is there something you can buy to attach them together?

FIRST, you will need a lightstand such as this: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bh3.sph/...ID=F56D4DEB2B0 Note that price may vary.

SECOND, you will need an umbrella adapter like tis: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bh3.sph/...#goto_features

THIRD, mount your flash on the hot shot of a SC-17 which is fastened on the umbrella adapter and the other end on your camera's hotshoe. If you don't feel the TTL feature good enough, get a flash meter and use the flash/camera manual mode.

Then, you are ready to shoot.

Hope this answers your question fully.

CK
http://www.cs.mtu.edu/~shene/DigiCam
Nikon Coolpix 950/990/995/2500/4500 user guide

have you done that before?..can you post a pic of it?...i would like to know how soft the pic would look like?....also can you attach a softbox also or only a umbrella?

The above is an adapter that I use frequently. One mounts a hotshoe on the blue circle screw and an umbrella through the hole marked by the yellow circle. The following shows the result where the hotshoe of a SC17 is shown.



Yes, you can. However, you need a small flash adapter. I mostly use Photoflex products. Photoflex has a X-Small dome specially made for 35mm flashes. It is small, and, as a result, cannot achieve the soft effect like a medium or large softbox. It is miles behind the Octodome. However, you certainly can give it a try. The following image shows a SB28 attached to the back of a X-Small softbox. The yellow square marks a special plate for mounting a hotshoe. Photoflex has a newer mounting bracket; however, you need to use Photoflex's adapter,





The following images were taken with (LEFT) direct flash, (MIDDLE) umbrella and (RIGHT) X-small softbox. All light sources are placed 45 degree above and in front of the subject. However, I don't think this is a fair comparison because the softbox being used is very small compared with the size of the umbrella. In general, the larger the light source you have, the better (i.e., softer) the image you will get.

Hope this helps.

CK
http://www.cs.mtu.edu/~shene/DigiCam
Nikon Coolpix 950/990/995/2500/4500 user guide

shene, thanks a lot...i was wondering if you had examples on people?...instead of objects....thanks

To "mrdinh"

Although you have a great avatar, can you reduce the size to what the rules say...I'm tired of having to scroll the extra distance every time you post a message. The rule for avatars (seen when you go into your profile and add an image):

"its width can be no greater than 80 pixels, a height no greater than 80 pixels and a file size no more than 6kB."

Yours is 197x250 pixels and almost 10K.

mike peat, is that better?

Great informative thread!
Shene, is the thread on the adapter ( your blue circle mark) a standard 1/4 ? do you think it’s strong enough to hold a Metz 45 ?