I just saw the in depth discussion of the flashes available. I am looking for a flash for my model B. I have seen many minox bc flashguns on ebay. These have struck my attention because of there low cost. My concern is can these still be used, are bulbs and batteries readily available. Thanks, Brandon

-- Brandon Hatcher (brandon@cracked-egg.com), January 05, 2000

Answers

You may buy AG1 type ligtht bulbs from Wholesaleadvantage.com

-- martin tai (martin.tai@capcanada.com), January 05, 2000.

The BC flash attachment worked fine in 1970, when AG1 bulbs were cheap. They are no longer cheap. I only use ambiant light these days. I seem to remember connecting a small electronic flash with a cord to the Minox B, setting the speed at 1/60, and firing away. The pictures came out fine. Anyone have recent experience with this?

-- Jeff Polaski (polaski@acm.org), January 05, 2000.

I have recent experience like that:

I connect a Vivitar 2800 to my IIIS with an 8-inch cord, and sight and fire the camera with the right hand while holding the flash in the left, usually angling it in somewhat to get a more dimensional effect.

With 100-speed film, and the flash at its lower auto setting (which specifies an aperture of f/4 with 100-speed film and covers distances of about 4 feet to 12 feet), I shoot at 1/100 (although faster and slower speeds also seem to work fine) and get VERY nice results. (Although with TMX, the dreaded high-contrast can be a problem when using flash.)

The only think I don't like is that the Vivitar 2800 is so much larger than the Minox. A smaller automatic flash (like the old Vivitar 200) would probably work just as well, as long it had an auto mode that provided roughly the right exposure at f/3.5 for the film you're using.

But no question, using an automatic electronic flash via a PC cord can work BEAUTIFULLY!

-- Michael Goldfarb (mgoldfar@mobius-inc.com), January 05, 2000.

I use a Metz Mecablitz 20BC telecomputer flash connected with a PC cord to my Minox C.

-- Linda Jackson (lj7619@clary.com), January 07, 2000.