Re: [photo-3d] Beginner's questions

["Dr. George A. Themelis" <drt-3d@xxxxxxx>]

>I've heard many instances of using an electronic flash with a 
>Realist.  How is the electronic flash triggered from this "HotShoe"?

Very good question Paul!  It puzzled me too at first.

You have to understand how electronic flashes work.
They have two contacts:  One right underneath and the
other on the side.  (Most modern units have more than
one contacts at the bottom because they get more info
from the camera, but, for the Realist, only one contact
will do it, the rest are not used)

The flash will fire if those two contacts are shorted.
(You can try this at home by shorting the two contacts
with a piece of wire but be careful because older
flashes operate in high voltages.)

All a "hot shoe" does is to provide two contacts to match
the flashes contacts.  The camera will then short these
contacts at the instant of the exposure.

The Realist is a mechanical camera (no batteries).  
The arm that opens the shutters ends up touching
a metal contact at the end of its travel.  This
provides the shorting required to trigger the flash.

So a mechanical camera like the Realist will fire
a modern electronic flash, no questions asked!

The only question is how to connect the flash with the
camera.  As Paul mentioned, this is explained in my
Realist book.

Good luck and have fun!!!!

George Themelis