Here are a couple of pictures showing two different configurations.
Orbis Ring Flash and Arm
The arm is attached to the back of the Orbis with a 1/4"-3/8" spud, 3/8"-1/4" adapter, and flash cold shoe epoxied to the Orbis above the ridges. This is a disassembled unit:
Orbis Ring Flash with Arm
With the original design, the Orbis, flash and trigger (cable or radio) mount to the arm at one location; the bottom of the trigger. When used hand held, the flash is only held in by friction and Orbis advises holding both the flash and the ring flash at the same time. I find this to be awkward. When attached to the arm, the whole unit flops around, putting stress on the flash shoe.
So I took a Vello cold shoe, sanded the top flat, and epoxied it to the back of the Orbis just above the ridges. This allows attachment of a bracket to the Orbis for a more secure assembly.
With the Orbis arm, I made a couple of modifications. I drilled and tapped a threaded hole between the two holes on the bottom part of the bracket. This will allow use of a single knob to hold the two pieces together. The other knob is then used to hold the Orbis at the attached cold shoe. To provide space, I use a 1/4"-3/8" adapter and 3/8"-1/4" spud (used for lighting attachments). To allow the upper part of the bracket to be lowered for large cameras (as when I use the battery grip on my E-M1), I lengthened the slot. I used a drill press, so it's a little sloppy, but it gets the job done. Could have used a mill, but just don't have one of those lying around the house.
I like using the Orbis without attaching it to the camera; I can then use it as an off camera flash for slightly different lighting. So I just wanted a bracket that would hold the flash and Orbis together without worrying about the flash falling out of the Orbis.
Orbis with iShoot bracket
I like this setup because it's easy to hold using the bracket, and it securely holds the flash and Orbis together.
Orbis with iShoot bracket
I use an iShoot L-bracket (eBay), an S-bracket that I pulled from a crappy twin flash bracket (also eBay), and a D-ring screwed into the bottom of the iShoot bracket (for my Rapid sling).
This is my go to solution; I rarely use the Orbis arm because I like the flexibility I get from the flash and camera being separate. I can stick this on a light stand, hand hold it, carry it with the sling. The bracket assembly provides a secure and comfortable handle. The only drawback is that the bottom part of the iShoot bracket is a series of holes instead of a slot. It's possible the bottom of the trigger will not be flush; just don't over tighten at the bottom. Again, a mill would be nice.
Either of these solutions solves the stability issue with the Orbis. I don't worry about my flash falling out or the unit wobbling around and stressing the hot shoe. So I love using this, and it goes to a lot of events.
One other thing, since the flash head is shoved up into the Orbis, you can't use gel holders or hard gels (if you like to gel your flash...I do). So I just tape gel strips to the head before assembly.
Hope you all enjoy this.
