BRAUN F80 FLASH User manual

F 80 professional
BHHUN                        Instructions for use


                  F,{rc*'t5

The equipment
Oun.!-",o, Un,,
                   The F 80 Professional flashgun is a high-
                      performance electronic equipment designed
                    on the unit construction  principle.

                                      It comprises:

                                                     1
                   The generator unit, which produces the
                          electrical power and houses the automatic
                        control device.
                        2
                   The power pack, available in three forms:
                       Barix battery, NC battery or mains unit.
                       3
                   The lamp unit, with reflector head, which
                       converts the electrical power into light.

                    The power packs

                   The outwardly-identical power packs are all
                       completely self-contained  units, and circuit
                    changes from one kind of power supply
                         to another are made automatically by
                          clipping the power pack to the generator unit.

                   The Barix battery is a lead-acid accumulator;
                       the state of charge ne,eds to be checked,
                    and the battery must be topped up with
                            distilled water,from time to time.

                   The NC (nickel cadmium) battery is entirely
                       maintenance-free, and may be stored in
                    any state of charge.

                   The mains unit draws its electrical power
            www.butkus.usfrom the mains supply, converting  it to the
                         req'uired operating voltage.

Venmo @mike-butkus-camera  Ph. 2083
PayPal Name  Lynn@butkus.org      www.PayPal.me/lynnbutkus

usable is r/go or llso sec, according to the
      manufacturer's  instructi ons.

      This is because a focal-plane shutter only
     uncovers the whole area of the film frame for
     a fraction of a second at shutter speeds
      of about llso or llso or slower, and the flash
     must occur duning this brief period of time.
     At all faster speeds a slit, of variable width,
      runs across the film; according to the
      shutter speed selected, this slit may be as
         little as a millimetre wide.

     The between-lens or blade shutters  in
    common use, on the other hand, open com-
      pletely at all shutt'er speeds and thus uncover
      the whole area of the film; this means that
      the flash can be fully effective at all shr.rtter
      speeds.

      Switching on the equipment

     Set the main switch on the generator unit to
      position 1. The pilot lamp above the switch
       will glow, indicating that the equipment is
        'live', and all subsequent switching on and
       off will be done automatically by the control
     device to suit the power requirements.

    A few seconds after switching on, the neon
     lamp on the back of the reflector head will
       light up to ind,icate that the flash is ready for
       firing.

    When the lamp unit is connected to the
     camera contacts by the synchro lead the
www.butkus.usflash is triggered automatically;  it can also
     be ,used independently of the camera by

means of the red firing button on the under-
side of the reflector head.

Switch off the equipment by setting the main
switch to 0, when the pilot lamp will go out.





Selecting the light output

The light level from the F 80 can be varied
by adjustment of the electrical power output
and o'f the angl,e over which the reflector
emits the light.

The output selector switch is on the back of
the reflector head, and gives:
full output on position O
low output on position v

The slide switch under the reflector head
alters the angle of emission, which is:
600 normal angle on position @
80o wide angle on position @

4 light levels

    Maximum light      Colour guide
      output             number          42
                       Output selector  o
                            Reflector angel   e

    Reduced output     Colour guide
    when lighting for    number          30
     extreme wide-angle  Output selector  o
      lenses                Reflector angle   @

       Fill-in flash at       Colour guide
    medium distances,  number           18
    and "press photo-   Output selector         I
     graPhY" oPeration    Reflector angle   e
     for minimum recycl-
     ing time with rapid
    B & W shots

      Fill-in flash at close Colour guide
     distances      number        12
                        Output selector e
                           Beflector angle @

     Recycling time

     Like the light output and reflector emission
     angle, the recycling tinre can be varied to
     suit particular needs.
    With the output selector set for full output
    (O) the recycling time is about B seconds,
    set for low output (v) it is about 2 seconds


www.butkus.us

A distance of 15-20 ft (4.5-6 m) on the outer
      ring is opposite f/5.6, which is the aperture
      setting for the camera.

      Altering the aperture in special conditions

     Very light subjects
       (e.9. tiled bathroom, Close
    light-coloured     aperture 1 stop
      clothing, white
      tablecloth)

        Fill-in flash

    Use low output        Close aperture
      levels, otherwise       1-2 stops
        fill-in will be
      excessive. Hold
      expos,ure meter
      against fully-lit
      areas. not shadow
      areas. Set aperture
      for flash distance,
     then adjust shutter
     speed to suit (flash
       is controlled by
      aperture, existing
       light by shutter
      speed).

      Flash well to one side
      giving side lighting   Open
      for portraits, or to      aperture 2 stops
     avoid reflections
www.butkus.uswhen copying

1     Bounce ffash                        '
    The reflector head may be tilted back by up
      to 90o to give indirect lighting without alter-
      ing the position of the lamp unit relative to
      the camera. lt can be moved from the direct
     to indirect lighting positions and back
     again in a single hand movem'ent.

     The head will stay in any set position, and
      there are click settings at 0o and 90o (where
     the light is reflected directly downwards
     from the ceiling).

     Set the aperture by means of the calculator
      disc, then open up 2 stops.

     Extension synchro leads

     The lamp unit can be used separated from
      the camera to give side or back lighting if
      the synchro lead is replaced with a longer
     one. Synchro leads are available in lengths
      of 1 , 2,3, 4 and 5 metres (31/+, 61/2, 10, 13
     and 161/z feet), and there are extension leads
      of 5 and 10 metres (161/z and 33 feet) which
     can be plugged together and used in
      conjunction with the synchro lead.
     Extension leads for joining the lamp cable
     and generator unit are also available for
      special casses it is desired to separate the
     lamp unit from the main flash equipment.


www.butkus.us

Batteries-charging and maintenance
 Barix battery

 Th,e Barix battery is ideal for professional
 use and for cases where  it will be used
 fairly frequently. Nothing is gained by not
 using it-in fact, the more often  it is used and
 recharged the better its performance.

