The body of the camera is made of several parts, and interestingly, each one seems to have a peculiar name. The hot shoe is one of those parts. But, it’s neither a shoe nor is it hot, as you would come to understand in this article. So, what is the hot shoe, and why is it so important?
The hot shoe in a camera is practically a bracket on the top of your camera, primarily designed as a connecting entry point for a wireless flash. However, its use is not exclusive only to wireless flashes but also includes use with other camera accessories, electronic or not.
If you are familiar with cameras, you would know that there is practically an accessory for almost every function. From microphones and viewfinders to triggers and others, there is an abundance of camera gadgets. However, flash ranks top among these accessories.
In this article, we shall be looking at what a hot shoe is in terms of design, functions, and characteristics. We shall also be looking at how to flash devices are connected to a hot shoe. To help deepen your understanding, we will look at how hot shoes were developed and how far they have come. Finally, we will discuss the difference between a hot shoe and a cold shoe.
Contents
What Is The Hot Shoe On a Camera?
The hot shoe of a camera is practically a bracket that encloses a metal contact point. Also, hot shoe is located at the top of the camera. It is shaped like an inverted U that is squared off. The contact point is so designed to connect with a glass, and it is located right at the center of the “U”
Apart from the major contact point to which a flash is connected, other contact points exist within the “U” of the hot shoes that allow for transmitting information between the camera and a dedicated flash.
Hot shoes come in predetermined sizes defined by the International Organization for Standardization in ISO 518:2006. An example of this is the dimension of the hot shoe on the Nikon D3400. Its hot shoe’s internal dimension is 18.7 mm x 18.0 mm x 2.05 mm and its external dimension is 20.7 mm x 18 mm x 5.1 mm.
How The Flash Connects To The Hot Shoe
Every flash comes with a matching adapter located at the bottom of the flash unit. This adapter is made to slide in from the back of the camera. The bottom of the flash features a clamp screw which is then used to secure the flash to the bottom of the camera.
The contact point in the middle of the U-shaped bracket of the hot shoes is made of metal. The shoe itself is also made of metal. However, the contact(which is metal) is electrically isolated from the shoe.
To trigger the flash, Electrical voltage is sent straight to it. This is done by the flash unit connecting the contact point of the hot shoe to the metallic internal surface of the camera hot shoe. In essence, the entire flash unit acts as a bridge between the contact point and the cameras hot shoe itself.
Also, as stated earlier, hot shoes come with several contacts. The function of these contacts is to act as a means of sending information from the flash to the camera. Some of this information includes the power rating of the camera, and the color temperature data of the flash. The flash can also automatically adjust the settings of the camera.
The Development Of The Hot Shoe
What is known today as the hot shoe started as an “accessory shoe“. The accessory shoe was primarily designed to be a point of connection for flashes that use cable, and other accessories like the viewfinder, external light meters, and rangefinders.
The accessory shoe had no contact point whatsoever, They were of the standard shape. It was the introduction of contact points in accessory shoes that led to them being called hot shoes. The term “hot shoe” is primarily because of the introduction of “electricity voltage” being used to control flashes through the contact point.
Initially, brands like Canon, Nikon, Pentax, and Olympus developed the standard ISO hot shoes for their cameras which could be used with their gadgets. However, the brand Cactus combined the hot shoe of these brands to develop a multi-brand hot shoe on their wireless flash transceivers. This launched the production of multi-brand ISO hot shoes.
With multi-brand ISO hot shoes, flashes irrespective of the brand could be used on any camera’s hot shoe, making it easier for photographers to use any flash they had o their camera without fear of incompatibility. Other interesting developments include the advancement in contact pins.
Difference Between A Hot Shoe And A Cold Shoe
The term hot shoe as explained succinctly is used to refer to the “electronic” system used in firing flash through a contact point in a camera. However, not all gadgets require to be electrical to be used with the hot shoe of a camera.
When you attach other components that do not have an electronic connection to the hot shoe of a camera, it becomes a “cold shoe”. This might sound complicated but it isn’t. The function per time of the entire component determines whether it will be called a hot shoe or cold shoe.
However, there are also actual cold shoes, which are similar to hot shoes but without the contact points. They are usually extensions you can attach to the camera by sliding them on the hot shoe of the camera. These cold shoes allow you to attach non-electronic accessories to the camera.
Note that there are several types of cold shoes, and some come with contact points. This is more or less like the hot shoe on your camera that can also be used as a cold shoe. It’s all about function.
Asking Questions
Do all cameras come with hot shoes?
Practically all digital cameras come with hot shoes. This includes DSLR. SLR and mirrorless cameras. However, not all point-and-shoot cameras come with a hot shoe.
Are hot shoes very important?
Yes, they are. Primarily because of flashes, most of which are wireless now. Without a hot shoe, you would have to depend more on external lighting. Also, other accessories like microphones are connected to the hot shoe
Final Words
The hot shoe is an important part of a camera. Without it, there will bE no way for photographers to attach the primary light flash to their cameras. Also, other important gadgets like microphones and triggers can be attached to the hot shoe for ease of use.