Eeeeek!!! Braun F910 Pro unit...
 

Was given this HUGE monster by the ever gracious and total star, Mark at Norfolk Photographic... and as he said... it came complete with free dust ; ) it's a Braun F910 Pro unit... any thoughts or views anyone?... I never even heard of this system before...

Cheers,

Good health to all,

Jim

Jim,
You did not mention in your pm that Mark gave you TWO of them. :D :rolleyes:

A shot or two of the dryfit battery pack would be interesting, or have they had a diy replacement of that.

Looking forward to a hands on next time you visit.

Don

A google tranlated link to info on this item
http://translate.google.com/translat...Den%26hs%3Drqv

Don

Hi Jim, I don't know what you or Don think, but I had a great big Cullman from the same era and was thinking of trying it on my D70 when I first started Digital. At the time I was using it quite happily on an old Nikon EL 2 - Both Cullman and Nikon advised against - something to do with the power of the thing shorting out the D70 electronics.

Its all about trigger voltage Andy.

My Nikon SB80-DX trigger voltage is 4.89volts, Metz 45CL3 15.5volts, and the ancient Vivitar 283 a whopping 275volts :eek:.

So with any older kit it is worth measuring that with a multimeter before attaching to a modern camera. Different manufacturers give different max voltages for this, but as a general rule 6volt is about max for a modern camera.

To measure the trigger voltage, power the flash up and measure the volts across the centre terminal, and the ground terminal which is to the side of the hotshoe mounting.

Don

Jim, before you let it anywhere near your camera, it is essential you know what the trigger voltage on this unit is. I don't see this model listed in the usual database:
http://www.botzilla.com/photo/strobeVolts.html

Get some fresh batteries, put them in, switch it on, and VERY, VERY carefully measure the voltage across the centre contact on the bottom of the unit and the "earth" contact that normally connects to the side lugs on your hotshoe using a voltmeter. Set the voltmeter to measure VDC and set the range to full scale deflection of 500V. If the needle/scale doesn't move then set a lower range until you can get a reliable reading.

See the data on safe voltages in the link given above to determine if it's safe to attach to your hotshoe.

Some of these old units can have trigger voltages of several hundred Volts DC, which hurts (a lot) if you touch it when doing the measurement. If you don't have a voltmeter, find a local electrician that can do this for you.

You beat me to it Don.

I used this website to check all my old flash guns before I contemplated using them on my digital, unfortunately those units are not on there.
http://www.botzilla.com/photo/strobeVolts.html

That'll be me then Duncan. :D :D

I did a case full of Jims dads old stuff yesterday, and a good job too. The worst one registered 375 volts :eek:.

Don

If you still have them I will do a search Christine.

Safest bet with old units is to use a slave to trigger them with. All manual exposure though, to prevent the pre flash firing them.
Foxy did a thread on his experiences with a slave. I will do a search and link it.

Don

Foxys optical trigger thread link
 

Here we go
http://www.worldphotographyforum.com...ead.php?t=1859

Don

Thanks for all the great replies : )

I'll bring it over to you soon Don... I just know I'll blow the house up if I even plug it in... me and electric things get on about as well as... well, water and electricity ; )

For sure, it's a cool looking beastie - hope we can get it to function in some fashion... : D

:eek: Thanks for the info folks - 275 Volts ! :eek:

Don, when I do use them and thats not often I use them with a slave trigger and they work well as secondary flash.

I posted this pic in a thread ages ago but cannot find it to post a link to the thread.

This should answer why old cameras could handle such high trigger voltages.
Note the scale of the copper contacts used on old cameras that handled the flash triggering current.

Before anyone asks, no, I am not going to open the D2X up to take a pic of its insides. :D :D

Don

Same applied to the old 60 series Metz I use to have, and the even older 400 series Metz stuff with dryfits not much smaller than car batteries! lol
If I didn't get the fitting fully home on the hotshoe it would spark up blue on my old Contax RTS!

Yes, said before well worthwhile using as a slave via light or radio trigger.....otherwise keep it strictly for the older film cameras

Jim,

I have had a quick look since your dad left, and one of the boxes is a transformer. Tomorrow I will rig up a lead and see if it still works. If so you could be cooking with gas for a mains powerd 2 flash head set up.

Don

Hey mate : )

AHHHHHHHhhhh!!! So THATS what that was!!!!!... I really hope to make it over next time Don so we's can have a good chat!!!

Jim

Hi Jim,

Time to get your head in gear for a bit studio flash. ;)

Both units are now working from the mains power supply.
Its going to take some time to reform the capacitors before we can have some idea of the power output, but things are looking good, and I have stars before my eyes at the moment from the trial flashes. :eek: :D

Instruction manual is a bit lacking on info so I will need time to properly work them out. One unit is the master and the other a slave.

Don

Jim,

Lights flashing before my eyes so enough for today. Two of these firing in the confines of my workshop for flash meter tests, its no wonder. :rolleyes:

Update : Both units working off mains power.
One unit has controllable output through the remote sensor, eight stop range and that has been confirmed with a flashmeter. The slave is a full power all the time job with no facility to reduce power other than the diffuser panel which cuts one stop of light.

The battery is dead and there is a question mark over its charger :(. The dryfit battery is a Sonnenschein A200 8v 3.8Ah. No idea where a replacement of similar size and spec can be had nowadays. I have not tried cobbling a standard Nicad cells job as with a trigger voltage of 27.8volts it is not useable directly connected to a modern camera anyway. Power output is currently the same as a Metz 45, so one of those ( CL3 or CL4 0 with a suitable SCA unit to control the trigger voltage is a more compact powerful hammer head to attatch to a camera.

The Braun units will do a pretty good job in a controlled studio type environment though, so maybe tomorrow dependant on whats happening, I may well knock up a brolly holder to give them a proper go. I could do with taking some pics now they are cleaned up to post here anyway as these are probably fairly rare beasts. :)

Don

AWESOME NEWS!!! How cool is that DON!!!???... you're a bloody genius mate!... can't wait to pop over and gleen some info... I'm planning, on maybe, time permitting, knocking a little studio up at home... I'll discuss the 'type' of image i'm after with you when I see you... then I will just leave the flash set for that shot etc... eeeeee! can't wait to see your results : D

Cheers mate and see you soon : )

Jim

Guess I'd better get on with a brolly holder or maybe two then Jim.

In amongst all the stuff your dad has, is there a spere tripod or two to mount them on. If not tell Dave it will be boot sale time again. :D :D :D

Don

Hahaha!!! Yeah... there are two tripods here... will sort them out : )

Dave's going to give you a ring tomorrow I think... so I'll be keeping my fingers crossed I can pop over too! : D

Jim,

If you come fine, but I will have to make the brolly holders, and 1/4" to 3/8" adaptors so you can attatch them to your tripods before you can take them away. :)
Oh and I want to take a pic or two of them. ;)

Of course that bit could be of interest to you as I will fire up the Multiblitz studio job for that.

Don