Wimberley F-2 Dual Arm Set-up with the New AP-7 Cold Shoe Flash Adapter

Wimberley F-2 Macro Bracket Dual Arm Set-up with AP-7 Cold Shoe Flash Adapters Attached

Several years ago I did a review of the Wimberley F-2 Macro Bracket Single Arm Set-up, which can be found by clicking here. I do stand by my comments from 2012 that this is by far the best design and the most user friendly macro flash bracket on the market today! Fast forward to today and Wimberley have created a new lighter version of the F-2 Macro Bracket and it is just a sturdy as the original design. Please do note that the F-2 Macro Brackets configured into the dual arm set-up pictured above are attached to a M-8 Perpendicular Plate. Wimberley have also developed and released the optional AP-7 Cold Shoe Flash Adapter that enables rapid attachment of flashes to the brackets. In nature photography being able to move quickly can mean the difference in getting or missing the shot.

Wimberley AP-7 Cold Shoe Flash Adapters

In the photo below you can see my personal set-up using the Wimberley F-2 Macro Bracket Dual Arm Set-up with the Meike MK-MT24 Dual Flash Speedlight Trigger. Each of the two flashes have a homemade diffuser affixed to them. These diffusers were made from two small Rubbermaid containers, lined with foil and 3 layers of polystyrene foam sheeting to effectively diffuse the light emitted from the flash tubes.

My Wimberley Dual Arm Set-up using the Meike Dual Macro Flash System

This dual flash set-up is now my go-to system for photographing invertebrates as it provides a beautiful even light around the subjects without any distracting shadows, which is often results when using a single speedlight. I can easily revert this set-up back to a single arm set-up for photographing frogs. The flexibility of the Wimberley F-2 Macro Bracket Dual Arm Set-up allows me to position the speedlights in any manner that I desire, to create the lighting I want. This feature is indispensable when the speedlights may need to be positioned around objects that may otherwise block the light emitted from the flash, or when you may wish to have one flash illuminate the subject while the second flash illuminates more of the background. The possibilities for enhanced creativity are endless with this design. This flexibility is the result of the clamshell locking mechanisms. The clamshell locking design of the F-2 brackets also allows me to ‘fold’ the brackets so that they fit into my gear bag effortlessly. The AP-7 Cold Shoe Flash Adapters allow me to quickly attach my wireless flash heads or sync cord by means of the thumbscrew locking mechanism.

Below is a selection of imagery recently created using the Wimberley F-2 Macro Bracket Dual Arm Set-up with the AP-7 Cold Shoe Adpaters to securely hold the Meike MK-MT24 Dual Speedlights. As you can see in the Tan Jumping Spider images there are two catchlights in the eyes, but I find these to be acceptable for invertebrate photography. When photographing frogs however, I do find the presence of two catchlights to be very distracting. As a result, in each of the frog photos below I have evicted one cathclight from each eye for a more pleasing look.

Tan Jumping Spider (Platycryptus undatus)

La Palma Glass Frog (Hyalinobatrachium valerioi) – captive

Argentine Horned Frog (Ceratophrys ornata) – captive

Madagascar Rain Frog (Scaphiophryne madagascariensis) – captive

Tan Jumping Spider (Platycryptus undatus)

The new lightweight design of the Wimberley F-2 Macro Brackets configured into a dual arm set-up is an integral part of my macro photography now and I cannot wait for the invertebrates to emerge from hibernation in the spring so that I can get out and photograph the wealth of subject matter that will be available.

All of today’s featured images were photographed using a Nikon D500 with a Nikkor f2.8 105mm Micro Lens (non-VR version) with the exception of the Tan Jumping Spiders whereby I affixed a Raynox DCR-250 Diopter to the Nikkor 105mm Micro Lens for added magnification. The Meike MK-MT24 Speedlights were affixed to the Wimberley F-2 Macro Brackets configured into the dual arm set-up by means of the AP-7 Cold Shoe Flash Adapters.

If you are interested in photographing macro subjects in nature with a dual flash system I highly recommend using the Wimberley F-2 Macro Brackets configured into the dual arm set-up. The sturdy, lightweight design and the simplicity of positioning flash heads allows me to concentrate on my photography and not with the frustrations associated with cheaper, inferior products.