM65 per piece, at the academy's Online Store.)
• Unlike the other two brands, this one does not require you to marry your flash's AS-19 to it. IT has a built in hot-shoe.

Cons:

• not very sturdy.
• Slightly Inferior quality control from the manufacturer. Out of 10 pieces we bring in, 1 or 2 pieces may have some defect. (But fret not, our online store staff do check before they ship, making sure they will not be DOA when they reach you.)
• The hot-shoe is made of metal, which is not a good idea. You see, if you shake the flash when mounted on it hard enough, the metal parts short circuit and end up firing the flash. So, I would not advice you to move the flash around TOO MUCH when it's mounted on this swivel. Solution? Stick a small piece of plastic tape on top of the hot-shoe mount of the swivel.
• the swivel screw is not good to use. It has very little grip-thread for your fingers to turn it. Now this is silly. I may not need it to be a large as Manfrotto's, but making it a 'wing' nut like the Generic Swivel would do wonders, does it?

Ok, you must be asking.... Why does the academy's online store offer 3 types of swivels?

Here are my answers:
1. If money is not an issue to you, buy a Manfrotto. It will last you a life-time,... even if you shoot with an 'Iron Man'! (Oh, yes, 'Iron Man' Braendan uses this swivel)

2. If weight is NOT your issue and you rarely shoot multi-lights outdoor, choose a Manfrotto.

3. If money is an issue, buy the Generic Swivels. They are cheap and good.

4. If you hate hacking things and want to use them immediately you remove them from the packages, then go for Manfrottos.

5. If you do not mind putting in a little work to it, like tightening your flash-base to the swivel, then choose the Generic Swivel. I own like 15 of these, and they LAST. But once you screw the base to it, you may not want to remove it. And don't even get me started on the issue of SB900's base being different from the Sb600s and the SB800s.

6. Because of issue No. 5, if you own SB600s OR SB800s AND Sb900s (meaning you have more than 2 flashes), choose a Manfrotto.
Because you may want to remove the flash-base, since SB600s and SB800s are using the same base, BUT NOT the SB900s. A SB900 flash will not mount on a SB800 or SB600 flash-base. Don't believe me? Go try... online store is here (LOL).

7. The problem with Manfrotto's Lite Tite is, 3 times in a year, you may find it being out of stock for months! Yes,... MONTHS. Don't ask,... you do not want to hear the 'supply-chain-management' lecture that I give Manfrotto and their sole distributor.

8. And because of Item No. 7, that is why Generic Swivel and FV Swivel still have a strong 'market-share'.

9. Buy FV Swivels when you like to store things in your shirt pocket.

10. Buy FV swivel if you have lost your flash-bases.

11. And finally,...  buy FV Swivel if Manfrotto or Generic Swivels go out of stock for months (and you are itching to mount your newly acquired flash on a swivel). Oh, you might want to know... Generic Swivels rarely have supply-chain issues, because the academy imports them directly from the manufacturer these days.

My vote?

Manfrotto LiteTite: 5 clicks (4 clicks if you dislike lifting weights when going for photo-shoots) *
Generic Swivel: 5 clicks if you shoot outdoor & light weight is crucial (4 clicks if you dislike putting in some work) *
FV Swivel: 2 clicks *

*The higher the 'clicks' the better the product :)


This Pro-Tip has been prepared for you by Andrew Boey, our Director Of Academy.
If you have attended any of his class or workshop, you would probably hear him say this:
"I can shoot without a camera, but without a swivel, I am helpless,... so go get yourself a few good ones!"

	Flash Photography
	Learn how to use hot shoe flashes to shoot great photos and discover the secrets of Nikon Creative Lighting System by using a set of 3 or more Speedlights in commander mode to achieve various lighting condition. Learn more >>