How Long Will It last?

I recently encountered the following early 1961 ad promising the product would work for "countless years" , that is, 2020!:

I looked and a related product was for sale on eBay, but "untested".

 

Of course, it does have another year to go.

 

Now that we're living "countless years" in the future, I'm sure that more old cameras of that vintage are still working than old flashes, or am I wrong?

:

I think you're probably right, as in many cases the capacitors have leaked or the batteries have lost the ability to hold a charge. Having said that I still love and often use my (at least) 25 yr old Metz 45CL-4 flash with all my camera bodies.

I think you're probably right, as in many cases the capacitors have leaked or the batteries have lost the ability to hold a charge. Having said that I still love and often use my (at least) 25 yr old Metz 45CL-4 flash with all my camera bodies.

The battery would definitely not hold a charge by now. More likely less than 5 years but do you count that as a failure? Other than that I think a few of them should still be working.

Oh yes - some are still working, I also have 2 Vivitar 2800 hotshoe models from the mid 1980s which work fine as well as Minolta Electroflash from even earlier which also works fine. I'd definitely call a leaky capacitor a failure as well as a rechargeable battery which couldn't hold a charge any longer, as many are no longer repairable.

Thank you for the cool post. Well the early 1930's Speedgraphic worked perfectly when I sold it 8 years ago, focal plane shutter and all. My Vivitar 5600 flash that I got for Christmas in 1986 stopped working reliably in 2016. The flash still works but the triggering system is extremely unreliable so I had to replace it with a more current Metz. The Metz is so complicated I am still trying to figure out how it works...just don't use it often enough.

Oh yes - some are still working, I also have 2 Vivitar 2800 hotshoe models from the mid 1980s which work fine as well as Minolta Electroflash from even earlier which also works fine. I'd definitely call a leaky capacitor a failure as well as a rechargeable battery which couldn't hold a charge any longer, as many are no longer repairable.

I expect a good number of capacitors are still good but as for NiCad batteries I would say none is still good today.

My oldest flashes are a Vivitar 283 and 365, then add in a "younger" Canon 577, 199, and 299T. All from the 70s or 80s, and still doing their duty with rechargeable Nickel-hydrides. Knock on wood. But an original equipment Ni-Cad to last that long? No way,

No Tesla for me.

Haha, great ad! I'm strictly a digital photographer with a (now 6-7 year-old) Canon Speedlite 580 EX II flash that I almost never use. Up until some 6 years ago it was still the best Canon Flash on the market. It's now no longer available and has been replaced by the Canon 600 EX series (2012 onwards).

 

It's wonderful to read that the 'Allied Impex Corporation' (if ill-advised) made design/tech. predictions almost 60 years into the future! Perhaps they had (at the time) supreme confidence, no clue about the potential for future innovation or just thought "well if people buy into the ad, so what ?"

 

Whatever the background, the ad is interesting. Thanks for sharing this.

 

Mike

Where’s the part that says 4 out of 5 dentists—I mean photographers—agree? :rolleyes:

:-) This is a fun discussion! I've got a fancy "Nikon speedlight" for my dSLR, but the two old Vivitar 285's still work fine; I've had them since the early/mid-1990s I think. Great old flashes. And with their variable power and little hotshoe slaves, they can still be handy for fill in staged photos with 'real lighting.' :-)

My Vivitar 283 still works just fine.

Today I received my ultrablitz falsh and IT WORKS!

Rechargeable batteries don't have a lifespan measured in years but in discharge-recharge cycles.  In theory, a 30-years old NiCad that hade never been cycled would still work as if new.  

I have a Metz 45 CT-4 which had a very hard life before I bought it, I reckon it's probably 40 years old and still working fine, if just a little bit slow to initial charge. Got some way to go though, to rival the one in the advert.

Otoh, I have every confidence the drawerful of Metzes will see me out. They're almost indestructible and right now are best bang for the buck in decent flashgear (not including the cheerful cheapies that have an indeterminate lifespan).

My Metz 45CL-4 is still reliably working. What a great hammerhead flash which I've used with over 2 dozen cameras over the years...film and digital.

Opportunity Rover on Mars lasted from 2004-2018 re-charging its batteries until a dust storm is believed to have covered its solar panels.  Of course atmospheric conditions differ, but still. . .the batteries might still be good.

2 hours ago, httpwww.photo.netbarry said:

.... the batteries might still be good.

Unlike any batteries provided with a Metz 45CT-x, or any other make or model of hammerhead flash from that era. 

Yes, you can pick up a Metz 'potato masher' for next to nothing, but then you'll pay through the nose for a replacement battery pack, or spend hours replacing the furry Nicads in the pack supplied. 

There's nothing unusual about a flash lasting 40, 50, 60 or more years. Even cheap Hanimex and similar brands from the 1960s and '70s can be found in working condition. It's just that faster recycling, more efficient circuitry and more compact and ergonomic designs have made old flashes largely redundant. 

4 hours ago, rodeo_joe1 said:

It's just that faster recycling, more efficient circuitry and more compact and ergonomic designs have made old flashes largely redundant. 

Not to mention dangerously high trigger voltages.

On 2/13/2019 at 5:17 PM, JDMvW said:

I recently encountered the following early 1961 ad promising the product would work for "countless years" , that is, 2020!:

 

 

 

 

Modern Photography February 1961

 

 

 

 

 

I looked and a related product was for sale on eBay, but "untested".

 

Of course, it does have another year to go.

 

Now that we're living "countless years" in the future, I'm sure that more old cameras of that vintage are still working than old flashes, or am I wrong?

:

 

 

 

 

That's quite expensive for the 1960's !

56 minutes ago, hjoseph7 said:

That's quite expensive for the 1960's !

My father was bringing home about $55/wk as a young engineer when I was born in 1960!  

Just as oil changes are a regular maintenance item for cars, batteries are for electronics.

I would not consider capacitors as a maintenance item, though.

Many recent electrolytics don't seem to last.  I am not sure about older ones.

 

Reminds me, in the 1960's my dad bought a smaller Metz flash.  After not so long

it stopped working, and he replaced the soldered-in NiCd batteries.

When it happened again, he replaced them again.  Then finally figured out that it

was the diode in the charger that was bad.

I used those NiCds for my electronics projects for some years.

 

I have solder-tab AA and 2/3 C cells for replacement in things that need them.