I recently purchased a nanoFlash and I am a little puzzled by the lack of an on/off switch. My current project entails numerous short takes with anything from one to ten minutes between shots. To conserve battery power I turn off the camera and unplug the nanoFlash between shots. This is a little tedious and I have already snagged a dangling lead as I ventured through vegetation. For such a sophisticated and versatile device this means of powering seems a little crude. It is even more puzzling when I read that the first nanoFlashes had switches, later units had non-functional switches and current units have no switch at all.

I have not finalized my setup re brackets and cables etc as I wanted some field experience first. Is there any reason why I should not install a switch somewhere?

I feel your pain :)

To make things even worse, the current firmware (and AFAIK, the incoming Beta) have rendered the Power Save mode inoperable...Let's hope CD will restore it ASAP.

As to your own ON/OFF hw switch, I can see no reason to prevent you from incorporating one.

I completely agree, as CD already knows. With no on/off switch at least the power safe option should work. I cannot think of any other device of such quality (or of any quality at all) that you have to switch off by taking the plug off.

I recently purchased a nanoFlash and I am a little puzzled by the lack of an on/off switch.

I don't have a NanoFlash but I am thinking of buying one. I would think not having an on/off switch is indeed strange.

I'm also on the verge of ordering one. A short Hirose-to-Hirose cable with a nice stiff switch in the middle seems like an easy project, even for the electrically-declined, however a nicely-made accessory switch would probably be a welcome addition to nanoflash.net's collection of add-ons.

Best,
Aaron

PS: I'd love to know why there isn't simply a switch on the device. That does seem an awfully odd omission. :-?

I make a small inline switch for the NF.

It is a pretty expensive to make. The Hirose plug is very pricy and hard to solder (very small pins) the switch I use is a slide switch similar to the on/off on a EX camera.

I mill a small plastic box from it out of solid plastic. I can not find a good quality small switch pre made.

I use these myself and have made a few as part of custom cables for shooters. Usually the other end is a D-tap.

I have not found a great demand for these, but if you are interested contact me, or post here.

If a lot of people would like these it would be less expensive to make them in batches.

olof@westsideav.com

I believe that the reason the switch was taken out was that many users accidentally switched the nano off far too often in the middle of a take by bumping it.That was what was explained to me when I bought mine anyway. It is a crude way of dealing with it but it does guarantee no lost takes due to that sort of error.

Perhaps the on off function can be moved to the play or stop button and it can get held down for a few seconds for example.

Perhaps the on off function can be moved to the play or stop button and it can get held down for a few seconds for example.

OFF - yes, it could work. But ON - how on the earth?

The reason that the on/off switch was eliminated is that it was of such inferior quality that it was failing after only a couple of uses.

Jeff

Hey Piotr. No electrical engineer here and not sure whether CD can do it but - I have an Archos, Blackberry,Laptop and many other gadgets that are turned on and off using the same button. Hold down and it's on. Hold down and it's off. Power is always connected of course.

Thanks for the feedback.

I bought the nanoFlash bundle that is considered to be a starter kit. It is very useful for that but I soon found that I miss an on/off switch. I would prefer a toggle switch because you can see at a glance whether it is on or off. Slide switches such as used on the EX3 although hard to knock can be very vague.

I once purchased a small well-made toggle switch at a flea market. To actuate this switch you first had to raise the toggle against spring pressure then move the toggle to the alternative position. Releasing the toggle locked it in place. It was impossible to knock on or off, however I have never seen another one like it. Does anyone know if they are still made and if so where to get them?

For many of us NOT having a switch is one less thing to go wrong. The early nanos had a switch and the forum consensus at that time was we were better off without it. Thinking here is: if you are using a reasonably sized battery and working on making shots it is best to have the unit powered up while you work. When you shutdown the camera for a reset or break simply unplug the nano. Adding a switch to the power cable is a fine solution if that works better for you. Having the power save feature restored would be ideal.... that fell victim to resolving some other issues and adding requested features. I am sure they will figure out how to restore it in a future firmware release.

Yes totally agree.. seemed there were problems with the switch.. and it was another thing to forget,or go wrong! but the power save mode was a good alternative.. great to have that back.. even if it might interfere with the Nano making a good cafe latte.. :)

I once purchased a small well-made toggle switch at a flea market. To actuate this switch you first had to raise the toggle against spring pressure then move the toggle to the alternative position. Releasing the toggle locked it in place. It was impossible to knock on or off, however I have never seen another one like it. Does anyone know if they are still made and if so where to get them?

Alco has a complete line of locking toggle switches, including the kind where you have to raise the bat before you can switch states. DigiKey, AlliedElec, and Newark all carry pretty much the whole alco line.

Search for "alcoswitch" in Google.

Billy

Thanks Billy,

I have found a local retailer with stock and I plan to check them out tomorrow. I will also "google" alcoswitch.

Alastair,

You might find my post re: False Triggers interesting—

"But, on a positive note, after my nano fried itself (a story too long to tell), I insisted that their repair tech re-engage the On/Off switch. I love it! CD has long held that they received a bad batch of switches, therefore they disabled them. Not sure why they didn't change suppliers..."

Do you not have a Power button at all on your NF? Have you contacted CD about this?

Jeff

Now just a minute! What in the world is all this comment about the absence of a nanoFlash off on switch!
And by the way, I have Olof's switch, which he referenced above. But the absence of a switch is such a minor issue (not even an inconvenience, given the necessary gyrations to prevent battery drain promulgated by the EX-1) with such a superb device as the nano - and really, fellows, it is nothing in comparison to the TOTAL ABOMINATION of the EX-1 battery leakage. I have sent my EX-1 back to Sony twice because of egregious and major malfunctions straight out of the box. The second send back
($248 each time with full insurance and decent transit times from Austin Texas) resulted in the supposed
fix of the battery drain. BALONEY! Until the fix, as all of you know, the battery would drain down with no use within a period of hours. After the "fix" it is now a matter of days before "by by" to the charged battery!

