ID Flash Bracket? SM Japan

Jon Shiu

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Found an interesting flash bracket. Has flash shoe at 45 degree angle and 2 stabilizing pins in base. Has a S M logo on base and made in Japan. Wooden handle. Any ideas on what camera it would fit? Thanks.

 

MattKing

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Those are Mamiya pins - Mamiya Sekor.
 

reddesert

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As Matt said. The logo with the lens shapes is an old Mamiya-Sekor logo, and the pins should fit several Mamiya medium format cameras, including the C series TLRs and the M645, and possibly others.

I've occasionally seen other flash brackets with the cold shoe at a 45 degree angle as well. Never been entirely sure what they were supposed to be used with. Possibly they are intended to get a large flash reflector out of the way of looking down into a waist level viewfinder.
 
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Jon Shiu

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Great info thanks. I don't have a Mamiya TLR, but tried it on a 645 and fits. Bought this handle at yard sale for $1. I see the same logo on top the camera.
 
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AgX

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I got flash brackets where the shoe can be tilted front to rear, but this laterally inclinated shoe is new to me. At first sight I was puzzled by this, but I guess the idea was to have the handle close to the camera and still not have the flash interfere with viewing into a waist-level finder.
 

MattKing

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From the manual for the Mamiya C3:
 

grahamp

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I *think* the wooden handle ones are old style, possibly contemporaneous with the C2. It looks like a leather strap, too. The others I have seen are plastic grips with a vinyl strap.

Mamiya was pretty good about base compatibility for the C2 - C330s, and the M645. The angled shoe makes a lot of sense when you use a waist level finder ( I would not have liked using a flash bulb that close to my head...). It also gives both higher and offset lighting.
 

MattKing

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The angled shoe probably matters the most with those porro-finders that stick out to the left.
 
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