How to use a real camera flash with a smartphone

(The "real flash" that professionals use is based on xenon tubes.^[?])

COTS products

Many products have been discontinued:

• Godox A1 (Introduced 2017, discontinued 2020. It never really had an equivalent app to the Profoto Camera app.)
• Lit (Introduced 2019. The Kickstarter was cancelled.)
• A handful of phones have come with xenon flash built-in.

But a few are still being sold:

• Tricflash.com (Introduced 2015. Supports iOS only.) <iOS app,   iOS app>
• Profoto's products that support AirX, currently A10, A2, B10X, B1X, and Pro-11. (Introduced 2020. Supports iOS only. They formerly supported a few Android phones, but support for the Android app was ended. The cheapest product is $900, so they're by far the most expensive offerings.) <iOS app>
• Innovatronix CPFlash II (Introduced 2020.) <iOS app, Android app>

More speculative solutions

Rear curtain sync is a feature found across different brands

.

Godox

• X3-C Touchscreen transmitter
  • The X3 Pro has a touchscreen, while the X3 does not. The X3 is cheaper, but only by $10.
  • The X3 model does support rear curtain sync.
  • TODO: Is there a way for the X3Pro to trigger the phone's shutter via USB-C or Bluetooth? Or for the XR Receiver to do this?

PocketWizard [wiki]   [manuals]

• I'm trying to figure out how to get the camera and the flash to sync. There are several references to this:
  • https://wiki.pocketwizard.com/index.php?title=Rear_Curtain_Sync — This feature is available with the MiniTT1, FlexTT5, and FlexTT6.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flash_synchronization
  • "HyperSync" [1] [2]
  • The 'MultiMax' product line has a lag-equalization feature built in.

PocketWizard > Raven

(Background: The Raven is a much more expensive and sophisticated product compared to other PocketWizard products.)

It has rear curtain sync and similar functionality built-in.

Paul C. Buff

https://paulcbuff.com/pages/syncing-to-the-camera-and-sync-speeds

Unpolished

• Amazon search: "wireless flash trigger"