old Braun portable strobe - any good?

rippo · Feb 27, 2008

for some reason i can't find very much information on this.

someone wants to sell me a Braun strobe system. comes with a battery, charger, two strobes and some other stuff. it appeared to be a model 800, although i don't know if that was the charger or the whole thing. the battery still held a charge, and the strobes appear to fire.

i don't even see these for sale on ebay, so apparently they're either ancient or rare (or both). any thoughts?

he claims you can still get flash tubes for them. that's a concern, but so is getting a new battery if this one is dicey.

up until now i've been a hotshoe-flash kind of guy, and i need more output. the price was cheap-ish, but i've got no data to go on.

thanks.

Bob-D659 · Feb 27, 2008

Not ancient, mid 1960's, the 800 was a 200ws flash, you could add a second head to split the power. Available with either an a/c pack,and/or a lead/acid or nicad clip on battery.

There has been the odd one on ebay, but I doubt the Braun brand batteries are still available. Would be a no go with any newer camera, sync voltage was probably way over 200 volts.

Wish I still had mine.

rippo · Feb 27, 2008

eeeuww...the sync voltage would be a definite problem. rats! that and i have no idea how long the battery will work for me.

thanks for the info!

Mike Wilde · Feb 28, 2008

Braun contact voltage info

I rehabbed a braun Hobby 300 a few mounth ago

I think the thing was called that - anyways an AC powered or 2x 2V wet cell batteries in an over the shoulder flash generator power pack, and a separate flash head head. You canont get the wet cells any more for that form factor, so I fitted 4 2v gel cel's underneath the pack, and made a foam core case to encapsulate it all.

The thing has quite punch - 160 guide number in feet, 100 asa, and a fast recylce. I use it as a back up to my metz CT60, or together when doing two light steups of larger groups. The Metz has more brains. The Braun is all or half powewr manula set only.

The Braun on full power puts about 585V DC across the flash terminals, so don't try using it if youy have a modern camera.

bdial · Feb 28, 2008

You can buy adaptors that reduce the voltage to the camera. However, unless it's a really good deal, you might be better off with a newer unit.

Lopaka · Feb 28, 2008

bdial said:
You can buy adaptors that reduce the voltage to the camera. However, unless it's a really good deal, you might be better off with a newer unit.

Here is a Sync filter that works on any flash unit with a HC outlet for sync:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/32406-REG/Lumedyne_AESF_Flash_Sync_Filter.html

I have an old one of those that burned out, so when I use a high voltage flash unit, I pass the sync through one of my pocketwizards which also filters the sync voltage (kind of expensive unless you already have them for remote flash).

I had one of those flash units with the wet cell - put out lots of good light. Sold it about 40 years ago.

Bob

rippo · Mar 6, 2008

i seemed to have stopped getting email notifications about this post. sorry for my delay!

Mike: i stopped by the guy's house just now to check the sync voltage of this F800. with my voltmeter it was showing right around 100v. if that's a legit way of measuring: when the flash was charged, i simply checked the voltage across the pc cord leading from the flash head. still, that can't be good for my modern cameras.

one option is to use it only off-camera, which is how i usually work anyway. use my cheap ebay remotes, which might withstand more voltage. i'll have to check that.

he had taken apart a smaller battery pack, and it looked like a series of 'C' batteries connected together. that pack had died however.

this is more trouble that it's worth. sure the battery works now, but i can only use it off-camera, if at all. there's saving money, and then there's lunacy.

bdial, Lopaka: yeah, but at $70+, it wouldn't be worth it. but thanks for the recommendation! if i could afford a $70 voltage regulator, i wouldn't be contemplating the Braun in the first place.

thanks again, everyone. i think i'm going to pass on this 'deal'.

JKFTL · Aug 13, 2022

rippo said:
for some reason i can't find very much information on this.

someone wants to sell me a Braun strobe system. comes with a battery, charger, two strobes and some other stuff. it appeared to be a model 800, although i don't know if that was the charger or the whole thing. the battery still held a charge, and the strobes appear to fire.

i don't even see these for sale on ebay, so apparently they're either ancient or rare (or both). any thoughts?

he claims you can still get flash tubes for them. that's a concern, but so is getting a new battery if this one is dicey.

up until now i've been a hotshoe-flash kind of guy, and i need more output. the price was cheap-ish, but i've got no data to go on.

thanks.

I am becoming sort of an expert in these big 'press-camera' Baun units. I have several in stock and am repairing them. I have converted to NMH batteries from the 4V Sonnenschein. I carried this type flash in HS in the late 1950s as yearbook photog, 4x5 Crown Graphic. I have a complete outfit to use when I get the flash(es) working.
Anybody out there with experience inside the big Braun units?

