Neal Chaves
29-Nov-2021, 09:14
The idea for the Ghostmaster came to me in the early 90's when I was cleaning a Compur shutter and noticed that as the shutter closed at the end of an exposure the flash contacts broke when the shutter blades were still close to wide open. I realized that an electronic flash could be synced at that moment, just as spark plugs were fired by a points and condenser distributor on engines I had grown up working on.
Well, things are never as easy as they may seem at first. Not all leaf shutters are suitable for "closing shutter sync" and all mechanical switch contacts bounce, which can produce "double pops" and other malfunctions. Eventually, I produced and patented the Ghostmaster device. It worked well was quite popular. I guaranteed them for three years and none ever came back. It was not profitable for me to hand-build every unit and no manufactures were interested in the patent, so I let it expire. A few years ago, I sold some parts kits on this site, but I don't know if anyone built a working circuit. I even tried open-sourcing it to some of the foreign manufacturers with whom members here do business.
Recently, I conceived of a way to simplify construction without limiting the Ghostmaster's capabilities. These are triggering strobes at shutter closing, at shutter opening, and featuring two isolated channels which permit strobe sync at both opening and closing. I'll make up a prototype and run it by you all.
Have fun!
Neal
Well, things are never as easy as they may seem at first. Not all leaf shutters are suitable for "closing shutter sync" and all mechanical switch contacts bounce, which can produce "double pops" and other malfunctions. Eventually, I produced and patented the Ghostmaster device. It worked well was quite popular. I guaranteed them for three years and none ever came back. It was not profitable for me to hand-build every unit and no manufactures were interested in the patent, so I let it expire. A few years ago, I sold some parts kits on this site, but I don't know if anyone built a working circuit. I even tried open-sourcing it to some of the foreign manufacturers with whom members here do business.
Recently, I conceived of a way to simplify construction without limiting the Ghostmaster's capabilities. These are triggering strobes at shutter closing, at shutter opening, and featuring two isolated channels which permit strobe sync at both opening and closing. I'll make up a prototype and run it by you all.
Have fun!
Neal