I've always liked to keep my speed lights high above the lens. In fact, I had brackets and gizmos that way back in my Mamiya C330 and RB67 days, but I digress. I developed a bracket for my Olympus C2000Z using a Vivitar 283, and when I got my Olympus C2500L and FL-40 I wanted fully automatic flash capability off the camera. The problem was that Olympus took forever to release the cable and external bracket.

When Olympus finally did released the BK-01 flash bracket and cable for the C2500L, I set about the task of modifying them to work with a Stroboframe Quick Flip. This took just a bit of nerve because Olympus gets a pretty penny for these accessories. I had already resolved myself to cutting up the bracket and cable, and was determined not to modify the flash or camera.

The first trick was the cable itself. It was too short to work on anything but the BK-01. So I would just have to lengthen it. But I wanted to use the hot shoe end of the cable with other speed lights that connected with a standard PC sync cord too. So where could I find a cable with the right number of conductors and small, plug / socket? Turns out that a plane old PC Compatible Mouse/Keyboard extension cable is the perfect thing. So I started with a 6 foot Belkin F2N035-06 . . . more cable than I needed, but at $4 I just discarded what I didn't need.

If you're thinking of doing this for the E-10, you won't need to mess with the cable connector. The E-10 has a PC sync connector on the side of the camera that will work with your studio or portable speed lights. The C2500L only has a hot shoe connector.

A little cutting here, some solder there, and some shrink wrap to finish it off and I had a nice cable on the Stroboframe with a plug on the end. The camera end of the arrangement could be attached quickly and If I wanted to use studio lights, just plug it into another modified mouse cable - this time with just a PC sync connector on the end.

Next was the problem of how to mount the FL-40 on the frame. Turns out that the top of the BK-01 is held onto the handle casting by 4 small screws, concealed by the adhesive backed vinyl grip tape. When I pealed back the vinyl and removed the screws the entire hot shoe head come right off. Then all I needed was a way to mount it again.

The solution here turned to be a trip to the local Lowe's store for a few PVC (yes, as in plumbing) fittings. It only took a threaded pipe plug and a threaded-to-cement adapter, a 1" 3/8 bolt and nut, and 4, #2 screws to hold the hot shoe head to the PVC fittings. The arrangement is shown below.


View from the front		View from the rear

Now, the really neat part of all this is that this arrangement works just fine with the new Olympus E-10 too. In fact, it works MUCH better with the E-10. As most C2500L / FL-40 users know, the camera has a nasty habit of over exposing the subjects when you have a horizontal shot of two people, side-by-side in a dark room. It meters right between the subjects, providing perfect illumination of the wall 20' feet away and turning the people into ghosts. The C3030Z and the E-10 use a more advanced algorithm to evaluate the TTL image, preventing that problem in most cases.

Here is daughter Kathy, rotating the flash from horizontal mode to vertical.


Flash perfectly centered above the lens in a vertical shot.		Flash perfectly centered above the lens in a horizontal shot.

HQ, Program mode, the FL-40 (as a fill flash) seems to run just a bit hot on the E-10. For this shot, the flash was backed off by 2/3 EV. File size 677K.		HQ, Program mode. In this shot, the flash exposure was not adjusted. File size 707K.

The next thing you should know about the E-10 and the FL-40 is that the images produced when the camera is set for normal sharpness and normal contrast seem a bit too hard for "people shots". At least for my taste. I don't expect the E-10 to produce the images I've seen on John Cowley's site from the Fuji S1, but I think it comes closer when the sharpness is set to soft, and in some cases you may want to set the contrast to low as well.

Here are a couple of samples. The reduced size images here really don't tell the story very well, but if you download the original files you'll see the difference.


Grandson Weston, FL-40 fill flash, no EV compensation, normal sharpness, normal contrast. Click for original image. File size 620K. A few more snapshots of Weston here.		In this shot, the flash was compensated -1/3 EV, sharpness was set to soft, and contrast was set to low. Click for original image. File size 603K

One last note. I am sharing the information above for discussion purposes only. I'm sure Olympus would want me to say that modifying any of their equipment will void the warranty and that any such activity is undertaken at your own risk. Please don't send me Email asking for the connector pin-out or soldering instructions. With all due respect, if you're qualified to make the modifications, you'll have no trouble ohming out the connector and making the new cable. I'd sure hate for anybody to damage their camera or flash.