Cavechat.org

I am new here and as you can tell, I used to cave but no more.

My question is this: Does anyone still use flashbulbs (2B, 3B etc) for cave photography? Back in the 70's, when I did go underground, electronic flashes just didn't cut it, so we used the all sorts of bulbs.

thanks

Bryant

Welcome to the forum!

To answer your question: yep. It's still the best way to light large spaces, although I'm sure the bulbs are becoming harder to find. I have some lying around but haven't gotten around to trying them as electronic flashes are enough for a lot of caves around me.

Thanks for the reply. The big ones are what I used years ago. I still have a supply and am considering selling them to someone that would actually use them.

Coincidentally I was just telling a caver friend I'd never tried flashbulbs other than the old cube ones, and he insisted on giving me a few dozen to try. He has a ton of them. Now I just need to find - or come up with - some means of firing them...

You know for years bulbs were the way to go, the only thing. SO in some cases people think that anything but bulbs are wrong colors. No matter what you use for light. try and get a color card in the picture some where so that at some time, someone can use photoshop and get the real colors even if you don't remember them that way because of your light.

People ask why don't you take pictures? Because they never equal the memories. But hey that's just me I can't take a picture worth anything but I can find a way to make any vehicle get home from the cave. As such we all end up with a story about ".....a caving buddy of mine....."

Yep, I still have a bunch of them and a flashgun. I need to find the best way to sell them. There is a guy in the NE that sells them for a premium.

AnExCaver wrote:Thanks for the reply. The big ones are what I used years ago. I still have a supply and am considering selling them to someone that would actually use them.

If youre ever in the Sacramento area I'd be interested. They're great for larger passages.

NZcaver wrote:Coincidentally I was just telling a caver friend I'd never tried flashbulbs other than the old cube ones, and he insisted on giving me a few dozen to try. He has a ton of them. Now I just need to find - or come up with - some means of firing them...

Most fire pretty easily- as simple as connecting a nine volt battery to one will usually fire it. I would highly recomend using some sort of sturdy reflector, those cheap shop lights at home depot work or even a coffee can in a pinch. Mainly to keep the occasional explosion pointing away from you :) I've had several blow up probably because they weren't stored in a completely dry enviornment.
Good discussion of them at http://www.flickr.com/groups/flashbulbs ... 785070609/
I see flash guns on sale on e-bay occasionally, and you can look for a simple capacitor charged circuit if you want to build your own that's a little more reliable then just connecting a battery directly.

Thanks! I don't think I'll have to opportunity to experiment with them at the moment, but it's on my to-do list for next year.

captnemo wrote:

AnExCaver wrote:Thanks for the reply. The big ones are what I used years ago. I still have a supply and am considering selling them to someone that would actually use them.

If youre ever in the Sacramento area I'd be interested. They're great for larger passages.

Sorry, I live in VA. I have boxes of them. PM me if you're interested.