Small body, flash too big?

M_digicapt wrote:

... I'm still inclined to go for a cheap flash, before I get the better TTL flash.

Here's the thing. Nearly every TTL flash can be used in M mode.  None of the M flashes can be used in TTL.  Buying twice is right for some folks, but generally speaking, if you want to shoot events (parties, weddings, kids running around the house), TTL makes life a whole lot easier.

I mostly shoot in manual mode, with old manual lenses. It'll take some time to figure things out, but I'm sure I'll get the hang of it.

Just my experience, but having to deal with stop-down metering, manual focus, and manual aperture and manual flash power, manual flash zoom, and sticking below my sync speed is more of a PITA than I'd really want to deal with in an event situation.

It's doable if I'm not moving and my subject isn't moving, and I don't plan on getting thin DoF in brighter ambient or stopping motion with fill flash (vs. killing the ambient and freezing with the flash).  But those aren't conditions that are common for me with on-camera flash.

So I'll probably need to get a bracket for these flashes or find a smaller model.

You may not need one. Some folks can still handle the heavier flash on top of a lighter camera.  Brackets are going to make everything bigger/bulkier, and that's not what most of us moved to mirrorless for.  Also, traditionally, brackets are mostly used for portrait orientation shooting to get the flash above the camera, rather than to the side, but if you get a flash with a 360º swivel head and bounce, this becomes far less of a requirement. And brackets don't really give you that much lens/flash separation.

You might also find it easier to simply cable the flash to the camera, shoot with your camera in the right hand, and your flash in your left hand. I've done it with a 5DMkII and 580EXII while roaming the halls of Comic-Con.   And there's alwaysstrobe-on-a-stick.