Megalume 4 User manual

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                 Nrilr s - Or-aRr{E O olreAl[Y
                              D I v I s I o N    O F   V I T R O    C O R P O R A T I O N    O F   A M E R I C At

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                        The MEGALUME4 is on
                      electronicphotofloshunit built to the
                         highestpossiblestondordsond
                    morketedsolelyon the bosisof its
                  engineeringfeotures.lt is producedby
                   o componywith more thon 40 yeors'
                      experiencein the monufoctureof
                   the highest-quolityelectronicond com-
                     municotionsequipmentfor useby
                                  the Armed Services.
-9nfuoJu"tion'

                                      ln the designof the unit,
                 the only considerotionswere quolity ond
                     performonce,ond no compromises
                   were mode for the sokeof moking
                           the unit competitivein o price
                 morket. Corefulconsiderotionhos been
                   givento oll of the engineeringospects
                             of designso necessoryfor long
                                        life ond user sotisfoction.





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                             DN: cn=Mike Butkus, o=Butkus
                             camera manuals, ou=butkus.org,Mike Butkus email=mike@butkus.org, c=US
                                  Date: 2022.07.09 16:32:49 -04'00'

OprrA.tion    turipment                "/
Althoughthe MEGALUME4 is providedwith o highly
efticientpower source,this 6-volt nickel-codmiumbot-
tery is suppliedond guoronteedby onothermonufoc-
turer speciolizingin bottery systemsond, therefore,it
 is recommendedthot the user communicotewith the
 botterymonufocturerfor odditionoldoto concerning
the bottery not coveredin this book. Before putting
 the power unit to use,the bottery shouldbe chorged.
 Detoiledinformotionregordingthis chorging is sup-
 plied underthe USERSERVICINGsectionof this book.


    POWERSUPPLY
     With the bottery chorged,connectthe flosh-heodto
      the power supply,by meonsof the connectingcoble,
     by screwingtogetherthe moting ports of the connec-
       tor. With the o-c cord still connectedto the unit, turn
      the selector knob to  " AC".  In o few secondsthe
     lomp on the reor of the heod will begin floshing,
      indicotingthot the storogecopocitorsin the unit ore
     neorly fully chorged ond reody for use. The heod
    moy be floshedeither by pressingthe button on the
     bock of the unit or by the synchronizingcontoctsin
     the comero.

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The sourceof power necessoryfor operoting
the MEGALUME4 is determinedby turning
the selectorknob, on top of the power sup-
ply cose, to the desired morking. On the
positionmorked "BAT" the MEGALUMEop-
erotesfrom its own internol six-voltstoroge
bottery. On the other two positions the
MEGALUMEobtoinsits energy from on "out-
side" o-c sourcethrough the o-c cord: On
"CHG" the bottery is being chorged ond on
" AC" the unit is reody to operote f rom o
 I l7-volt o-c power supply. The "ON-OFF"
positionof the toggle switch determinesthe
operotionof oll functionsmorked by the se-
lector knob. To conserveenergy, the switch
shoufd be in the "OtF" positionwhen the
flosh is not being used if operotion is from
 its own bottery.


CONNECTINGCABLE
 No coble is suppliedwith the MEGALUME4
 to connectthe flosh-heodto the user'scom-
 ero, becouseof the lock of stondordizotion
 of connectorsused for this purpose. Your
 .photogrophicdeolercorriesin stockconnect-
 ing coblesto fit your porticulorcomero,ond
 the eoble should be procuredfrom him.  lf
 you hove been using one of the stondord
 types of flosh equipmentusing bulbs, you
 moy find thot your present coble is ode-
 quote, since the receptocfeon the MEGA-
 LUME4 heod is stondord.

FLASH.HEAD
The MEGALUME 4 flosh-heod is designed to  fit on
ony 1Yz'inchdiometer tube. This size is stondord with
most mCInufocturersof flosh equipment designed for
use with floshbulbs. The old reflector should be re-
moved ond the MEGALUME 4 heod ploced in posi-
tion.  lf your comero hos o solenoid-operotedshutter,
you con either leove the normol photoflosh botteries
in the bottery cose ond use them to operote the shut-
ter, or you con moke use of onother of the MEGA-
LUME's feotures: The  connector morked  "BAT",
on top of the power supply cose, mokes ovoiloble
six volts of o h ig h d ischorge rote, wh ich co n be used
to operote your solenoid. On floshgun tubes which
hove o side outlet normolly used to supply o  f ocus
spot, it is only necessoryto connect o speciol coble,
ovoiloble from your deoler, between this outlet ond
the "BAT" outlet on top  of the MEGALUME power
supply cCIse.In doing this, olwoys moke oll outside
connections before inserting the p lug in the "BAI"
receptocleon top of the cose. With this orrongement,
ossum ing o solenoid-operotedshutter hoving internaI
(X) contocts,oll the convenienceof operotion usuolly
found on presscomeros is retoined;the photogropher
hos nothing new to leorn, he simply pushesthe switch
thot he is occustomedto using,the solenoidis tripped,
ond the shutter contocts set off the MEGALUME 4
flosh.
    o For comero owners who do not hove o floshgun em-
      ploying o bottery holder hoving the required l1/2-inch
     diometer, there is ovoiloble from your deoler o uni-
      versol mounting-brocketond tube which will enoble
      the MEGALUME 4  flosh-heod to be  ottached to
      v i rt u o lly o n y co mero.

