Pocket 6K Timelapse Photo Studio Strobe ?

Is there a way to use studio flash lights for timelapse with the Pocket 6K?

I would prefer using a Pocket 6Ks for the 14 days timelapse instead of still cameras, but need to work with studio strobes because 2 weeks plus of continues light would not be suitable for the setup.

My guess is probably not. The intervalometer on the BM4K and BM6K is not shutter-related like a stills camera (Canon etc.). There's no signal being sent out to sync a flash to the capture moment (shutter in stills parlance).

On a stills camera, you can have manual sync via the flash sync port (PC) or auto sync via a commander/slave setup using a Pocket Wizard connected to the flash shoe on top.

If you're using studio strobes, are you using AC power? And if so, why couldn't your stills camera be hooked up to AC power as well? What's the downside of having a stills camera hooked up for two weeks? We've left them up for many months of time-lapse with no problems.

The only difference is that you'll end up with a folder of RAW or JPEGs instead of pre-built ProRes movie on the BM camera.

What stills cameras do you have?

Thanks Paul.

I work with Canon 80Ds for stills. Syncing them with strobes is no problem. Their 6000 x 4000 pixels are similar to what I get from my Pocket 6Ks.

Just optimizing the 4000 or more resulting CR2 files and saving them out to 16bit TIFs is more work and less flexible than having a BRAW file from a Pocket 6K.

I never used my Pocket 6Ks for stills, so my hope was that someone else might have found a way to get them to trigger studio strobes or flash lights.

The stills functionality on the Pocket 6K is really an afterthought meant to capture a stand-alone still while you're shooting video (for publicity or the script supervisor for example). It captures a DNG file like a Canon. As a stills camera, it's really lacking. I'm not sure there's even a way to trigger stills remotely on the camera using a Lanc controller or bluetooth software.

The intervalometer on the BMD camera, which does capture BRAW, just shoots along without creating an "event" like a still camera which sends a sync pulse when the shutter is actuated.

You might be able to use the camera with something like Dragonframe, but then you'd be just capturing the video feed from the camera to your computer. Dragonframe can control DMX panels and would be able to use the strobes.

Here's another thing to consider: I've tried using strobes for time-lapse or stop motion and they're not a great lighting source because they have flicker frame to frame. Unlike hot lights with regulated power, strobes are not designed to fire precisely the same output every time, because they are really designed to put out full power, which may or may not be exactly the same frame to frame. It's like using an autofocus lens versus a manual aperture lens. Manual aperture lenses stay exactly where they are because they are mechanically fixed. Auto focus lenses open and close on shutter and may create small amounts of flicker. Of course on a BMD camera, they might stay open the whole time.

If you're testing strobes with time-lapse or stop motion, I would recommend that you use half or quarter power on them to get less variability on the output. This of course depends on the particular light design, the interval rate etc. Hot lights are far more predictable. LEDs are not bad, too, but tungsten is still king in my book, if heat, power consumption and length of on-time is not a huge problem.

The possibility of inconsistent output from strobes really needs to be tested before the final shoot.
They are powerful even at 1/4 output.

The timelapse will be of plants seeds emerging out of the ground.
Tungsten lights are not an option. Will test a combination of LEDs and strobes.

The other upside to shooting with a stills camera is that you can have fairly long exposure times (1 second for example) where you would need far less light. The BMD shutter can only go down to 1/24 of a second, which means you will need a lot more light per exposure.

If you're shooting plants, I would definitely look at using LEDs and not Studio Strobes. The LEDs will be far less hot than tungsten and can be left on indefinitely. LEDs don't burn out as quickly like tungsten, which is a really nice feature. I don't know how constant light will effect your growing cycle. But longer shutter times will not affect the look because the plants move VERY slowly and so you're not going to get a bunch of unintended motion blur, anyway.

Some studio LED lights have a "strobe" mode which might be able to be triggered by the camera, but the variability of light output would be a concern for me. The longer the light source is on and stable, the better in such a situation.

I concur on the strobes not being great for time lapses. I have tried multiple times and always gone back to the video lights. There are at least two issues. The above mentioned flickering is caused by the stobes not always delivering the same power even in manual mode. If you are using a really high end pack system you will get tighter tolerances but it is likely to still be an issue.

Another issue you may run into is the strobe miss-firing from time to time. You might be able to optical flow your way around that but it is more hassle.

The other upside to shooting with a stills camera is that you can have fairly long exposure times (1 second for example) where you would need far less light. The BMD shutter can only go down to 1/24 of a second, which means you will need a lot more light per exposure. ...

Actually, Pocket 4K & 6K cameras can record an exposure as long as 1/5th sec.

Set the Shutter Angle to 360 degrees (or Shutter Speed to 1/24), Frame Rate to 24fps, turn on HFR set to 5fps.

1/5 of a second is better, but still a ways from 1 second. But if the lights are LED and constant, then you could use a BMD Pocket if you can get enough stop. And you wouldn't need to have the lights triggered by the shutter.

I've looked into this before when planning a long-term timelapse in a studio using the Pocket 6K, and unfortunately, syncing traditional studio strobes is tricky. The Pocket 6K doesn’t operate like a stills camera with a mechanical shutter or flash sync port, so it doesn't send a trigger signal to fire strobes at the capture moment. That’s where cameras like your Canon 80D have a real advantage, they're built with stills and flash sync in mind.

The main workaround would be using continuous lighting or automated flash triggering systems based on timed intervals, but these often require additional gear like a DMX controller and careful timing. Even then, they won’t offer the precise strobe sync you’d get with a DSLR setup.

I totally get wanting the flexibility of BRAW over managing thousands of CR2s, especially for a 14-day shoot. But for now, DSLRs still offer the most reliable flash integration for long timelapse projects.

If you're exploring hybrid workflows or studio setups that combine cinema and stills gear, you might find useful inspiration and techniques if you visit here. It’s helped me think through similar challenges in my own projects.

Would love to hear how your final setup turns out!