Any way to get Gopro or its likes to work with strobes?

[DazedAndConfuzed]

Heading to Socorro, I usually bring a few point and shoot cameras, my main setup with dome & strobes, another one that's much better for macros, and maybe a action cam where I can swap out the strobes for a couple of video lights. But hearing how they fleece photographers, I thought of leaving the big setup behind and use the action cam. Just wondering if there is a way to have the action cam fire off the flash. I thought there would be some gizmo that these cameras can trigger (via underwater wifi?) and the strobe fires off full blast, relying on the camera's TTL to close the shutter when enough light has flooded the sensor.

 

[Barmaglot]

No, it's not possible. Even if you could fire a strobe, action cameras lack the mechanical shutter needed to sync with one, and they don't have the fancy fast sensors needed to do it in e-shutter mode.

 

[DazedAndConfuzed]

No, it's not possible. Even if you could fire a strobe, action cameras lack the mechanical shutter needed to sync with one, and they don't have the fancy fast sensors needed to do it in e-shutter mode.

That's pretty lame, I thought electronic shutter is how all cheap cameras work.

Anyway, thanks, will reassess my options

 

[Barmaglot]

That's pretty lame, I thought electronic shutter is how all cheap cameras work.

Not all electronic shutters are created equal. Most scan their output line by line, and this scanning takes time - in most cases, longer than the pulse of a Xenon tube strobe. Some are fast enough to keep up with strobes - for example, Nikon Z8 and Z9 omit a mechanical shutter altogether, and OM Systems OM-1 can sync with strobes in both e-shutter and mechanical shutter modes, albeit the former is more limited in sync speeds. Global shutter sensors what read the entire image at once do exist, but they compromise image quality and thus are used mainly in industrial equipment. Sony A9 III is the first and thus far only consumer camera with such a sensor, and it can sync with strobes at any speed up to its maximum 1/80,000s, although at that point the strobes output is severely curtailed

 

[DazedAndConfuzed]

Not all electronic shutters are created equal. Most scan their output line by line, and this scanning takes time - in most cases, longer than the pulse of a Xenon tube strobe. Some are fast enough to keep up with strobes - for example, Nikon Z8 and Z9 omit a mechanical shutter altogether, and OM Systems OM-1 can sync with strobes in both e-shutter and mechanical shutter modes, albeit the former is more limited in sync speeds. Global shutter sensors what read the entire image at once do exist, but they compromise image quality and thus are used mainly in industrial equipment. Sony A9 III is the first and thus far only consumer camera with such a sensor, and it can sync with strobes at any speed up to its maximum 1/80,000s, although at that point the strobes output is severely curtailed

A strobe dumping it's full output would last more in the 1/500s range, allowing any cheap line evening camera to keep it's shutter open until it recognizes enough light came in and end its exposure.

 

[Barmaglot]

A strobe dumping it's full output would last more in the 1/500s range, allowing any cheap line evening camera to keep it's shutter open until it recognizes enough light came in and end its exposure.

Indeed - with a mechanical shutter. Reading out a sensor line by line while collecting light takes considerably longer.

 

[Seaweed Doc]

Your best bet is video lights with the GoPro. I used them for years before finally upgrading.

 

[DazedAndConfuzed]

Your best bet is video lights with the GoPro. I used them for years before finally upgrading.

That would be one of my backup plan, but with 2x3000 lumen wide beam torches, I don't know if that will light up pelagic subjects like the strobes. Or do I use the red filter and shoot everything in natural light?

 

[Barmaglot]

That would be one of my backup plan, but with 2x3000 lumen wide beam torches, I don't know if that will light up pelagic subjects like the strobes.

It won't. 3000lm is enough only for macro and very close-focus wide-angle. Strobes are multiple orders of magnitude more powerful than that - you need about half a million lumen of output to match the peak luminous flux of a strobe.

 

[DazedAndConfuzed]

I will probably use the dual strobes for my point and shoot to take stills. Then attach the video lights to the elbow of the strobe arms so I will get some lighting on video shots of pelagic close encounters.