Usability of "ancient" electronic flashes ?

[Luddite Frank]

I've been thinking of finding an old Honeywell Strobinar or Braun Hobby flash, to use with my LTMs, since flashbulbs are a vanishing resource...

What "wears-out" with old electronic flashes ?

What brand should I be looking for, in a "user" ?


Thanks...

Luddite Frank

( And if there's something that resembles a Graflite or CEYOO, that would be even better ! 😀 )

 

[OldNick]

I've got a Braun Hobby that is still working. You have to watch out for plastic parts that crack and break away in the connector/base area.

Jim N.

 

[John Shriver]

I got a Strobonar potato masher at a yard sale (for next to nothing) that works. You may be lucky in that the capacitors will "reform" themselves and come back to life. Also, the battery compartment (for the NiCd C cells) could be a train wreck.

A Vivitar 283 is a more practical choice, incredibly cheap, great selection of useful accessories. But it has less panache. Nor can it recycle as fast as the Strobonar. (But can you wind your screwmount camera that fast?)

 

[Luddite Frank]

Hmmm... NiCADs don't age gracefully either ?


I spent about two hours this afternoon scraping "dry-cell" crud out of the quad/AA battery holder from one of my CEYOOs... then I found that modern Duracell AA's are a pretty tight fit in the holders; then I found myself peeling the vinyl jackets off them , hoping to avoid breaking the phenolic cartridge.


I'll see what turns-up in electronic flash land at e-Bay...


It's always an adventure !

LF

 

[charjohncarter]

That flash I posted earlier today for you is still working. The battery went dead, but I wired in a nine volt receptacle, works great but you have to change the battery every ten flashes. It is pretty simple inside so Radio Shack will have capacitors.

 

[Bryce]

Not very sexy, but I'll vote for the Vivitar 283/285 flashguns as being quite functional. I have two and they are very usable, pretty strong (GN 120 at max output) and very available. As for batteries, I use Nickel Metal Hydride ones.
I don't do a ton of flash work, but when I do I use them hard. My "Underground" series is lit almost entirely by those two V- 285's and each frame represents many minutes with the shutter open and numerous pulses, usually at full power. They haven't let me down, in spite of rough conditions.
If I was to change them, they'd be smaller, a little sturdier, and I'd have more of them. Two just isn't enough sometimes when you want lighting from more than one angle!
Of course most people just use them on camera, so one should work.
Looking into flashguns, you should consider what they offer in terms of user control. Many older designs don't allow you to choose more than one manual power rating, and some are automatic only.
Hope you find what you're after!

 

[payasam]

Still have, and use, a manual Sunpak bought in 1975. The cover of the battery compartment has to be taped shut and needs to be pressed to make the unit recharge -- unless the AC cord is used, of course.

 

[mike goldberg]

Hi...
For useful power as a bounce flash, a Vivitar 283 or 285 is excellent.

A favorite compact flash is the Nikon SB-15. This is an older model that comes without a PC cord. I bought a small electronic gizmo that attaches to the shoe of the SB-15... with a PC cord. The beauty of the SB-15 is in it's design. Horizontal or vertical positioning is possible, and the small flash head can be rotated up to 90 degrees for a softer effect or bounce. I found it on eB@y some time ago, for around $20-.

 

[John Shriver]

Don't take the jackets off the Duracell batteries! Alkaline batteries are "backwards" compared to the classic carbon/zinc ones, and the case is positive, not negative. You could very easily get a nasty short circuit, and either melt the flash, or start a fire.

The current draw in a flashbulb flash is miniscule, so long as the capacitor (if any) isn't leaky. The plain old silver "Nine Lives" Eveready batteries are just fine -- and they also have great shelf life.

As for the Vivitar 283, I find modern NiMH cells work great in it. The low voltage of NiCd's doesn't fly there.

 

[Luddite Frank]

Don't take the jackets off the Duracell batteries! Alkaline batteries are "backwards" compared to the classic carbon/zinc ones, and the case is positive, not negative. You could very easily get a nasty short circuit, and either melt the flash, or start a fire.

The current draw in a flashbulb flash is miniscule, so long as the capacitor (if any) isn't leaky. The plain old silver "Nine Lives" Eveready batteries are just fine -- and they also have great shelf life.

As for the Vivitar 283, I find modern NiMH cells work great in it. The low voltage of NiCd's doesn't fly there.

Good thing to know about akalines... Thanks John ! One of the undressed Duracells did start getting real hot, all by itself...😕

The CEYOO with the 4 x AA cartridge is the only one out of the six CEYOOs that I have that is so-equipped. The rest have the B-C cartridge that uses the 22.5 volt battery.

I will find some "classic" Everreadys for the CEYOO. I did test one M-2B in it... it popped plenty bright & quick on 6-volts... I have found a couple of sources on-line for both the #412 and # 505 22.5 batteries; waiting for those to arrive.


I might have a Vivtar 283 in the "big bag o' Minolta XG- 1 & stuff" that came from a rummage sale... there were several e-flashes in that grab-bag, one factory Minolta, and a couple of V-tars...

I'm hoping to find something that "looks right" being buckled-up to an LTM, yet still does the job... there are a few holiday parties on the horizon, and I plan on taking my snapshots with the LTM... maybe I'll use the CEYOO afterall, just to really baffle the "civillians"... 😀

LF

 

[Paul C. Perkins MD]

SIGN of the APOCALYPSE No.168

Using a Leica with a flash . . . Somewhere on your body must exist, the mark of The BEAST!

Just kidding. I haven't shot flash with my M-2 since Carter was president. . .

 

[Luddite Frank]

I prefer to shoot w/ existing light, but sometimes the flash is warranted.

I do have most examples of Leica flash, going back to the BTLOO of 1936; but flash-bulbs are kind of clumsy & expensive. And the BTLOO, with it's 3-cell handle is VERY heavy... makes the Barnack feel more like a Crown-Graphic !

I figured if I could round-up an old Heiland or Honeywell "potato-masher" to go with my Barnack, that would be a pretty good compromise...

My c. 1980 Sunpak auto-thyristor is just too modern to stick on a thread-mount...

LF

(Now, if I could just find some catridges for my Eastman Spreader Flash Pistol...)

 

[Paul C. Perkins MD]

(Now, if I could just find some catridges for my Eastman Spreader Flash Pistol...)

Isn't that a flare pistol?

 

[Ronald M]

Capacitors and batteries go bad. Charge up the capacitors once a week to keep them healthy. I use a Vivitar 285 because it takes AA alkalines or rechargeables. These are user replaceable and that trumps the small extra cost.

 

[John Shriver]

Canon also gave you a choice of power sources for their flashguns, like the Y. There's one holder for 4 AA cells. A battery-capacitor holder for one 22.5V battery. Or you could put D cells in the beast, and there were extensions to add more D cells, as well as a capacitor unit to go with the D cells.

Some of those options were really about running extra flash heads off one gun, for fill flash.

Of course, every combination gave you different guide numbers, required slightly different settings of the delay relay in the gun, etc. (Canon did the delay in the gun, rather than in the camera like Leica's IIIf.) What chaos!