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Hot shoe vs cold shoe
Sep 21, 2020 18:43:52 #
Most digital cameras have a hot shot mount for a flash. If you install a cold shoe made out of metal, will you short out the electronics? Looking for something to attach a laser pointer to, so I can point the camera in the right direction for star photography.
Sep 21, 2020 18:52:27 #
Just use a plastic shim or plastic tape. Also, some metal feet have a distinct clearance such that only the outer edges are low enough to fit under the rails of the shoe ... plenty of clearance above the hot shoe contacts. I fact, nothing happens if you take no precautions but it’s simple enough to implement precautions if it helps you sleep better :-)
Sep 21, 2020 18:55:54 #
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Sep 21, 2020 19:01:44 #
dickparkans wrote:
Most digital cameras have a hot shot mount for a flash. If you install a cold shoe made out of metal, will you short out the electronics? Looking for something to attach a laser pointer to, so I can point the camera in the right direction for star photography.
I’m not sure what you mean by cold shoe, but I have had a silver, metal, Nikon branded, hot shoe cover on my silver Df for several years with no problems.
Sep 21, 2020 19:04:10 #
dickparkans wrote:
Most digital cameras have a hot shot mount for a flash. If you install a cold shoe made out of metal, will you short out the electronics? Looking for something to attach a laser pointer to, so I can point the camera in the right direction for star photography.
Yes, you most likely will short out the camera.
Sep 21, 2020 19:15:12 #
Sep 21, 2020 19:17:12 #
RWR
Loc: La Mesa, CA
dickparkans wrote:
Most digital cameras have a hot shot mount for a flash. If you install a cold shoe made out of metal, will you short out the electronics? Looking for something to attach a laser pointer to, so I can point the camera in the right direction for star photography.
The hot shoe contacts are sub flush - a metal laser foot will not short out the camera.
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Sep 21, 2020 19:34:16 #
Architect1776 wrote:
Yes, you most likely will short out the camera.
There’s no actual current in any of those contacts. They carry only signals. If the signals don’t make sense they’re ignored. Acoarst the central contact carries trigger current, but that comes from the flash ... no flash, no current.
I’ve put all kindza stuff in many brands of multi contact got shoes, including wrong brand multi contact flashes and cords. No problem. My own experience is not “in a bubble”. Complex shoes proliferated in the 1980’s and as a working photographer in contact with many peers, no one I knew ever had a problem.
Sep 21, 2020 19:41:13 #
larryepage
Loc: North Texas area
dickparkans wrote:
Most digital cameras have a hot shot mount for a flash. If you install a cold shoe made out of metal, will you short out the electronics? Looking for something to attach a laser pointer to, so I can point the camera in the right direction for star photography.
Given the way that the control circuitry works, it is extremely unlikely that any sort of problem will result, even if your laser mount does short out the hot shoe. The only case in which I would worry is if Ed Shapiro comes on and indicates that there could be a problem that we haven't foreseen.
Sep 21, 2020 19:54:12 #
I have a metal cold shoe, although I forget why I bought it. It is designed to bridge the hot shoe contacts.
Sep 21, 2020 19:58:15 #
Bill_de wrote:
......metal cold shoe, although I forget why I bought it. It is designed to bridge the hot shoe contacts.
Might consider a different verb ....
Sep 21, 2020 21:48:32 #
The laser is cylindrical and has no foot. I was thinking of getting a support for the laser to sit in.
Sep 22, 2020 05:46:56 #
Leitz
Loc: Solms
dickparkans wrote:
The laser is cylindrical and has no foot. I was thinking of getting a support for the laser to sit in.
The hot shoe contacts are recessed, the plain metal foot is safe to use.
Sep 22, 2020 07:33:54 #
petrochemist
Loc: UK
Mac wrote:
I’m not sure what you mean by cold shoe, but I have had a silver, metal, Nikon branded, hot shoe cover on my silver Df for several years with no problems.
A cold shoe is the same size as a hot shoe but has no electrical contacts. They are often fitted to clamps etc that are intended to support flash units off camera, or field monitors etc.
Sep 22, 2020 07:51:01 #
dickparkans wrote:
The laser is cylindrical and has no foot. I was thinking of getting a support for the laser to sit in.
Not sure how precise your aim needs to be but I mounted an LED flashlight to a couple of cameras using a picatinny (nato) rail to hotshoe which is what that looks like. It was very loose in the shoe. Both cameras have an L bracket so I bolted a small piece of rail to a micro arca clamp (Kirk). That gave me a very solid mounting point. I then got a flashlight to picatinny mount (what you use to hang a flashlight off a pistol and mounted it to the rail. Easy on and off by releasing the Acra clamp and it doesn't move. It also to the side and out of the way. Depending on how bright the laser needs to be you can find them ready to mount on a picatinny rail.
Terry
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