Hey all,

This isn't really a DIY thing but I was wondering whether anyone thought there could be a chance of one of these mini flashes working as a strobe trigger (if it fits in a housing obviously)?

 

https://www.godox.com/product-a/iM20-iM22.html

 

To clarify, I'm not planning on actually doing this, just thinking it could be a potential cheap "emergency backup" option for if my TRT trigger breaks on a trip 😁

Hmm I might not be the knowledgeable one when it comes to those flashy things, but Olympus FL-LM3, which is also a "normal" flash, works fine. I think the major issue with the Godox will be fitting it inside the housing - FL-LM3 only fits because Nauticam designed the housing with the necessary space.

Edited March 23Mar 23 by makar0n

If it fits the housing it will work, turned down to minimum power is fine.  Sony may be an exception ?  this flash only uses the center contact and ground to trigger and is fully manual.  I expect it has significantly more light output than an LED trigger and should have no problem triggering any strobes assuming it points at the fibre optic ports.

2 hours ago, Chris Ross said:

Sony may be an exception ?  this flash only uses the center contact and ground to trigger and is fully manual. 

It's not an issue with the SeaFrogs flash trigger, which is a similar, albeit even more compact and fixed-power flash (not LED).

There are a zillion little strobes on ali express that might work, they will be much stronger than any LED trigger.

Trying to get the output aligned to the window for the fiber might be the biggest issue.

Bill

16 hours ago, Chris Ross said:

If it fits the housing it will work, turned down to minimum power is fine.  Sony may be an exception ?  this flash only uses the center contact and ground to trigger and is fully manual.  I expect it has significantly more light output than an LED trigger and should have no problem triggering any strobes assuming it points at the fibre optic ports.

 Yes, Sony would be the exception. That little strobe does look like something that will work if it fits. 

@Yorkie88 It appears this works with the Sony A6700 in a Nauticam housing. One of our members @boduoguo has a picture of his set up in a thread about the Sony A6700.

There isn't quite as much space in the A7RV compared to the 6700 but I found a smaller looking flash, the MedaLight F1S, so I ordered one to try out - will report back if it fits!

It fits easily in the NA-A7RV housing, it's not much bigger than the TRT trigger.

It doesn't line up with the holes to trigger it straight away, but just putting my finger in front of it bounced it off enough to trigger my MF-2 so I'll see if I can 3d print something and stick foil to it - which is pretty much what my seafrogs housing seems to use to bounce the light to the fibre ports.

There's a slant at the front of the flash which could be a good place to put something simple on.

It's never going to do anything fancy but it could be a cheap backup option at around $55 AUD.

This is a great find. A quick check on taobao (or aliexpress) shows the GoDox IM20 and similar other ones, e.g. Zeniko EF04. I already have the Nauticam trigger, but one of these would be a great backup. A quick comparison on sizes:

Nauticam trigger for sony: 52 x 36 x 26.5

GoDox iM20: 39 x 38 x 29.5

Zeniko ZF04: 35 x 30 x 29

Not sure if any of these can do speed sync, but as a backup, should be fine.

Kind regards,

Ajay

On 4/19/2025 at 1:35 PM, Ajay said:

This is a great find. A quick check on taobao (or aliexpress) shows the GoDox IM20 and similar other ones, e.g. Zeniko EF04. I already have the Nauticam trigger, but one of these would be a great backup. A quick comparison on sizes:

Nauticam trigger for sony: 52 x 36 x 26.5

GoDox iM20: 39 x 38 x 29.5

Zeniko ZF04: 35 x 30 x 29

Not sure if any of these can do speed sync, but as a backup, should be fine.

Kind regards,

Ajay

Yeah, I was looking at the IM20 initially but then found this one which looked smaller (was concerned about the height mostly) so went with that one:

34L x 18H x 29W

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005008042088749.html

It's not adjustable in any way, so you can't reduce power to save battery or anything though.

Cool. If you get it, please update us on the performance. I will do so if I get the Zeniko one. I must say that I can only think of all this as a backup, since (a) already have the Nauticam trigger and carry spare battery, and (b) these small flash guys have mixed reviews. The amazon page for the Medalight F1S claims it is frequently returned; it also lists the re-cycle time as 6 sec, although the Aliexpress page seems to show 0.9s.

Kind regards

Ajay

Bought a GODOX iM20 off Amazon, looked like a great solution but doesn't fit inside my Olympus PT-EP08 housing. Was trying to replace the FL-LM2 I normally use.Looks like the housing has a more shaped recipitcal to match the Oly flash rather than the boxy Godox one, oh well.

I’ve thought about these as a backup or primary. Has anyone found a miniflash that emulates Canon for rear curtain tricks? The Nauticam TTL is like $350 for something that looks a lot like a $5 Tmall flash.

On 4/21/2025 at 1:23 PM, Ajay said:

Cool. If you get it, please update us on the performance. I will do so if I get the Zeniko one. I must say that I can only think of all this as a backup, since (a) already have the Nauticam trigger and carry spare battery, and (b) these small flash guys have mixed reviews. The amazon page for the Medalight F1S claims it is frequently returned; it also lists the re-cycle time as 6 sec, although the Aliexpress page seems to show 0.9s.

Kind regards

Ajay

I just tried it on "Continuous Low" (A7RV so I'm guessing 3fps?) and I'd say every other shot triggered it so 0.9s seems more correct than 6s

Still haven't got round to 3d printing anything but I might try a cardboard prototype - it will literally just be something angled upwards with aluminium foil on anyway - maybe I'll go full MacGyver and just Blu tac it on 😂

It's not like I intend to actually use it anyway, it's just in case the trigger has issues!

I was planning to just use a tiny piece of 0.3mm steel strip, bend it to deflect the light up, and epoxy it to the front of the flash. It seems there is around 5mm of space at the front bottom below the strobe window, so it should be plenty to hold the strip. Once the flash arrives, I will post details.

Ajay

I think the biggest difference between mini flashes and flash triggers lies in the recycling speed and the number of flashes. Any flash used for photography, regardless of its compact size, has relatively high power output. This results in slower recycling speeds that prevent continuous shooting and a limited number of flashes.