Hacking the Sigma EF-500 DG Super strobe : Extra head rotation
The head of the Sigma EF-500 DG Super rotates 180degrees if rotated to the left (photographer’s view) but only 90deg to the right.
I always found that limiting, so since I had the guts spilled on my table trying to figure out the sync port, I decided to modify the head rotation of the flash at the same time.
What follows is my own documentation of what I did to my unit.I will not be responsible if you accidentally destroy your flash, or worse, hurt yourself: capacitors in the flash can hold their charge for a long time waiting for someone to poke them the wrong way.WARNING: This hack will FOR SURE void your warranty. This hack also involves permanently modifying your unit.
This one is quite easy.
On the back half of the body, (the part that houses the buttons, and the screen) there is a plastic protrusion (see image below) which acts as a stop for the head rotation, inboth directions.
It was just a matter of figuring out which direction needed to be cut,
and with a dremmel and rotary saw bit, I ate away the plactic. This is the result:
Kind of hard to see, but the material has been leveled off to the same level as the rest of the case.
Now the head on my Sigma flash turns about 135degrees when rotated to the right.