Stupid RZ67 question #24

So for the last 10 years or so I've been sitting on 4000+ flashbulbs, 90% of them are #22's and the rest are 22R's and #5R's.

I was debating rigging up one of my Heiland flash handles to my RZ and and do some shooting. I've only shot bulbs with my speed (before I gave it away) but nothing with modern X-Sync systems. I guess as long as I keep it under 1/30 I should be good?

You're going to need an "M" setting or connection..
The reason for that is at the X setting the contact in the shutter is made as soon as the lens if fully open. At the M setting the switch makes
contact before the blades open. That gives the bulb a few milliseconds to get to full brightness before the shutter opens for the exposure.

You can try this without film by removing the film back and looking through the lens(through the back) when you fire a bulb.
You should see the flash go off through the lens. It's just going to be a bright flash of light if it's working. No light? It didn't synch.

John

You can use a B or T setting, if you are willing to open the shutter, manually trigger the flashbulbs, and then close the shutter.

It's just about milliseconds, so at a slower speed the flash should have reached full brightness before the shutter closes. But because the flashbulb burns longer than an electronic flash and you have a slow speed you might get some motion blur. It's probably best to test it with film.

Use your X-sync with a slow shutter speed. Medium speed bulbs are at their highest brightness in about 20 milliseconds. Use 1/30 second or slower with them and you'll be fine. Fast peak bulbs would work with even faster shutter speeds on X.

You'll have to look up the guide numbers - likely printed on the box. For instance, on a box of Press 25 bulbs it states "X or M sync. Up to 1/30, Guide number is 550 for 320 to 500 speed film. 80 to 125 film the guide number is 280. etc."

There were a lot of flashbulbs that would work on cameras with X synch - instructions right on the box.