Notices

I'm trying to write a simple app to strobe the LED flash. I've started by playing about with the flashlight app's source.

I've got it strobing the LED, but the intensity seems *much* lower than when using the flash in the native camera app.

The maximum I can set V4L2_CID_FLASH_INTENSITY is 19 (which is the maximum when I query it). This just doesn't seem as bright as the built-in.

Any ideas anyone? (even where to find good documentation would be helpful)

UPDATE: so i sorted it out, and this is what I've been up to:

http://doitdifferent.wordpress.com/2...-remote-flash/

If folk are interested in the details, I can get them online if anyone wants to take this further (maybe integrate it into Shutter, if the maintainer reads this..)

D'oh realised where I was going wrong. I was closing the device before the strobe had finishing, implicitly killing the flash.

Cool... You gonna release it?

Maybe if there's interest, here's what I've been doing with it:

http://doitdifferent.wordpress.com/2...-remote-flash/

Cool idea having fun eh , I have a D80 and can muck around with the settings later this week. Right now swamped a bit at work ...

If you want the code to flash the LED at full brightness and how to tie it in with Shutter for the shutter release, let me know and I'll get it posted up.

I thought syncing the flash and the shutter release would be awkward, but the N900 can flash up to half a second, so it's ok. Of course the extra light throws off the camera's metering, but it's easy to correct. I just put it in aperture priority, set up the shot (so it doesn't focus when triggered) and knock the exposure compensation down 1 or 2 EV.

Did you ever have the time to post the code? I fancy getting this working with the Canon 5d Mrk II if I can.

Cheers in advance

Hi, sorry I'm mad busy at the mo writing a paper for a deadline, so no time yet.

However, a 5d doesn't have an IR receiver for remote shutter release built in, does it? Though you can buy a transmitter/receiver set, though if you can afford that I suspect you already have flashguns :-)

Feel free to prove me wrong though, that info's just from a quick google.

The idea of the N900 as a remote flash sounds cool.

Another nice geeky application that should be possible is a morse code app, where you enter a word or a sentence and the flash-LEDs send out the morse code.

The code you've all been waiting for:

http://doitdifferent.wordpress.com/2...-remote-flash/