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Cheat a flash on a rb series d?????

 
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gstarza



Joined: 30 Mar 2005
Posts: 7
Location: NYC

PostPosted: Tue Apr 12, 2005 2:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I just got a rb series d. I've read through the online manual and asked around about being able to attach a flash to this camera. The consensus seems is no. Is this true and is there any way to cheat a flash onto this camera?

Best,
jerry
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semihemi



Joined: 25 Oct 2003
Posts: 85
Location: Boston, MA

PostPosted: Sun Apr 24, 2005 5:21 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Definitely possible. I have an RB Auto or some such around here with contacts on the shutter. They connect to a flash socket and POOF, in the ancient days it would fire the flash. I am sure it still works, on account of the simplicity. Hope this helps. If you like I can try to take pictures.

Jc
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t.r.sanford



Joined: 10 Nov 2003
Posts: 812
Location: East Coast (Long Island)

PostPosted: Mon Apr 25, 2005 2:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

In my youth, when Graflex reflex cameras were still around (although tottering toward extinction), there was a well-known method of synchronizing a flashgun with a camera that had no provision for flash.

Briefly, you attached a contact to the edge of the mirror support and another mating one to the underside of the top deck, right next to the groundglass. You ran wires from each to a panel jack mounted through the side of the camera in a position where it wouldn't interfere with anything.

You start with the shutter at the Open position (to which it moves after you've selected "T" and begun a Time exposure). The mirror is down. You withdraw the darkslide from the film holder. When you depress the shutter release, the mirror goes up (to make the exposure), the flashgun (plugged into your jack) fires when the contacts close the circuit, and the curtain shuts.

I did this, c. 1962, with an old "RB Series B" and it does work, if you don't expect too much. It obviously works best when the flash is the only real source of light for the exposure, since the effective shutter speed probably is somewhere in the 1/5 to 1/2 sec.
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gstarza



Joined: 30 Mar 2005
Posts: 7
Location: NYC

PostPosted: Mon Apr 25, 2005 3:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

How difficult is it to install the sync the way you describe? My camera repair skills are very limited. If it's not too hard, where would I get the elements (special wires, jacks) to do the installation?
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t.r.sanford



Joined: 10 Nov 2003
Posts: 812
Location: East Coast (Long Island)

PostPosted: Mon Apr 25, 2005 4:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I did my conversion in college, with a tube of "Duco" adhesive and a small handful of junk.

The jack can be anything for which you can devise or buy a synch cord with a mating plug. If I were doing it today, I'd probably use a miniature "telephone" jack (1/8 or 3/32 in.). You can get them in blister packs at Radio Shack.

The contacts on mirror and camera body just need to be conductive, and to mate in such a way that they don't halt the mirror before it has made a good light seal at the end of its swing. For this reason, you might prefer something that makes contact while brushing past, rather than running into. If you prefer direct impact, the contact that is run into should be flexible enough to be driven up flat by the mating contact. Anything conductive will do; most hobby shops will have brass in thin strips.

I have seen small phosphor bronze motor brushes in model train stores that struck me, immediately, as good candidates for synchronization contacts.

The wire just needs to be small-gauge, insulated and flexible. Again, Radio Shack might be a good place to start looking.

As with any modification, this one ought to be designed and executed in such a way as to be easily removable if you don't like the results! The only difficulty here is the hole for the jack, and it seems to me that you ought to be able to snake the wire leads up past the groundglass and terminate them with an in-line jack (also available from Radio Shack).

Alternatively, you could look for a usedmechanical synchronizer. I had no idea that such things existed for focal plane shutters, but they do, and you can find some good discussion of them on this site.

The one described in that discussion was designed for installation around the curtain winding key, and was intended for use with the big old "FP" flashbulbs that delivered peak light output for a long enough time to allow a slit to travel from the top to the bottom of the camera back.

The device has a certain charm, but would not work with electronic flash.
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