S Fit Mount?

pmrud

pmrud

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Peter
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I have just bought a nice cheap set of studio flash heads… I know, I know, I should have sought advice here first! Any how they work great and suit my current needs and they were realy cheap!
One of the things that attracted me to them was they were touted as having a S mount. Now being a bit naïve about these things I thought that would be simple, not so!
In time I would like to get some reflectors, barn doors snoots etc to fit them. I thought I could just buy anything for Bowens or anything else that is claiming to be S mount. My lights don’t have any type of locking ring suach as that on the Bowens heads.
So what is meant by S mount, is it the size of the mount or is it the locking arrangement or both?
My lights have a diameter of 96mm tapering to about 95mm at the very end. About 16mm from the end there is a groove about 1.3 mm deep. Does this sound like Bowens kit will fit them or will it just rattle a round loosely without the loacking ring?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated, being tight fisted I don’t want to spend out on kit that is not going to work on my lights!
Thanks Peter.
 
It's easier to measure the accessory mount than the head...
The S fit has a diameter of 100mm and has 3 equidistant male lugs that fit into corresponding female sockets (for want of a better word) - when rotated, the accessory locks firmly into position, and is released with some kind of catch at the front of the head - is that what you have? If not, can you post a photo?

S-fit is proprietory. A licence fee should be paid to the owners. Some cheap makers may not do that, and may simply make a bad copy that looks similar but which isn't the same.
 
The stock picture below is what I have. My heads dont have any type of locking ring as can be seen. I assumed that the accesories would just push on. I have done some searching and it looks like these are made by Nicefoto, their Ni series looks very similar but does have a Bowens type locking ring! I guess I realy need to know the inside diameter of the s fit accessories. If they would fit snugly problem solved but if they rely on the locking ring to make them snug then it looks like I am stuffed!
View attachment 29099
 
If it's not too late, send these lights back.
Even if S-mount modifiers would fit on these they will not be secure - they need the locking arrangement for that. If you could put S-mount modifiers on these they would be quite likely to fall off when you tilted them down - and that's really not something you want happening.
 
BTW they were supplied with softboxes with a universal mount, that works ok (although fiddly) but I guess for a reflector, snoot barn door etc., I would need a tighter fit to stop light spread from the back?
 
Nionyn said:
If it's not too late, send these lights back.
Even if S-mount modifiers would fit on these they will not be secure - they need the locking arrangement for that. If you could put S-mount modifiers on these they would be quite likely to fall off when you tilted them down - and that's really not something you want happening.
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Sending them back is not an option... as I said they were realy cheap! ;) So some kind of work around seems to be what I will need to find.
 
Nionyn said:
If it's not too late, send these lights back.
Even if S-mount modifiers would fit on these they will not be secure - they need the locking arrangement for that. If you could put S-mount modifiers on these they would be quite likely to fall off when you tilted them down - and that's really not something you want happening.
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Yes, send them back if you can, they are not S-fit, in fact they don't have any kind of mounting at all.
It is perfectly possible to fit small softboxes to them, using the so-called "universal fit" but they aren't secure and, because these lights have a built in reflector, they don't illuminate the softboxes evenly anyway.

I have been to the Nice Photographic factory and know all about their products...
 
Light spill from the back of the fitting is unlikely to be a major problem, unless shooting in a small place with light coloured walls and ceiling.
More of a problem is how securely the modifiers fit - you don't want to boom a light over a subject only to have a softbox (or whatever) fall on them.
If your modifiers fit securely, of course, great.

However, S-mount modifiers are easy to come by, and reasonable ones can be found relatively cheaply. That, in addition to the fact that the S-mount is secure, is a major plus.
You will be wanting more modifiers in time. I've no idea how easily or cheaply you will find them to fit these lights.
 
Well as I said in my OP I'm happy with them and they do what I want for now and for my limitted experience with studio flash. And besides I don't think the better half will be too happy if I go changing them just yet!

Gary you mentioned earlier that an S mount is 100 mm diameter. Is that the outside where the lugs are or the inside where it fits on to the head. if its the outside can you tell me what the inside diameter of a modifier measures?
 
pmrud said:
Sending them back is not an option... as I said they were realy cheap! ;) So some kind of work around seems to be what I will need to find.
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Sending them back should be an option, they were incorrectly described.
 
pmrud said:
Well as I said in my OP I'm happy with them and they do what I want for now and for my limitted experience with studio flash. And besides I don't think the better half will be too happy if I go changing them just yet!