Don Franco · Jul 8, 2023

JKFTL said:
I am becoming sort of an expert in these big 'press-camera' Baun units. I have several in stock and am repairing them. I have converted to NMH batteries from the 4V Sonnenschein. I carried this type flash in HS in the late 1950s as yearbook photog, 4x5 Crown Graphic. I have a complete outfit to use when I get the flash(es) working.
Anybody out there with experience inside the big Braun units?

I read your post on the strobe. I had a Braun Heilander Strobe when I was in high school. I had asked my father for a $50.00 loan to purchase it. He came with me to mid town Manhattan’s Peerless camera store. I also purchased a Welti 35 MM camera. Mfg in USSR East Germany. That was about 50 bucks.
That was in 1956 and I’d love to have one, betcha lots more output than my Nikon SB800 strobe.

RalphLambrecht · Jul 8, 2023

rippo said:
for some reason i can't find very much information on this.

someone wants to sell me a Braun strobe system. comes with a battery, charger, two strobes and some other stuff. it appeared to be a model 800, although i don't know if that was the charger or the whole thing. the battery still held a charge, and the strobes appear to fire.

i don't even see these for sale on ebay, so apparently they're either ancient or rare (or both). any thoughts?

he claims you can still get flash tubes for them. that's a concern, but so is getting a new battery if this one is dicey.

up until now i've been a hotshoe-flash kind of guy, and i need more output. the price was cheap-ish, but i've got no data to go on.

thanks.

Don't invest too much into whole strobes. You can get brand new strobes for very reasonable $$$

koraks · Jul 9, 2023

RalphLambrecht said:
Don't invest too much into whole strobes. You can get brand new strobes for very reasonable $$$

In 15 years, he probably figured that one out as well.

Don Franco said:
Mfg in USSR East Germany

USSR and the GDR had a special relationship of course, but were not the same thing (at all!)

eli griggs · Dec 3, 2023

rippo said:
eeeuww...the sync voltage would be a definite problem. rats! that and i have no idea how long the battery will work for me.

thanks for the info!

A multi-meter can tell you the condition of the battery by measuring under load amps, double check this and what meters can handle the loads.

Less than an amp can kill, and you want to discover the battery data, not get for a ride in an ambulance.

You can first take a reading on a battery at rest and then strobe it repeatedly, noting how quickly it returns to peak amps.

Again, if you don't know how to do this safely, get a trained electrician to do this and stay safe.

Double check the cable's condition, if any, when doing this.

Philippe-Georges · Dec 3, 2023

The grey coloured Braun Hobby 300 flash was designed by the famous Dieter Rams's studio, a reason to cherish these...

koraks · Dec 3, 2023

eli griggs said:
Less than an amp can kill

Depending on the route the current takes, AFAIK something like 20mA administered in an unfortunate fashion can kill. However, most consumer grade battery packs tend to have clamp voltages that are far too low to result in such a current through the human body. Be cautious of voltages over 40V or so. Battery packs with all cells in series are tricky. Low-voltage packs are not a concern except in terms of fire, leakage etc.

eli griggs · Dec 3, 2023

That'll explain the dead girl killed by her cell phone while taking a bath, several years back.

koraks · Dec 3, 2023

eli griggs said:
That'll explain the dead girl killed by her cell phone while taking a bath, several years back.

She wasn't killed by the cellphone battery of course. People get killed from time to time due to poor "wall wart" power supply design. These are supposed to be galvanically isolated, and fortunately most of them are, but some very low cost Chinese units don't qualify. If you use one of those with your phone, the phone is essentially a live wire fluctuating at 115V or 230V around ground potential. That kills. Not the tiny 6.4V battery.

eli griggs · Dec 4, 2023

I just saw that the phone was on the charge, something the main media seems to have left out in the story as they told it.

In that case, of course, it might as well have been a toaster.

Another reason to have sudden water/shock tripping devices installed in all wet areas, it seems.

koraks · Dec 4, 2023

Yes, exactly. The headlines just look better if they say that someone gets electrocuted by their new iPhone instead of by a $1 wall wart that didn't meet regulations.

Chan Tran · Dec 22, 2023

koraks said:
She wasn't killed by the cellphone battery of course. People get killed from time to time due to poor "wall wart" power supply design. These are supposed to be galvanically isolated, and fortunately most of them are, but some very low cost Chinese units don't qualify. If you use one of those with your phone, the phone is essentially a live wire fluctuating at 115V or 230V around ground potential. That kills. Not the tiny 6.4V battery.

The tiny 6.4V battery can cause serious fire but not electrical shock.

old Braun portable strobe - any good?

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old Braun portable strobe - any good?

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