Xref: utzoo sci.electronics:4801 rec.photo:4309
Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!tektronix!sequent!brian
From: brian@sequent.UUCP (Brian Godfrey)
Newsgroups: sci.electronics,rec.photo
Subject: Re: Flashbulbs (was something stupid and illegal...)
Message-ID: <10022@sequent.UUCP>
Date: 20 Jan 89 17:11:55 GMT
Reply-To: brian@crg1.UUCP (Brian Godfrey)
Organization: Sequent Computer Systems, Inc
Lines: 19

>And then there's the more common but no less mysterious "B" setting,
>which I've always heard "translated" as "bulb", which holds the shutter
>open as long as you hold the shutter release button.  Is this intended
>for syncing to flash bulbs?  (I always used it for exposures longer than

   No, the "B" setting is on the shutter speed dial and is translated just
as you did - "bulb". It comes from the old kind of shutter releases which 
were made of a tube and an air bulb which, when squeezed, released the 
shutter. Most people use cable releases, now, but you can still get the
bulb releases. 
   In a way, "B" can be used as yet another sync method. You can open the
shutter on the "B" setting and lock it open, then go around and flash a
strobe where you want light to appear. (This must, obviously, be done in 
the dark or the film will quickly overexpose.)
-- 

--Brian M. Godfrey
  Sequent Computer Systems Inc.
  !tektronix!sequent!brian