 Checking the charge

 The coloured beads in the sight tubes give
 an approximate indication of the state of
 charge. A rough r.ul,e is that when the bottom
 (black) bead sinks the battery is half-dischar.
 ged, and when the middle (red) bead sinks
 it is three-quarters discharged.  lf the top
 (green) bead sinks the battery is completely
exhausted and must be recharged at once.
The battery will be ruined if left discharged.

Charging

To charge the battery, release the catches
on the generator unit and unclip the battery
 unit. The charging plug is then inserted into
a mains socket, and the battery plug on the
end of the charging lead fitted into the
bottom of the battery unit.

 lf a power pack mains unit is available, this
may also be used for charging the battery.
The mains unit is plugged into the mains and
the battery unit is then clipped to  it.
In this way, when several batteries are in
use, two batteries can be charged at the
same time-one by means of the charging
plug and the other via the mains unit.

Charging is continued for one hour after all
      the beads have risen to the top of the tube
        (i.e. 12-14 hours for a fully-discharged
       battery).

      Recharging and forming after long periods
       of disuse

           lf the flash equipment is left unused for a
       longish period, recharging and forming
      every 6 months are essential to maintain the
       electrical properties of the battery and
       electrolytic condensers. The battery should
       be'fully charged. The equipment is then left
      switched on for half-an-hour without firing
      the flash; this re-forms an oxide layer on the
      surface of the condensers. To compensate
       for the power used, the battery is then
      recharged for about 30 minutes and the
      equipment is switched off and stored away
       again.

      Note

     The battery charger or mains plug must be
       set to the correct mains voltage. The charg-
       ing plug can be used on a mains supply of
     120V or 240 V, and the changeover button
        will be found between the pins. The mains
       unit has a voltage adjuster on one side,
      which also provides intermediate settings.

      Topping up the Barix battery

       This is done only after charging, with distilled
      water and only when the liquid level in the
www.butkus.ussight tubes does not reach the lower mark
       after charging.

To top up, unscrew the plugs from the tops
of the battery cells using a coin. Top up with
distilled water, using the pipette provided,
until the upper mark is reached.

The beads in the sight tubes may sink
slightly after topping up; if so, charge the
battery until they rise.

NC battery

Nickel-cadmium batteries are completely
maintenance-fre,e, and are suitable where the
equipmentwill be used rather less frequent-
ly, or where there is little time'free for
maintenance. They should not, however, be
left discharg'ed for long peniods  if their
electrical properties are to remain
unimpaired.

Checking the charge

NC batteries have no state-of-charge  indi-
cator. They are discharged when the recycl-
ing time of the flash exceeds 30 seconds.

Gharging time

The charging time for fully-discharged NC
batteries is 20-22 hours using the charging
plug and 18 hours with the mains unit.
With partly-discharged  batteries  it can be
estimated that l0 minutes charging is needed
for each flash fired. A check on the number of
flashes fired may be made by using the
counter fitted to the gener.ator unit each time
the equipment is used. lf in doubt, charge
the battery for the full charging time-slightly

!
      exceeding the time does nc harm. E;rcessive
      charging will, however, shorten the life of
      the battery.

      Studio lighting effects

      Studio lighting effects can be achieved by
      adding one or more lamp units. Two types
     may be used, together if desired.

     The FL B0 extension flash-head obtains its
      power, like the main flash-head, from the
     condenser of the basic equipment. The total
     amount o,f light does not vary-it is divided
      equally between the flash-heads in the
       circuit. When one FL B0 extension is used,
      the main lamp and the FL each emit 50 % of
      the light previously given by the main lamp.
          lf two FLs are connected, each flash-head
       will give 1/srd of the light, and with three
     FLs only 1/+ of the total amount of light.

     The FZK B0 extension flash-head has its own
     condenser, and consequently  its own power
      supply. With a colour guide number of
     30 it is equal to half the light output of the
     main lamp.

     With one (or more) FZK B0 extension flash-
     heads fitted the main lamp reta,ins its full
       light output, and each extension adds extra
       light. Both types of extension flash-head
     have the same facilities for bounce flash and                             t
     adjustment of the reflector angle as the main
     lamp unit. The extensions are triggered,
     without a time lag, as the main flash is fired.
www.butkus.usThe recycling time is increased by a factor                                  r
     corresponding to the extra power consumed

.;i t:   Photo-cells

       Instead of using a synchro lead for the
      second and any other flash units, they can
      be triggered by means of the cordless FZ  1
        photo-cell. This small, compact unit is
       connected to the flash cable of the second
       equipment and is actuated by the light pulse
      from the main flash unit.

     When working over considerable distances,
      a photo-cell may be used to fire a whole
        series of flash units linked together with
        leads.

      Remote control firing

        In special circumstances-such as photo-
       graphy of wild animals at night--rarhere the
      camera is left with the shutter op,en and the
       photographer cannot be next to the camera
      and flash equipment, a photo-cell can be
      used to fire the electronic flash from a
       considerable distance, using a small flash-
       bulb fitted into a hand-torch





      F80-035
www.butkus.usen - 2 -X.64         Printed in Western Germany