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        Assuming thot you ore reody to put the flosh equip-
        ment to use, the next step is to determine whot expo-
        sure guide- numbers you should use. The following
        Toble   I  is conservotive ond  is bosed on extensive
         sensitometrictests. Tests to determine whot,  if ony,
        exposure ond gommo chonges toke ploce when the
      MEGALUME 4 source is used, os compored to doy-
           light ond tungsten sources, indicote thot:
      oThe gatnma for  all black-and-zvhitefilms (kiSth and, lozu
         speed.s)is reduced apl>rorirnately L0/o when tke MEGA-
      LUME  4  is used. This  is d,ue to  its shorter erposure
         time (1/2500 sec.) and, its daylight color quality (higher
         contrast is obtained zv,ith red light sources). To prod.uce
         the same ga?,x?naand, therefore, the sante print,ing charac-
            teri,sti.cas is obtained,zuith flashbulbs, one should increase
         the develofment time lor blach-&-zuhitefilms 15/o to 20%.

                        TABLEI -COLOR F]LMS

                             Doylighl                 Recommended                                   Gu id e     Film Types                -   Exposure                    Color Correction                                   Nu mb e r                                                            I n d e x                                 Filter

ANSCO
 Anscochrome            32         80       ccr0Y
 Super Anscochrome       r00          t40        ccl0Y
KODAK
 Ektochrome E-l                        t 2          50              *
 Eklochrome E-2            32          80          None
 Kodochrome                                   l 0          15        8 r A
 Kodocolor Negolive         32          80       ccr0Y
 Eklocolor S Negotive        25          70     ccl0Y+85c
                                                                                      rt Follow monufocfurer's
                                                                                                                             i nslruclions

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The correct guide numbersfor block-ond-whitefilms,
TABLE2, is opproximotelythe some os the film monu-
focturer recommendsfor o #5 floshbulbperfectly syn-
chronizedot 1/50 secondin o S-inchsotinreflector.
The guide numbersshown con, of course,be used os
o stortingpoint for ony experimentingthe MEGALUME
4 userwonts to do on his own.
The following TABLES3 ond 4 ore curvesreloting film
speedwith the guide numberto be usedwith the MEGA-
LUME4.  Pleosenote thot the guide numbersfor color
films ore bosed on the use of color-correctionfilters os
shownin TABLEI which, olthoughnot usuollyusedwith
electronicflosh units, ffioy be considereddesiroblefor
criticolwork. Sincethesefilters hove sucho smoll filter
foctor,the stotedguide numberscon be usedwhen they
ore omitted. These guide numbers, porticulorly for
color,presupposethot the film monufocturershold their
emulsionsto their roted speedond proper bolonce. Ex-
periencedusersof color film, however,shouldrecognize
thot this is not olwoys the cose, since some types ond
mokesof color film vory widely in their speedond color
bolonce from emulsiionto emulsion. Where the film
monufocturergives informotionfor eoch emulsionnum-
ber, showingthe deviotionof thot porticulorfilm from
normol,'suitoblecorrectionsshouldbe modein the guide
numberused. The color-correctionfilterslistedin TABLE
 I should be used in oddition to whotever is necessory
to correct individuolemulsions.
ln our sensitometrictests,the MEGALUME4 produced
olmost identicolresultswjth doylight color film os o
f5 blue floshbulbon open flosh. Thiswos true of oll
color film tested,indicotingnegligiblespeed loss due
to reciprocitylow foilure. The correctionfilters shown
ore necessory,due to the slightly higher-thon-doylight
color temperotureond short exposuretime.
                                                                                                                         l l

NELANVE TIGHT
                                                                  oul?ur-vo





                                     DEGREESFROM CENTER

           MEASUREDTIGHT DISTRIBUTION-TABTE5

     Jtsht Oufuut

         The light output of every MEGALUME
            4, in lumen secondsper squore foot
            of 4 feet, is occurotely meosuredot
           the finol inspectionposition in three
           directions:Heod on, ond 25 degrees
         eoch side of center. TABLE5 obove is
          o plot of the directivityof the reflector,
          while TABLE6 plotsthe rechorgetime
            for the MEGALUME4.



l 4

lf operoted in temperotures below freezing, the
       output of the MEGALUME 4 will be moteriolly
      reduced. This reduction in output occurs only
            if the entire unit hos become chilled to below
       freezing. lt obviouslydoes not opply  if the unit
         is token ouidoors from o worm locotion for o
       short period of time.

