Thanks - I remember only the sticks that had 8 or 10 bulbs inside and the cubes with four, which you would plug into 110 cameras. They had a very distinctive smell....
The title says it all, IMO. Among flash units like this, the standard for reference in quality was the Honeywell Tilt-a-Mite. I still have mine, but no bulbs since the early 1960s. At that time, the different efficiency of the various types of reflectors being used meant that the guide number ratings provided by bulb manufacturers were more for advertising and marketing rather than effective use. In high school, I was tasked to shoot photos of sports and school event, and I freelanced photos for the local paper. Thus, I immediately afforded myself of one of those bulky two-piece electronic flashes he mentions. It may have been made in Germany and was very powerful, but it proved to be a delicate bit of crap nonetheless. It lasted long enough to see me off to college in 1964 and disappeared in the forgotten debris from my teen years. Perhaps my early experience with bulbs and early electronic flash technology had a negative impact, as I think I did not take more than one flash photo a year (or less) thereafter for the rest of my life, even though I've owned a half dozen of some of the finest flash units over the years.
Hi Randall. When I was about 17 I bought a Metz Mecablitz, a big wet cell, 2 unit flash. It didn't last long either. No wonder flash photography isn't high on my things to do list. Cheers, Howard 📷
Hi Cobra Commander. If you used "B" you would get far too much ambient light in as the shutter stays open for however long you hold the shutter open. Unless you're shooting in pitch darkness the shot would be extremely overexposed.
Thanks - I remember only the sticks that had 8 or 10 bulbs inside and the cubes with four, which you would plug into 110 cameras. They had a very distinctive smell....
Ah yes! The smell of melting plastic. Very nostalgic. 📷
The title says it all, IMO. Among flash units like this, the standard for reference in quality was the Honeywell Tilt-a-Mite. I still have mine, but no bulbs since the early 1960s. At that time, the different efficiency of the various types of reflectors being used meant that the guide number ratings provided by bulb manufacturers were more for advertising and marketing rather than effective use. In high school, I was tasked to shoot photos of sports and school event, and I freelanced photos for the local paper. Thus, I immediately afforded myself of one of those bulky two-piece electronic flashes he mentions. It may have been made in Germany and was very powerful, but it proved to be a delicate bit of crap nonetheless. It lasted long enough to see me off to college in 1964 and disappeared in the forgotten debris from my teen years. Perhaps my early experience with bulbs and early electronic flash technology had a negative impact, as I think I did not take more than one flash photo a year (or less) thereafter for the rest of my life, even though I've owned a half dozen of some of the finest flash units over the years.
Hi Randall. When I was about 17 I bought a Metz Mecablitz, a big wet cell, 2 unit flash. It didn't last long either. No wonder flash photography isn't high on my things to do list.
Cheers, Howard 📷
Brought back memories, Howard!
Thanks Malcolm. Good memories or bad?
Good memories of electronic ones, but not single use bulbs
Lovely explanation. Though I understand why 1/30 would be used, was there a preference for 1/30 over the B setting?
Hi Cobra Commander. If you used "B" you would get far too much ambient light in as the shutter stays open for however long you hold the shutter open.
Unless you're shooting in pitch darkness the shot would be extremely overexposed.
@@howpow that was my thoughts. Unless you stopped down significantly. I don't have enough flashbulbs to play around with that idea. LOL
@@avnostlga I only have 1 flashbulb. The one in the video. 😭