Finally I
found it, the
famous Polaroid #169 Adapter that goes into a flashcube socket and
connects to an
electronic flash. I knew it existed, but for several years it was
untraceable. I found it on an ad site in the Netherlands. The task is
not as easy as it seems at first sight. If you just connect the
contacts
from a bulb flash or a flashcube socket to an electronic flash, you
will
see...nothing. (And you may ruin your flash in the case of a flashcube,
as the socket provides an electrical impulse.) Here is why (with some
help from Wikipedia):
X-sync
for electronic flash is the simplest to explain and implement: the
flash is fired at the instant the shutter is fully open. Electronic
flash equipment produces a very short flash. Cameras designed for use
with flash bulbs generally have M (medium) sync, designed for use with
M bulb types. This sync mode closes the contacts a few milliseconds
before the shutter is open, to give the flashbulb time to reach peak
brightness before exposing the film. Class M bulbs reach their peak
illumination 20 milliseconds after ignition, a leaf shutter-type
camera would open its shutter 19 milliseconds after electrical current
was applied to the bulb. Flashcubes contain M type bulbs.
So if you take the contacts designed
for flash bulbs for an electronic flash, the light from the flash would
be over when the shutter opens. The resulting picture is black, I tried
it. The Polaroid #169 adapter provides the necessary delay.
And here it is,
the little wonder:
With its original box...
...and its instructions. The price was in Dutch Guilders, not French Francs.
It clipses easily into the flashcube socket.
Clipsed, seen from above..
A quick test with a flash that was too weak and only hand-held. But it's evident that it's geting its job right.