Gary you mentioned earlier that an S mount is 100 mm diameter. Is that the outside where the lugs are or the inside where it fits on to the head. if its the outside can you tell me what the inside diameter of a modifier measures?
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If you look around on ebay, you might find an S fit adaptor that'll mount on your heads. But, they won't work 'properly' because the lights you have come with an integral reflector. Most modifiers are designed to work with the bare bulb. Just compare the front of your light with a stock picture of an S fit light to see what I mean.
fla017_barebulb.jpg


senweit_sw-400_small-jpg.29099


The bulb on a 'proper' studio light sits inside a softbox, even with your made to fit softbox, the light is out of the rear of the softbox, adding an S fit adaptor would push the softbox even further forward, so the only light bouncing inside the softbox is that which bounced back from the front of the softbox. With a properly designed flash head, the light from the bulb comes out in all directions and gets bounced about inside the softbox creating a soft even light source. You are effectively shining a torch at the front of the softbox, which creates a hot spot and leaves the light less soft / less flattering.

Try thinking what the light path is supposed to look like in a beauty dish, and you can see that your lights aren't really suitable at all for that as an application.
 
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pmrud said:
Well as I said in my OP I'm happy with them and they do what I want for now and for my limitted experience with studio flash. And besides I don't think the better half will be too happy if I go changing them just yet!

Gary you mentioned earlier that an S mount is 100 mm diameter. Is that the outside where the lugs are or the inside where it fits on to the head. if its the outside can you tell me what the inside diameter of a modifier measures?
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100mm is the outside diameter, as well as I can measure it. Unfortunately I don't have any means of measuring the ID accurately, but given the thickness of the metal I would guess about 98mm.
 
Thanks for all the answers guys!

Phil very informative, I see what you mean! They wont realy give the correct effect with modifiers. But theroreticaly my lights don't need a standard reflector? I'm just going to struggle to change the effect?

They were bought privately as used, however they were brand new in unopened boxes. I got the mount info from the original sellers description, so I can't use the incorrectly described line. Besides I'm happy with them for my needs. I will have to learn to work with them. Looks like I have learned one lesson a already! :-)

As an engineer I'm sure I can make something fit but obviously would have preferred something to go straight on.
 
pmrud said:
Thanks for all the answers guys!

Phil very informative, I see what you mean! They wont realy give the correct effect with modifiers. But theroreticaly my lights don't need a standard reflector? I'm just going to struggle to change the effect?

They were bought privately as used, however they were brand new in unopened boxes. I got the mount info from the original sellers description, so I can't use the incorrectly described line. Besides I'm happy with them for my needs. I will have to learn to work with them. Looks like I have learned one lesson a already! :)

As an engineer I'm sure I can make something fit but obviously would have preferred something to go straight on.
Click to expand...

I have a permanently fitted S mount adaptor on a very similar flash. It meant disassembling it, but I was certain it was safe as I was also fitting a new flash tube (it hadn't been used for about 3 years so the capacitor was empty). If you're planning something similar, you might have to look up discharging the capacitor before opening it up.
 
No don't think I'll be going to those lengths. I was thinking more about making something fit. Not sure what yet, depends what modifier I buy next. I was thinking either barn doors or snoot, not sure why just to play about with, any opinions as to the best to get? Or is there something else you would recommend as a must have?
 
pmrud said:
No don't think I'll be going to those lengths. I was thinking more about making something fit. Not sure what yet, depends what modifier I buy next. I was thinking either barn doors or snoot, not sure why just to play about with, any opinions as to the best to get? Or is there something else you would recommend as a must have?
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What do you want to do?

We all have different aims, so we all need different gear. I have a variety of softboxes, a small selection of umbrellas, std reflectors and grids, a few (pop-up) reflectors, but no snoot or barn doors (I could improvise the effects if I needed to)
 
Phil V said:
What do you want to do?
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Phil that's probably the question I need to ask myself and I suppose the answer is to learn to use what I have already!

As for the barn doors or snoot I guess I was thinking they would help control the light into more localised areas. And add colour to backgrounds with the help of filters.

Its all new to me so I'll have fun learning and maybe actual take some decent shots.
 
Just use them with umbrellas - they're all you need to get started with home portraits. Get white, silver and translucent shoot-though for three different effects (cheap as chips) plus a white/silver reflector. You can do a heck of a lot with that, see how you get on, then if you take to this studio malarkey just ditch those heads and get something decent, eg Lencarta Smartflash-2 for £110 each (even cheaper in a kit).

Barn doors and snoots are usually a little way down the line if it's basic home portraits etc you're wanting to do. You can get 'universal fit' accessories (small softboxes, barndoors etc) that fit with four screws which clamp on the rim, eg here http://www.amazon.co.uk/Neewer-Hone...21929363&sr=1-1&keywords=universal+barn+doors But frankly you'd just be throwing good money after bad. I note in that link they claim to fit both Bowens and Elinchrom, which is total rubbish - as several purchasers have found in their reviews.
 
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