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Re: [OM] Flashbulbs

Subject: Re: [OM] Flashbulbs
From: "John A. Lind" <jlind@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Sun, 04 Aug 2002 12:35:21 -0500
At 09:41 8/4/02, Mickey Trageser wrote:
I thought the AG-1 and AG-1B were loose bulbs placed in a flash unit
individually. The data below lists 2 entries as 'flash cube'. Now, I've
always seen 'flashcubes' as the commonly used flash on Instamatic type
cameras which plug into the top of the camera and rotate to provide 4 flash
exposures from a single cube. The reflector was/is? tiny and built into the
flash cube. I'm so confused....

The AG-1 and AG-1B were introduced in the late 1950's for the non-pro market. Standard flashcubes were introduced in 1965 about the time of the Kodak Intstamatic. These were made using AG-1B bulbs and the reflectors were very shiny, the equivalent of a wide angle shallow dish type reflector. The "hi-power" flashcubes were introduced in 1971 with twice the light output from a more powerful bulb (hence ~1.414 X the GN) to bring them up to the guide number of an AG-1B in a deeper, polished bowl reflector. I included the "cubes" because they were the same bulb type with the same guide numbers. Magicubes were the same thing as flashcubes, except they didn't require batteries to fire them. The bulbs were triggered by a spring percussion device inside the cube. There were also "flash bars" used on Polaroid cameras in the early 1970's. These used AG-1B bulbs with likely the same GN as an AG-1B in a shallow dish reflector, and held 10 bulbs. A variation on the same theme a few years later was the "flip flash" with 8 AG-1B's, four on each side.

Of note is how powerful the standard AG-1B was in a 2" polished bowl. About halfway between a T-32 and a T-45. The "big boys" for camera mounted flash were the Press 25 and 25B bulbs in polished bowls. The M3/M3B and 5/5B bulbs put out the same amount of light, but were smaller. Only two potato masher electronic flash units I know of punch out about the same light as these did, the Metz 60 CT-? and Sunpak 622 Super Pro. Actually they're slightly stronger, but not by much; about 1/3 f-stop. I know of nothing electronic that cranks out the light of clear Press 25's (or M3's, or #5's) in a polished bowl with B&W film. With B&W, a clear bulb was about 2/3 f-stop more light than the same blue bulb for color film. The clear bulbs have an approximate color temperature of about 3800 K. This is a bit cooler than tungsten film which is balanced for 3200 K studio hot lights. An 81EF or 85C can balance it.

-- John


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