Hot shoe architecture

[edform]

I've just taken delivery of an Olympus EE-1 red dot sight which I intend to use on my RX10-IV but the foot that fits into the hot shoe on the camera is not a very good fit in the Sony shoe.

Shoe-fit accessories for the Sony have an extended tongue on the leading edge of the foot with the micro contacts mounted on it. The foot on the EE-1 has no such extension and consequently the location of the sight on the camera is less solid than it needs to be.

I can easily mill a small slot into the central pillar to generate a tongue but that would cut into the area of the foot where a small spring-loaded pin is housed. The pin sticks out of the foot. Does anyone know what these pins do? There's one on my Neewer flash gun for the Sony. Is it just some sort of locating device, or perhaps an earth pin? I need to know whether I can safely dispense with it.

 

[Snapsh0t]

Normally these pins extend into a matching hole as you lock the flash to the camera and provide an additional safety mechanism to retain the flash in the shoe. Nikon uses one just in front of the central 'hot' contact which sounds similar to what you're describing. Sony has three holes in the shoe - one in front and two behind the central contact. My HVL-F43M extends a couple of pins into the rear holes when I slide the locking lever across as does my TT685S. I've not seen anything use the front hole but it must be there for a reason.

 

[edform]

Normally these pins extend into a matching hole as you lock the flash to the camera and provide an additional safety mechanism to retain the flash in the shoe. Nikon uses one just in front of the central 'hot' contact which sounds similar to what you're describing. Sony has three holes in the shoe - one in front and two behind the central contact. My HVL-F43M extends a couple of pins into the rear holes when I slide the locking lever across as does my TT685S. I've not seen anything use the front hole but it must be there for a reason.

But you don't think they have an electrical function?

 

[Snapsh0t]

No, purely mechanical. The Sony and Godox pins look like plastic so definitely not electrical.

 

[edform]

No, purely mechanical. The Sony and Godox pins look like plastic so definitely not electrical.

I came across something today that may solve the problem for me; it's a cold shoe that bolts to the tripod mount. I've ordered one and will see what the red dot sight is like on the bottom of the camera before I take a slitting saw to its foot. I'll also see if I can find one of those lightweight cage mounts that will let me put the cold shoe on the top.

 

[edform]

I've just taken delivery of an Olympus EE-1 red dot sight which I intend to use on my RX10-IV but the foot that fits into the hot shoe on the camera is not a very good fit in the Sony shoe.

Shoe-fit accessories for the Sony have an extended tongue on the leading edge of the foot with the micro contacts mounted on it. The foot on the EE-1 has no such extension and consequently the location of the sight on the camera is less solid than it needs to be.

I can easily mill a small slot into the central pillar to generate a tongue but that would cut into the area of the foot where a small spring-loaded pin is housed. The pin sticks out of the foot. Does anyone know what these pins do? There's one on my Neewer flash gun for the Sony. Is it just some sort of locating device, or perhaps an earth pin? I need to know whether I can safely dispense with it.

I've abandoned the idea of cutting into the EE-1 shoe mount. I bought a SmallRig cold shoe that fastens into the tripod mount of the camera - not the best place because putting the camera down becomes a faff, but the main point is that it fastens the EE-1 in exactly the same orientation every time and allows absolutely no movement at all.

I've also sent for a SmallRig Versa-Frame, which is a sort of half-cage that fastens into the tripod mount and engages the hot shoe at the top for location. The cold shoe fitting for the EE-1 will go on the top plate of the frame.

I'm amazed at how well the red dot idea works, since I never really got it to fly on my Nikon 1 V3 - the mount was bulky and not very secure. I've adjusted the alignment between lens and red dot and have been tracking house martins. Nothing worth showing you because they are way to high - we're promised thunder in a few hours - but they are in focus and following them is really easy - both eyes wide open and red dot on the bird feels like a natural action already.

 

[Snapsh0t]

I can see that would work well and it's definitely a nicer solution than cutting the sight. I have a red dot sight atop my competition air pistol so I'm familiar with using it with both eyes open. Are you holding the camera as you would when using the viewfinder or further away? I note one Amazon reviewer complaining about parallax error and this should reduce the further away the camera is held.

 

[edform]

I can see that would work well and it's definitely a nicer solution than cutting the sight. I have a red dot sight atop my competition air pistol so I'm familiar with using it with both eyes open. Are you holding the camera as you would when using the viewfinder or further away? I note one Amazon reviewer complaining about parallax error and this should reduce the further away the camera is held.

I am holding it a bit further away than I normally would - I'd probably be using the viewfinder anyway - but the ability to perform a smooth panning sweep is greatly enhanced with the device in use, so with a reasonable shutter speed it seems easy to get sharp results.

When I get the install complete I'll see how well I manage with birds nearer to the camera.

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Ed Form