Electronic Flash Units

[henseman]

91111

Can anyone identify the flash units in the picture I've uploaded? On each of the shafts below the reflector there is a large "V".

I'm trying to find a manual and determine how they are powered. One seems to be a master and the other one a slave that plugs into the cord on the master.

Any help at all in finding the name/model and possibly a manual would be appreciated.

Brian

[Bob Salomon]

Kind of looks like old Ultrablitz units or early Multiblitz Report units.

[Leigh]

They were probably powered by a 300-volt battery.

You shouldn't use these with modern equipment, The high voltage will likely destroy the trigger. It's OK to use them with mechanical shutters like the Copal or Compur. Their contacts will handle the voltage.

- Leigh

[henseman]

Who would have manufactured them?

[henseman]

Hi Leigh,

I was considering using them with my Century Graphics cameras. Where would one pick up such a battery? What would they look like? Does the large "V" below the reflector give a hint to the maker? I was thinking "V" for Victor.

Brian


They were probably powered by a 300-volt battery.

You shouldn't use these with modern equipment, The high voltage will likely destroy the trigger. It's OK to use them with mechanical shutters like the Copal or Compur. Their contacts will handle the voltage.

- Leigh

[Bob Salomon]

Who would have manufactured them?

Ultra blitz is no longer around. Multiblitz is on Porsche Strasse in Köln Germany.

[Bob Salomon]

Hi Leigh,

I was considering using them with my Century Graphics cameras. Where would one pick up such a battery? What would they look like? Does the large "V" below the reflector give a hint to the maker? I was thinking "V" for Victor.

Brian

I think the V is the lighting angle the reflector is set for. There may be a wider V around the tube that shows a different lighting angle.

[Leigh]

I checked the four main industrial electronics distributors and nobody has anything appropriate.

Mouser and Digi-Key show nothing at all.
Newark shows one 72-volt product, but it's $852 and you'd need four or five of them.
Allied has a lot of batteries, but the high-voltage ones all appear to be UPS replacements, and extremely expensive (~$14,000). Their search function is so bad that I was not able to narrow the 1500+ results.

Even if you found a suitable battery, you would need a connector that mates with the one on your flash.
Without knowing what configuration it expects, you could create a very hazardous situation.

As much as I would like to help, I think this is not doable.

- Leigh

[henseman]

Thanks for checking this out.....it was just a thought. They look very much like the Ultrablitz Jet II....I found a little bit on them at Butkus.

Brian

[Sevo]

Ultrablitz is less likely, even though they started up with similarly mainstream press flashes - they invented the transistor step-up circuit (when the competition still used mechanical inverters), and specialized in a bit smaller and more consumer oriented flashes, with somewhat more decorative design. I think Multiblitz are most likely, given the very utilitarian design, but many German makers offered quite similar flashes, Braun (the shaver company) being the most widespread. If yours are unbranded, they may even be a Japanese clone.

No need to hunt for esoteric batteries if they are German. These were not directly high voltage battery driven, but powered by a portable electronic generator that contained by a battery or set of batteries anywhere between 6V dry cells (Ultrablitz) and 12V/24V lead-acid (Braun, Multiblitz). If you are missing the generator, you will need that!

[multiblitzusa]

Hi everyone - just wanted to chime in...

This is not a Multiblitz Press Universal.

Hope that helps.

[Joseph Dickerson]

They are Ultra Blitz, at least I'm pretty sure they are. I used the same units for wedding work about a hundred years ago.

They attached to a rechargeable power supply, not a 300v battery as suggested above. It was a wet cell battery and only worked with these heads.

The suggestion re: the V indicating angle is correct, you could also remove the reflector and shoot "open tube" flash. Anyone else old enough to remember open tube flash work? :rolleyes:

As far as their use today...might make a planter?

JD

[Ivan J. Eberle]

Potentially fatal levels of current travelled over the cords of early electronic flashes, so be sure that you've got cabling that the insulation isn't broken down and that won't zap you-- definitely replace any 40-60 year old rubber coated cables!

Also, for what it may be worth, and for anyone with enough electronic experience and background to try DIY, a modern Quantum Turbo or Turbo 2x2 is a 12 volt battery inverted and stepped up to 300VAC. These units have the ability to zap and top off a large capacitor in a couple seconds time. May be some application here to substitute for long-obsolete HV wet cells.

[SpeedGraphicMan]

Oh lord! I have seen those exact units somewhere but for the life of me cannot remember the name!

[Sevo]

I suspect that these flash heads might actually have been made by Osram (who held the flash tube patent at the time) - they are typically unbranded and I've run across them with quite a variety of power packs and corresponding flash cord sockets. The brand-less nature of them in particular suggests one central OEM.

[Sevo]

Ultra blitz is no longer around. Multiblitz is on Porsche Strasse in Köln Germany.

The last I saw of Ultrablitz was as part of (Frankfurt based electronics, not Nuremberg camera) Braun. They continued to use the name Braun Ultrablitz for part of their flashes into the SCA age.

[multiblitzusa]

Be really careful with these old flash guns. Sync voltages were ridiculous. The Press Universal has a sync voltage of 156 V. That would fry any modern camera. I assume the Ultrablitz is in that same area.

[Jac@stafford.net]

While this does not answer your original question, if you find the voltage necessary then you might consider creating your own battery. I used a Singer Graflex #250 flash (with bare tube) that used an Eveready 510-volt (nominal voltage) battery made of 9-volt batteries wired in series.

[Joseph Dickerson]

They are Ultra Blitz, at least I'm pretty sure they are. I used the same units for wedding work about a hundred years ago.

They attached to a rechargeable power supply, not a 300v battery as suggested above. It was a wet cell battery and only worked with these heads.

The suggestion re: the V indicating angle is correct, you could also remove the reflector and shoot "open tube" flash. Anyone else old enough to remember open tube flash work? :rolleyes:

As far as their use today...might make a planter?

JD

With more time to think on it, I'm pretty sure I remember the name Braun was stamped on the power supply.

These were old units when I used them in the mid-70's and weren't all that powerful even by the standards of the day. Can't imagine there would be any hope in making them useful at this late date. Your money could be better spent on a modern unit that would be 1) more reliable, 2) more powerful, and 3) a hell of a lot safer to work with.

JD