Anker's Made for iPhone Certified Flash Accessory Now Available for Preorder

Yay for innovation!

First off, the Digital Camera doesn't function at all like a shutter. The image is scanned in, so the light burst needs to be consistent, rather than a burst. I can see where this would do that. Secondly, the color spectrum of the flash needs to be compatible with the scan array - and as this is made for the iPhone, this seems to be a relatively simple step.

Is this professional level? Nope, not even close. To expect a $50 flash to compete with a Nikon SB-5000 flash is ridiculous. I used to play with the Nikon SB-700 back in the 35mm days, and it's a hell of a great flash.

But, at $50 and given what it is, and what it is not - for the average shooter, this may be perfect. Small enough to fit in your pocket, with a charge for 50,000 shots - it can likely do many small tasks well. Very few shots are ruined with too much light - it's usually too little light, or user error.

My only dig, is that I wonder how much abuse that cord is going to take before you have issues with broken wires where it connects to the body. Seems to me that this is a design flaw, inherent in the current version.

It's not a professional's tool - then I doubt it was ever intended to be a professional's tool. For what it is, I'd love to see how it performs. At the price point - it may just be a steal.

It does have a tripod mount. For $50 it could be a nice toy.

I want a wireless xenon flash that can bounce off the ceiling.

Any actual photos that would tell me the quality of the light from this?

There are some on Anker's forum from a promotional email that was sent out today.

Was excited when I was told about this product in November. Preordered it for sure! Lots of confusion on what this will do. First of all the light can stay constant or not. Which is a huge bonus for video recording. If you need a light weight directional light source this is a nice touch to add to a handheld mini tripod/stick. I always find myself needing just a tad bit more light when filming at night and this will work perfectly for that. For professionals? Not at all, this is for people like myself who enjoy filming random events but need that extra source of light or just want to give some new tech a try. At 50.00 it's not a crazy amount of money to spend on this type of product. It not only has the built in lightning cable but a battery as well.

This isn't a flash. It's a photo light.

First off, the Digital Camera doesn't function at all like a shutter. The image is scanned in, so the light burst needs to be consistent, rather than a burst.

Digital cameras do use a mechanical shutter. Even mirrorless ones. The sensor collects light during the whole time the shutter is open. A burst of light with a regular flash is fine.

Some digital cameras (and those in smartphones) can shoot without a mechanical shutter ("electronic shutter" mode). Since the sensor is read out in lines, that leads to the rolling shutter effect.