What is this Mickey Mouse! Soooo, I remove the Swit battery from the camera immediately every time that I'm not shooting, and all is fine - and I unplug the cable supplying the nano, which in comparison is
such a miniscule issue.

I have two other cameras from Sony's Broadcast Division, and my wife and I have four other Sony
prosumer cameras and two other branded cameras. The batteries are left on all of these these cameras for years, with NO battery drain. Nuff said.

I'm on a beach in Fiji. I'm gonna be shooting an 8-hour time lapse. I'm trying to be extra careful with batteries prior to the shoot, I'll need every last watt. I have my Nano cable unplugged, with the Hirose connector dangling. (I keep the D-tap connector plugged into the Anton Bauer Gold mount.) I set the camera down... carefully... setup the tripod... then, camera up... plug in the Hirose connector... and now I've got that sugar-fine Fijian sand in the Nano's power connector. Nice!

Jeff..

Its sort of hard to feel sorry for you.. :) I get acid rain in the plug..

Jeff and Robin,
you should get together and look after each other ;-),

Cheers
;-)

ha! yes good idea..

I,ll de sand the plugs with one hand.. holding a margarita with the other.. dirty job.. but someone has to do it..

The supplied power adapter is so lightweight and flimsy I am afraid that it will not last long with the repeated disconnects. An on and off switch seems like a reasonable request.

Dear Glenn,

The supplied AC Power supply is lightweight by design.

It is a switching power supply and does not need the bulk of an inefficient transformer.

The wire that connects the power supply is thin and lightweight, but is more than adequate to carry the 0.47 amps that the nanoFlash draws.

The connector is a top notch, expensive, Hirose connector. It is, by no means, a weak point.

If you doubt that the Hirose connector is not up to the task, try wiggling the connector side to side while the nanoFlash is on. There will not be a loss of power.

Jeff..

Its sort of hard to feel sorry for you.. :) I get acid rain in the plug..

Robyn,

I saw your name in the credits on a PBS doc a couple of nights ago. I think it was about the Japanese Sen Toku-class I-401 aircraft carrier submarines of WWII. It was beautifully shot. What was your role?

Aloha,

Jeff

When I first got the Nanoflash I missed some shots I wanted after a quick battery change and neglecting / forgetting / assuming the power switch was still "ON".
There may be switches on my lectrosonics wireless but I've never used them for the same reason - when I have a battery on the camera I want to be ready to roll immediately.
The power drain of the nano (and the radios) seems negligible, in my world not at all a concern and I can always unplug the d tap or hirose if necessary. If I had a toggle switch on the Nano by now it would have a piece of tape on it lest someone accidently turn it off.

Robyn,

I saw your name in the credits on a PBS doc a couple of nights ago. I think it was about the Japanese Sen Toku-class I-401 aircraft carrier submarines of WWII. It was beautifully shot. What was your role?

Aloha,

Jeff

Yes that was an interesting shoot.. I was the DP for all the Japanese stuff .. shot on my HDX900.. thanks for the kind words!

I have now added a switch to my nanoFlash. While I was at it I added a battery holder as well. To turn the switch on or off the toggle has to be raised first which is something that is very difficult to do accidently.

To attach the combination to my EX3 I fitted a hingeing “tongue” to the back of the nanoflash that snaps into the back of my EX3 base plate. It uses the same mechanismas I use for a lightweight shoulder support.. When the nanoFlash is removed the tongue can be folded down for storage.

An advantage of the hingeing tongue is that the nanoFlash can be tilted forward for low level use or tilted back for more conventional use. Should everything work as Ihope the pieces will be cleaned up, anodized and dyed black.
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Hi Alastair:
Very nice quality workmanship indeed. I can tell you've put a lot of thought into the design to make it have the smallest foot print as possible. I like the fact that you can modify the position of your Nano Flash while it is attached to the back of your camera. I have a mounting setup for my XDR on the back of my XL H1 and it is a very solid mount, but I cannot tilt it back forward toward the front of the camera to change the weight balance and cable positioning, which I would like to be able to do on occasion. Can you post some more close up images of your "hinging tongue" assembly so I could have a closer look at what you did ? I would like to make a modification bracket for my existing XDR mount.

Hello Alastair,
This seems to be a very elegant solution! Nicely done!
Cheers

Thanks Mark and thanks Luben for your kind words,

Mark, the photo of the back of my nanoFlash probably shows it all.

As you have probably guessed I made the base plate for my EX3 myself and included
a couple of features I have not seen in other models. As I intended to use Nikon lenses I built in a simple lens support that also acts as a way of supporting the left side of the camera. In an attempt to reduce weight I cut away some of the metal from the rear of the base plate. I realized that if I kept the sides of the cutout parallel I could slide things into this space. The shoulder mount slips into this space, the sides of the cut out prevent sideways movement and I added a pad to prevent vertical movement. A sprung clip catches the tongue when it is fully inserted. To remove I raise the clip and pull the tongue out.

The hinge unit as I made it has three components plus fasteners. Firstly a piece of channel that attaches to the nanoFlash using the holes provided. The tongue was made out of a flat strip and machined to match my base plate. To hinge the tongue to the nanoFlash I used a short piece of channel attached to the tongue. This channel was narrow enough to fit between the legs of the first and with enough space to fit fibre friction washers between the mating surfaces. I used screws and spring washers for hinge pins. When I was happy that there was enough friction I used a “Wick-in Loctite ” on the screw threads to maintain the adjustment.