Modifying a S2 to have a Hot Shoe or PC connection?

right, i was wondering if anyone has modified a S2 to have a hot shoe or a PC connection so that they can trigger a bigger flash with out using the onboard flash?

or if anyone has a schematic of the S2 so i can possibly try and work it out for my self

Monkeymicra wrote in post #3021914
right, i was wondering if anyone has modified a S2 to have a hot shoe or a PC connection so that they can trigger a bigger flash with out using the onboard flash?

or if anyone has a schematic of the S2 so i can possibly try and work it out for my self

I'm not saying it can't be done, but I sure as heck would just get me an SLR, or a compact with a hot shoe before I would attempt such a modification!

Or a digital slave. I suspect that at least part of the electronics for actually charging the on-board flash are within the main body, so trying to tap into the leads to the flash tube wouldn't be sufficient, or especially safe.

what i want ot acheive is to have an external flash trigering when i press the button, but i dont want the onboard flash to fire or get in the photo, so i can just side light somethnig with the flash.

i have asked similar question about getting a flash or stuff to acheive what i want but no or no real answer,

https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthre​ad.php?t=240847

https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthre​ad.php?t=240847

the people in the shops (when i enquired about having and external flash before modifying my camera) were well......... the first guy i spoke to said he knew nothnig about flashes to assist me unless i know what i wanted as the "flash guy" was on holiday and the other shop said it would be impossible unless i spent £300+ on a canon flash then another £100 on accessories. i thought that was a bit rich and it still wouldnt do what i want,

all i want is an external flash and no one is able ot give me a deffinate answer yes or no

If you want to keep the on-board flash out of the photo, just put a reflector in front of it, directing the light toward your slave trigger and away from the subject. A piece of white cardboard (not paper) should suffice. But really, the people in the Small Flash & Studio Lighting forum are mostly if not entirely SLR users and unfamiliar with the S2. Something like this, for instance should work. Or you could add something like this to a regular flash.

What about combining Jon's suggestion of using cardboard to block the onboard flash and mounting this (http://www.bhphotovide​o.com …ghType=category​Navigation) in there and having it run to an external flash. I am thinking about something something along those lines for macro photography using my S3 but funds are kind of low at the moment.

CV1

I would imagine that if you actually know a little about electronics, you could disassemble your flash unit, as there are 4 screws underneath it, and then determine which wire is the signaling wire to the flash. I doubt there's more than 3 or 4 wires going into the on-board flash.

But this is something I'd definitely not advocate nor would I advise, even if you do know what you're doing really. Your best bet is probably those already mentioned slave units, since you could easily mess up your whole camera if you dont know what you are doing with it internally.

It would have been nice if the S2 had a hot shoe, but it doesn't. I knew this when I bought it, and I'm sure that most everyone who purchased one were also aware of it. There's lots of ways to use slave flash units with this camera, and with dang good results too. But I personally think the modification you're speaking of is just down right unreasonable. Oh there's no doubt that there's people who can do it. Heck, there's always somebody that can do anything. But is the camera worth it? I really like my S2, but my answer to that woud be an overwhelming NO!

Gary

Without a background in electronics, the only relevant comment I can make is to agree with Jon's suggestion of using a slave flash and blocking the one built-in with cardboard. I've used this process with moderate success on my A95 - but ultimately, the use of a hot shoe/PC socket was one of the factors that drove me to upgrade to a dSLR.

Hi
I have been using an old fashioned automatic flash unit - which I previously used for a long time with a non-digital SLR - with my S2IS for some months now.
I use it with a slave unit which I bought in the local camera shop for €12.00.
You need to set your camera to 'manual' so that there is no preliminary flash.
You can then turn the on-camera flash to it's weakest setting, which means that it has little or no effect on the photograph, but at the same time, is bright enough to activate the slave unit.
With a little practice this arrangement works very well.
Regards
Padylyn

Had a guy come in trying to do it an bought a bunch of odds n ends. Did he do it? Idk cause he never came back. I heard it can be done though. BUt like i said, heard, havent seen anything.

In an age of modifying and upgrades... I too have wondered at questions as to how to turn my/a camera into a "enhanced" version in this way and others; for some of us are, at times, constrained with a "small compact camera".
There seems to be very few people either doing it, or, maybe they are out their, but quiet, in a mad scientist type, with Frankenstein cameras, forever wrongly dismissed for there ways.
If anyone finds an in depth forum or group on this, let me know!

There is the Yahoo Canon Digicam Hacking Group (groups.yahoo.com), but it's mainly concerned with software/firmware. Generally hardware hacking your camera like this will be much more trouble than it's worth.After all, in addition to the EOS DSLRs, the PowerShot G series and Pro 1 also have hot shoes.

Jon wrote in post #3028566
There is the Yahoo Canon Digicam Hacking Group (groups.yahoo.com), but it's mainly concerned with software/firmware. Generally hardware hacking your camera like this will be much more trouble than it's worth.After all, in addition to the EOS DSLRs, the PowerShot G series and Pro 1 also have hot shoes.

I guess if someone just wanted to do this as chalenge, then so be it. But with the price of some dSLRs barely higher than the S3 it's self, I just don't know why anyone would want to do it. I love my S2, but I''m tellin' you boys and girls, the camera just ain't worth it!