Re: Results!

[Ronald.W.Doerfler@xxxxxxx]

>I used the original photoflash with some blue bulbs.  Now that I have my
>realist manual (thanks to Dr. George), I realize that I should have had
>my shutter speed set slower, and my f/stop a bit more open .  I saw that
>powerful light temporarily blinding all of my subjects, and just
>assumed that everything would be washed out, and stopped way down.
>I guess I didn't account for the fact that the old spring mechanism isn't
>quick or accurate enough to sync the flash at 1/100 sec.  

Actually, it's not the shutter but the bulb that's too slow.  I made the
same mistake with shutter speeds greater than 1/25 when I first used
flashbulbs in the original Realist flash unit.  The Realist has, if
I get the technical term correct, an X-sync thingamajig, which means
that the shutter fires the bulb off after fully opening.  The bulb
takes a bit for the internal explosion to fully occur, and this is
slower than 1/100 second, so the shutter closes before the bulb
flashes.  The result is a dark (non-flash) slide.  This isn't a problem
with modern flashes because they are so fast.

I use Press 25 flashbulbs at 1/25 second and have had absolutely no
problem getting flashbulb shots.  I use the flash guide number off
the box for setting the aperture for a given film speed and distance.

I bought a flash adaptor from the Photo Emporium in Chicago for a
Realist, but Reel-3D sells them, and some people just take a file
and make one themselves.  You need a PC cord connection to the flash
off the side of the adaptor (I found to my surprise that my flash doesn't
have a PC connector because it bears a dedicated module on it).

Ron Doerfler
doerfler@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


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