Do you use speedlights?  Then you might be interested in this new little gadget that has been kindly provided to me by Snapper Stuff in the UK.

Invented by the same guy from Enlight Photo who created the Orbis ring flash speedlight attachment, the frio (no capital letters here, thank you) is described as the "world's first and only universal hotshoe to tripod adapter with Dual Lock security".  Great, what does this all mean?

Basically, this small chunk of blue plastic and metal allows you to quickly and securely mount your hotshoe gear (not just speedlights, but perhaps mics, light panels etc) to a tripod or light stand.  Nothing unusual there, but this is a pretty well thought-out piece of kit.

Firstly, it's plastic.  As someone who has had many issues with speedlights mis-firing or not firing at all in wet, rainy conditions due to the contacts being shorted, I can appreciate this - in theory, shorts are less likely to happen using the frio than using my usual metal cold shoe adapters.  The 1/4"-20 screw mount of the frio is metal, so no worries about longevity there.

Secondly, this "dual lock" system.  As it's a universal mount, it has to be designed to accomodate not only Nikon speedlights, but Canon speedlites and other accessories.  There is a small detent for the speedlight locking pin, but as the position of this can vary among brands, it's not a snug fit.  To counter this there's a secondary push-click (or "Slip'n'Click' in frio terminology) catch - once the speedlight is on, it's not coming off unless you really want it to.

Thirdly, there are some nice touches such as a lanyard point to hang other accessories from (think radio slaves like Pocket Wizards or Skyports).

The shoe itself is large enough to handle the SB-900, which has a thicker-than-average foot.  It's very small and light, so no excuse not to have a few of these slung in your camera bag if you're out shooting on location.

• Weight: 13g
• Dimensions: 50mm x 25mm x 18mm
• Colour: gun-metal blue
• Screw thread: 1/4" (20 TPI) screw socket
• Material: ABS plastic

So, is the frio perfect?  Well, not quite.  Obviously it's not adjustable, so you may want to use it in conjunction with a normal light stand umbrella adapter (in fact, the frio promotional images show it being used in just this way).  It's also not quite as snug a fit as I'd like; it holds the speedlight securely enough but there's still a little play in it.

Consider this a much-enhanced and secure replacement for the tripod screw on the bottom of your speedlight's supplied plastic stand attachment, and you won't go far wrong.

Shooting in the rain. The frio should help stop hotshoe shorts in conditions like this!

Incoming searches:

• frio lanyard point
• frio speedlite
• Frio Universal Dual Locking
• orbis frio universal hotshoe mount