...this week's discovery is that my old flash-bracket (angle-iron with a handle and a tripod screw on the bottom), really does make the 220 a better hand-held camera. Very small tweaks, and it just becomes a more and more natural tool to use.
I have to agree. I have 2 non-brand name L-brackets, one for each body (Accura brand, heavy duty with large squate base plates) that make a world of difference for the c3 and the c220. In fact, they have threaded holes at the ends of the slot with the thumb screws, and my Q-R plate for the tripod screws in there, with plenty of room left for turning to attach to the camera. So the Q-R plates are there fulltime and I can switch from hand-held to trpod instantly. With the L-brackets, they may be heavy but they are very easy to handle and they balance quite well.
I use to have a cable release that fit into the "trigger" of the L-bracket and I would use that to partially depress the shutter release with my left hand, then make the exposure with the thumb of my right hand using the release on the right side of the body... it was very nice, with the trigger finger of my left hand doing most of the pushing and then just a light trip of the thumb at the last minute. But the cable releases wore out and I have never found a replacement that fit the trigger on the Accura bracket.
But like you said, small adjustments make it a very easy system to use. I'll have to try the step-up ring. I use a 46-49 step-up ring on the normal 80mm lens so that I can use the same screw-on filters with it and the 180mm and the 65mm. Maybe I should step them all up to 52mm. I'll look into that. Thanks.
