I'm looking to make a type of camera flash with LEDs as the light source. Unfortunately, I know nearly nothing about circuits and that is where I need some help.

I need the flash to fire in a very small amount of time, the shorter the better. It needs to be shorter than 1/50,000 second to be worth the effort. I've read that LEDs can fire in as fast as 5ns, and if I could get this that would be amazing. Again, I don't know much about this so I don't know whether that information is accurate or if it is attainable. The color of the LED does not matter.

If you can help please do, if you need me to answer any questions, let me know.

Did I post this in the wrong section?

This is the right section, you'll just have to give it a bit.
This section isn't very active, but someone who knows what they're talking about will help you when they see it.

Ok, thanks.

Anyone?

Still looking for some help here!

the materials to make this isn't just laying around a radio shack, we're talking raw diodes, resistors and capacitors


it would be entirely too easy to get a disposable camera and gut it out for the flash circut.
using LEDs might suck because if you connect them in series from 1-12 theres just that much more resistance created


or refer to some shit i googled:
http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/camera-flash2.htm

if you need help understanding a schematic let me know

This post was edited by MaliceMizer on Dec 2 2011 09:16pm

All of which are actually available at radio shack. I bought the diodes for my circuit at a radio shack, actually, since I didn't feel like waiting for it to arrive via mail. Though for the specific values you would need for something like this, alliedelec.com would be a much better place to find them.

TC, why do you want to make your own camera flash?

This post was edited by bentherdonethat on Dec 3 2011 04:18am

To the both of you, I need an LED flash, just gutting a cheap disposable camera isn't going to get me anywhere.

The reason I need to use LED is because it can fire at a much faster speed than your standard camera flash. I need a flash that can fire in the realm of 1/1,000,000 of a second.

Your typical camera flash using Xenon gases to create light after they have been ionized and fall back down. When they fall back down they leave whats called a tail of light. Which causes them to give off light for approximated 1/50,000 of a second.

I need this to photograph bullets and other extremely fast moving objects, if the flash fires slowly, such as the 1/50,000 of a second, then I get a blurry bullet.