Flashbulb Alternative

[Brownie_Holiday]

The easy and cheap way to go and really look authentic (as well as smell authentic) is to use real flashbulbs. That is what I do.

I have several dozen, but they won't last forever. Once they're gone they're gone.

 

[AgX]

Another way to go would be to exchange the socket in the flash for a bulb that is still common as old stock and easily and cheap to acquire for you.

 

[M Carter]

I have a Brownie that I like with the flipped-lens look; I just bent the flash contacts to work with strobes - in a pinch you can often change the flash sync on a simple camera. (Yes, it's weird to see a Pocket Wizard mounted to a Hawkeye, firing packs and heads...)

 

[brianmquinn]

I have a Brownie that I like with the flipped-lens look; I just bent the flash contacts to work with strobes - in a pinch you can often change the flash sync on a simple camera. (Yes, it's weird to see a Pocket Wizard mounted to a Hawkeye, firing packs and heads...)

I cannot see how this can possibly work. But Kodak did make a lot of cameras called "Brownie" so you may have type I do not know about.

 

[M Carter]

I cannot see how this can possibly work. But Kodak did make a lot of cameras called "Brownie" so you may have type I do not know about.

As mentioned later in the comment, it's a brownie hawkeye. It's very simple to bend the contacts - it's not like a copal shutter, it's a very simple mechanical affair with a rotating shield powered by a spring. The flash models have a set of contacts that are triggered when the shutter rotates. It's simple to attach an electronic flash, point it at a wall, and look through the camera back while triggering and adjusting. When the image that gets burned into your retina is a perfect circle, you're good. And the shutter is like 1/30th, so it's not a super precise adjustment to go from sort of a "3/4 moon" shape to the full circle. Somewhere on the web is a blog post showing the tabs to bend, but it's very clear when you take out the film insert (2 screws) and play with the shutter.
And, as they say, the proof is in the pudding - Hawkeye, flipped lens, speedo packs and heads:

 

[brianmquinn]

Nice. Now I see how you got it to work. I thinking about the external flash contact pins. You were talking about the internal flash contacts. I also like you idea of looking for a full circle of light to know you have the timing correct. I may try this out if I ever run out of flashbulbs.

 

[M Carter]

Nice. Now I see how you got it to work. I thinking about the external flash contact pins. You were talking about the internal flash contacts. I also like you idea of looking for a full circle of light to know you have the timing correct. I may try this out if I ever run out of flashbulbs.

And the cool thing is, I stumbled upon a guy selling a 3D printed hotshoe adapter for the Hawkeye on Amazon; turned out I purchased his prototype (I think) and then he stopped making them. Very handy, screws into the threaded flash contact just like the bulb/reflector thing did. I'm generally not a toy-camera fan, but the flipped lens is kind of cool. One-trick pony, but it's a very nice trick.

 

[maltfalc]

the only practical option would be a flash tube or led built into a flash bulb shape, with a cable running from just above the bulb base to an external power pack, and with the bulb base being used to pass the vintage flash's trigger signal to the power pack.

 

[AgX]

Yes, that hiding of the flash tube would be the best solution. I dd not hint at this as all incandescent flashes I came across so far over here have too small bulbs for this.

One also should not underestimate the isolation issue for the actual(!) trigger voltage.

 

[Robert Maxey]

Flash powder.

LOL. Yup, that is the way to go. I've got several formulas if you need them. Kickstarter it.

Seriously, someone above mentioned camera/phone flashes using LEDs. Luxeon (and others) make a number of modules that could be fashioned into a flash if the guide number is high enough for film. I am certain one could make a good flash from this type of product.

Bob

 

[benveniste]

You might want to send the folks at Paramount Cords a note and see what they have to say, but I suspect many of the posters are right about the sync issues.

 

[MattKing]

You might want to send the folks at Paramount Cords a note and see what they have to say, but I suspect many of the posters are right about the sync issues.

Sadly, I don't think Paramount Cords survived the economic effects of the pandemic.
They apparently announced their closing in March? and emails are returned undelivered.

 

[Robert Maxey]

Famous last words! If it was simple and be a marketable idea I think it would have been done long ago.

Well, perhaps so. That said, we live in a world where complex (more or less) electrical circuit designs can be had by freelance designers over the Internet. We have solid printing for housings and fixtures and the like. LEDs are being used as cellphone camera flash, and LEDs can be banked. I do not see the sync issues as being a show stopper

My guess is this would be a fairly "easy" project once a design is formalized and you know what you need. I see nothing insurmountable.

Bob

 

[benveniste]

Sadly, I don't think Paramount Cords survived the economic effects of the pandemic.
They apparently announced their closing in March? and emails are returned undelivered.

Sigh. Thanks for the update -- their webpage is still live.