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Repeating flash


carsten_benni

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The old Balcar Monobloc, Monobloc 2 & Monobloc 3 all have a

variable power, variable interval stroboscopic feature built in.

Occaisionally you'llsee these units on the E-b*y. Bt the actual

flash duration will be more in the range of 1/750th - 1/1000th of a

second.<P>Another solution might come from <A HREF =

http://www.lpadesign.com> LPA Design</A> the makers of the

Pocket Wizard MultiMAX (which has a built in flash cycler and

intervalometer) and other programmable flash & camera

triggering devices.

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If I understand you correctly, you want to track objects falling from the ceiling to the floor with a series of flashes. For this you'll need some sort of repeating strobe unit with sufficient power, and the ability to control the flashes-per-second. There are many such units on the market, and they range from a few hundred dollars to well over onethousand. Some are photographic, some are industrial, some are scientific, some are for the entertainment business, etc. One well known line is Strobotach, but there are others. The specs will differ on all brands, I'm sure, that is in terms of power and flash duration.
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I've seen this technique used in the motion picture business.

 

They use nail boards to set off special effects pretty quickly in sequence. You could beg, borrow, buy several Vivitar 283's and wire sync cords to the nail boards and use that effect.

 

Depends on the camera to subject distance and aperture you're using but first I'd go into any one hour camera store and ask them for a bucket of "used" disposable cameras with built in flashes. I'd then rig up something with this "on-the-cheap" method to see how it works before spending any real serious cash.

 

The nail boards are a pretty neat method to trigger sequences of events pretty quickly, but take practice. You have to wire one lead of the sync cord from one flash to one stationary nail in the nail board, then wire the other lead to the nail you're using to drag down the nail board (I'd insulate this nail, except for the tip). Then repeat the step above for each individual strobe you have. As you drag the loose nail down the nail board, as it touches the stationary nails, it competes the sync and fires the flashes in sequence. Kinda like a poor man's sequencer. Pretty much back to basics, but it does work.

 

Anyhow, I'm rambling now.

 

Regards

 

SR

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