Photo of flash mounted on camera

This is a simple LED flash compatible with the hot shoe in a regular camera. Here it is mounted on a Ricoh GRⅢ, drawing power from its USB port. The LED used is one for phone cameras. I found it on Taobao.

Limitations:

  • The first image out of a burst is darker. This is either because the circuit is not fast enough, or because the LED takes a moment to reach full power.

  • It is nowhere as bright as a regular camera flash, but could be sufficient for close subjects, e.g. when doing a selfie. More testing needed. To increase brightness, a charge pump circuit can be considered.

Parts:

Schematic

The firmware is Arduino compatible.

License

Except where noted otherwise, files are licensed under the WTFPL.

Copyright © 2020 Felix E. Klee

This work is free. You can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the Do What The Fuck You Want To Public License, Version 2, as published by Sam Hocevar. See the COPYING file for more details.