A photographer I worked with years ago told me about a "mass lighting
event" he did once. He was commissioned to shoot the new high school
gymnasium empty, probably in the 1940's. The gym had curved wooden
arches supporting the ceiling. He set up his 8x10 view camera in the top
level of seats. He ran a pair of wires from the camera position to the
far side of each arch, where he temporarily mounted a common light bulb
socket (so that it would not show in the photo). He put a flash bulb in
each socket, turned off most of the lights in the gym, opened his camera
shutter, and touched the wires to a car battery, firing them all off at
the same time. He immediately took the film back to his studio (about
two blocks away), and developed it, while his assistant removed the
wiring and sockets. When the film was dry, he discovered that one of the
bulbs hadn't fired. The light was sufficiently great and spread out
enough, that if you didn't know, you wouldn't be able to tell.
Copies of that photo can still be found in various school venues in
Dubois County, Indiana, with the name "Chase Studio" on them.
Ken Hart
kwhart1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
On 3/6/21 11:08 PM, Brian Smith (Redacted sender smithcbrian2 for DMARC)
wrote:
I've got about a dozen of the big ones as well. I wonder what the guide number is? It's tempting to connect them all up in parallel and fire the lot off all at once! Regards - Brian
On Sunday, 7 March 2021, 12:49:22 pm NZDT, Laurence Cuffe <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On 6 Mar 2021, at 23:41, Brian Smith (Redacted sender "smithcbrian2" for DMARC) <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>> wrote:
Thanks Laurence. Good thought. Actually, I'm not sure that I have the right connector for it. I don't really need to get it going. It's just that I have quite a few bulbs for it that have been lying around for decades, and I relished the thought of using them so I could then justify throwing them out.Emoji
I know the feeling, I’ve still got some bulbs from this company http://www.meggaflash.com/, Who are, I think, the last remaining manufacturer of Flash bulbs, and I’m looking for a project. These Guys are big, about the size of a standard household light bulb, and as you can see from the example shot on the website, can pump out enough light for landscape photography!
Best
Laurence.
On Sunday, 7 March 2021, 12:31:09 pm NZDT, Laurence Cuffe <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>> wrote:
Possibly a capacitor, just to give the current more Oomph when it discharges. The capacitor may be shot, but that should not be to difficult to replace, if you are serious about getting it going.
Best
Laurence Cuffe
On 6 Mar 2021, at 22:40, Brian Smith (Redacted sender "smithcbrian2" for DMARC) <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>> wrote:
Thanks Richard. That's very helpful. I notice that the battery compartment is only about half the height of the unit (top half), so what the bottom half contains is a mystery, but could be a solenoid as you suggest. Regards - Brian
On Sunday, 7 March 2021, 11:11:19 am NZDT, `Richard Knoppow <dickburk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:dickburk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>> wrote:
I couldn't find an instruction book for this but there may be
one out there. The minimum voltage for reliable firing of smaller
flashbulbs is 3V. I suspect that this had some sort of high
voltage battery in it. Most of the old style flash guns had at
least two cells but they were made to fire solenoid type
synchronizers reliably as well as igniting the bulb.
I need to go out now but may do a more thorough search later.
On 3/6/2021 1:21 PM, Brian Smith (Redacted sender smithcbrian2
for DMARC) wrote:
> Hi folks
>
> I recently acquired this (see attached photograph) from a
> deceased estate, complete with several unused bulbs.
>
> Does anyone know what type of battery it requires, please?
>
> It looks as if it would accommodate a 1.5v "C" cell, but I
> don't know that would be enough to trigger it.
>
> Thanks - Brian
--
Richard Knoppow
dickburk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:dickburk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
WB6KBL
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