pico Posted April 20, 2011 Share #1 Posted April 20, 2011 Advertisement (gone after registration) This is my wife's Leica III, left to her by her Father. It has a Canon brand flash, which works with Mazda/Edison based bulbs and smaller ones with the adapter. However, just for fun I would like to have a genuine Leica flash appropriate to the model. I'd rather not have the camera modified to have a conventional synch socket. Any clues? I've searched and found nothing by Leitz or Leica. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted April 20, 2011 Posted April 20, 2011 Hi pico, Take a look here Bulb Flash on Leica III. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
lars_bergquist Posted April 20, 2011 Share #2 Posted April 20, 2011 Does indeed look like a Leica III or IIIa, which are of course pre-WWII models. The first synched model was the IIIf, introduced in 1950. There is no practical way to synch any earlier model (apart from rare Leitz conversions of some earlier models to IIIf standard) except to have a technician install a synch outlet. Even so, it will not be totally practical, because such a modification will close the synch circuit not only when the shutter is running, but also when it is tensioned again. I doubt in any case that you can find anybody able to do this work, even though it was quite common in the early 1950's. For that matter, this Canon contraption cannot be very practical either, as its lack of precision timing should limit it to speeds of one second, or Z. Already before the war, Leitz experimented with various bulb flash devices that mostly used the rotating speed dial for timing. These were notorious for their unreliability. So if I were you, I would keep this camera as a "working keepsake", maybe after a well-deserved CLA, and use more practical gear for my flash photography. The old man from the Age of Flashpowder Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pico Posted April 20, 2011 Author Share #3 Posted April 20, 2011 [... thanks for the input ...]For that matter, this Canon contraption cannot be very practical either, as its lack of precision timing should limit it to speeds of one second, or Z. Nope. It has a setting to trip with a 20 millisecond prefire, as very many bulb flashes had. See the space between the flash and Leica release? That is adjustable. The flash fires first, and timing can be adjusted. It works at 1/25 (or 1/10th) of a second unless set for FP bulbs. Even the old speed graphic solenoid triggers were adjustable. Remember? -- Pico who still uses bulb flashes sometimes. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lars_bergquist Posted April 21, 2011 Share #4 Posted April 21, 2011 I have no experience with early Canon gear, as Sweden did not occupy Japan ... But while a contraption like this one can of course be set internally with any amount of pre-fire, the timing between the flash release and the shutter release is completely dependent on the downward speed of the photograper's finger. Hence, consistency is lacking. I know those solenoid devices. There were two different types. One released the shutter after the user had released the flash, the other fired the flash after the user had started the shutter release – but delayed the actual shutter release. In both types, the process after the finger's plunge on the release was automatic, and could be pre-adjusted. (There were also mechanical types, more popular in Europe. None of those rigs, mechanical or electrical, was noted for its reliability. Internal shutter synch of Compur or focal plane shutters wiped them out quickly.) But here, as I understand, the continued finger movement provides the coupling in time. Or am I wrong? Is there a mechanism in the flashgun that, after the flash has been actuated by the finger, mechanically and automatically prersses down on the shutter release but with a 20 ms delay? Clever people, those Orientals ... But if it is not so, which I believe, then anyone who has ever adjusted the shutter and mirror release of a Visoflex II or III will respond with a hollow "ha!". And here, we are not speaking of milliseconds. The old man remembering the fragrance of singed cellulose bulb laquer Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pico Posted April 21, 2011 Author Share #5 Posted April 21, 2011 I have no experience with early Canon gear, as Sweden did not occupy Japan ... But while a contraption like this one can of course be set internally with any amount of pre-fire, the timing between the flash release and the shutter release is completely dependent on the downward speed of the photograper's finger. Hence, consistency is lacking.[...] You don't understand. The flash has the trigger which depresses the shutter. That's the way all most old flashes worked, including the Graflex, the Flashtronic (a battery-less flash) and this unit. I know those solenoid devices. There were two different types. One released the shutter after the user had released the flash, the other fired the flash after the user had started the shutter release – but delayed the actual shutter release. In both types, the process after the finger's plunge on the release was automatic, and could be pre-adjusted. (There were also mechanical types, more popular in Europe. None of those rigs, mechanical or electrical, was noted for its reliability. Internal shutter synch of Compur or focal plane shutters wiped them out quickly.) But here, as I understand, the continued finger movement provides the coupling in time.[...] I've never seen the solenoid type that was triggered by the photographer's finger. They were all electric and fired from the flash unit. Oh, there was a strange Russian thing that screwed into the lens shutter which fired the flash, then the shutter, but that was an outlier. I have one in the box marked "WTF". But it was not a solenoid. It was manual. Or am I wrong? Is there a mechanism in the flashgun that, after the flash has been actuated by the finger, mechanically and automatically prersses down on the shutter release but with a 20 ms delay? Clever people, those Orientals ... That is the way all my big bulb flash units work (and I have literally dozens). The flash fires the shutter. It was not an Asian invention. Exceptions exist - such as the Leica bulb flash which presumes the lower shutter speed which always fires the flash before the shutter begins to move. That is internal to the camera, and the way most cameras were designed. Large format cameras have/had two to four settings for flash to accommodate the same. I can provide pictures of my own with this feature. But if it is not so, which I believe, then anyone who has ever adjusted the shutter and mirror release of a Visoflex II or III will respond with a hollow "ha!". And here, we are not speaking of milliseconds. The old man remembering the fragrance of singed cellulose bulb laquer No big deal. I have an early Visoflex. It's easy to set the mirror so that it is up before the shutter releases. Remember, the delay is built into the camera. You only have to get the mirror up first, and 20 milliseconds is only 1/50th of a second. I'd not call that a short time. -- Pico who is no young puppy, either. (You have not lived until you have fired off a Mazzda #75. Imagine a bulb so powerful that it was used for night aerial photography.) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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