M sync bulbs will generally work on X at 1/30 second. But with focal plane shutters it depends on how fast the first curtain opens, so older cameras may be limited to 1/15 and newer ones may work to 1/60. The only way to know for sure with a particular camera is to experiment a bit. It should only take three shots to find out for sure because you are looking for curtain cutoff, part of the frame being unexposed.
Of course my Anti-Digital Camera syncs M bulbs to 1/400 no problem <grin>, I have always wanted to try some #22 bulbs but $3-$5 for something that may or may not fire seems a bit much. However if anyone has some #2 or #22 flashbulbs laying around gathering dust I would gladly pay you shipping for them. graywolf http://www.graywolfphoto.com http://webpages.charter.net/graywolf "Idiot Proof" <==> "Expert Proof" ----------------------------------- Scott Loveless wrote: > Lately, I've had an opportunity to look at some Kodachrome exposed with > M2B blue flash bulbs. The character of the light is certainly different > than that of electronic flash. A couple dozen of these could be in my > very near future. > > And now, of course, my dilemma. I'm hoping that a few of you have some > experience with flash bulbs and can shed some, er, light on the > situation. The chart here http://www.flashbulbs.com/bluebulb.htm > suggests that these bulbs will X sync to 1/30. The manuals for the MX > and SP500 recommend 1/15 at the fastest, while the K1000 manual > recommends 1/30. This seems a bit odd to me. As this sort of > photography is relatively expensive, I'd rather not experiment too > much. (Kodachrome + processing + bulbs at $1per that may not fire) > > Does anyone recall how they may have used these bulbs? I'm guessing > that I'd be safe at 1/15, but if I can squeeze out 1/30 I'd be happy. > > Thanks a bunch, folks! > -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
