Disposable Flash for M6

[unitedhowl]

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Hi

 

I have an M6 and was wondering if anyone could point me in the right direction - I'm looking for some sort of an old fashioned flash setup that takes disposable bulbs that will work on the M6.

 

Any tips?

 

Thanks!

[too old to care]

Several on Ebay. Just search for flash bulbs. Most in the $8 price range. Looking at them even brought back a few memories of the smell and sound of hot bulbs dropping onto the floor.

 

Wayne

[giordano]

Start with the bulbs rather than the flashgun.

 

The M6 flash synchronisation limits the range of bulbs and shutter speeds you can use. As with electronic flash, you are limited to 1/50 sec and longer, but an additional complication is that flashbulbs take much longer to ignite than electronic flash, so you need flashbulbs that deliver their light very very quickly. (All serious cameras in flashbulb days had at least one special "flashbulb" sync setting that sent current to the bulb before the shutter actually opened to allow for the ignition time, while the sync on the M6 simply fires the flash as soon as the shutter is fully open.)

 

The common, suitable bulbs were PF1 and AG1 or AG3. Probably all the bulbs you'll find these days have a blue coating for use with daylight colour film: the bulb type is suffixed B for blue. "Flashcubes" are also suitable if you find a suitable flashgun (don't get them confused with "Magicubes")

 

Basically any flash unit which takes any of those bulbs will work fine. Some could take both PF1 and the AGs. Some have a hot foot that will fit the M6, and virtually all the rest have a PC sync plug that fits the M6. The older M series cameras have a different sync socket, so flashguns made for them won't fit.

 

Most flashguns of the time use a small battery of between 9 and 22.5 volts. The voltage usually isn't important within that sort of range so it doesn't matter if the exact battery is no longer available. There's a small capacitor that actually delivers the current to the bulb, and this may well have died the death so you should be prepared to replace it.

 

If you want a flashgun with an impressive great metal reflector, you're not likely to find one that takes these small bulbs directly. But there were various adapters made to fit small bulbs in big sockets, so good luck hunting!

 

Cole's Cameras - Flash Bulbs

http://www.flashbulbs.com/

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