                           prntoutiont


           It is not necessoryto dischorge the condensers
      by floshing the iomp  ofter L  period of use.
     The unit should be put on the shelf with the
       botteries  f ully chorged ond  the condensers
      chorged, reody for use. The condenserchorge
        will groduolly leqk off when the unit is not
      being used ond,  if the .unit is kept inoctive for
      ony  long period of iime,   it  is desiroble to
      chorge-up the condensersoccosionolly. Foilure
       to do this will result in reduced light output on
       the first few floshes.


't6

If  the  user  lachs considerable  erperience   in  electrcnic
 circuitry  and  is not  fully  acquainted  with  sofety  precau-
 tions nec essary when  the  unit  ,s  out  of   its  case,   it  ?s
 strongly  recomtncnded  that he restrict  himsel,t' to mahing
 only  minor  repairs  and  replacements.  The  only  urcrh
 recommended be done Lry the overoge user is replacemcnt
 of  the fuse and charging  the  battery.
 For  other tlww these operations are urge  the user  to tahe
 the unit  to  his dealer's serttiee department  or return   it  to
 the factor!,  athere prompt  and economical  setttice can be
 perf ormed.



              Rru/o'rnv t|n iuon

    Some instonceshove been reportedwhere usershove
      tried to operotethe instrumentor chorge the bottery
    when connectedto o direct-currentoutlet.  lf th;
   MEGALUME4  is used on ony but the proper AC
      circuit,the fuse will blow. The fuse con be reploced
     simply by first disconnectingthe unit from the cur-
      rent outlet ond, by pressingdown on the block fuse
    cop ond turning in the directionof the orrow, the
    gop is disengogedond removed. The replocement
     fuseshouldbe o .5 ompere (slowblow) type, ovoil-
     oble ot ony rodio supply deoler. A new fuse is
     insertedby-pushingdown on the cop ond turning
      in the direction oppositethe orrow.
r8

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Krp/'cinv tln  Uil,ator


              If , as 0,r c,ttcrlJcuc\,ntcdsurc, tltc uscr.finds it ttcccs               '
           .f(rr1'tg rcptoi'c ttic z'ibrotor, instru-ctiottsorc gi-z'ctt           '                                                bc donc                                                                               it  cltt                                       .llthottgh                            ttfcrotiott.         7,,clbzt                  for  this                                                                                                         it     o                            prccautiorts                                       stotcd ora                                                                                               f ollou'cd,                                        il  th.i          D-t' thc'uscr
            r.r rccotttnrcitlcd ihat a qualificd dcolcr or  scrvice     o
         ,,tan pcrf orm such tccltnicol oltcrattotts''   "       ..          '  1 o


    The vibrotor is o TyP" l60l  Mollory unit.. The source
      of supply for these units is o rodio suPply store. To
                                   ;sory to go inside the
                                         ra, it is imPortont thot
                                      re interior of the unit,
                                  rged.   lf the unit hos
                                  e hour, the coPocitors
       will, in oll probobility, be dischorged. lf  it. is incon-
     venient to i"ouu the unit off for this period of time,
          it should be switchedto AC operotion ond the coPoc.
      itors chorged; ond then, with the AC .plug removed
     ond the switch in the "OFF" position,the unit should
     be floshed to dischorge the coPocitors.After the unit
     hos been floshed, thLre will  still remoin o residuol
     chorge in the coPocitors,which will be dissipotedin
     opp-"imotely   l5  minutes' time.  After the obove
      ptu.outions hove been token, Proceed os followst

           o Moke sure the AC cord is disconnectedfrom
              the unit ond thot the switch is in the "OFF"
               position.
           o Open the bottery comportment door, toke
              out the bottery, ond remove the wires from
                  its terminols.
                                                  19

o Woit ot leost l5 minutesbefore openingthe
           top of the unit.
         o Removethe four screwshofding the top on
           the power supply unit ond  lift the top up
           with o slow, even pull. DO NOT TOUCH
        ANY EXPOSEDPARTOF THEWIRINGCOM.
        PONENTS. Do not ierk. The vibrotor is
            reodily occessibleond moy be eosily re-
         moved ond reploced.
         o R"pfoce the top ond connectond repfoce
           the bottery in its comportment.



          CL'rVing tln B'ftery
   The bottery is chorged ond rechorged through the
    the power unif; o new bottery is first connected to
     to the MEGALUME by ottoching the red leod to the
    corner terminol morked with o  plus (+  ) ond the
    block leod to the unmorked terminol ot the other
    corner diogonolly opposite. Plug the AC cord into
    on AC outlet, turn the selector knob to "CHG" ond
    the togg le switch to "ON'/  o nd o llow the bottery
     to chorge.





20

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f requencyond monner in which it is used, moy neces-
sitoie periodic chonges in the chorging time. A
BATTERYTEST METER, to  indicote the  bottery's
chorged condition, is highly recommended ond  is
ovoiLble os ouxiliory equipment; it  is described
under the MEGALUME ACCESSORIESsection of this
booklet.
One cf the most importo nt odvo ntoges offered by
the new MEGALUME 4  is the nickel-codmium re-
chorgeoble bottery.   lt  is smo| |  in  size, convenient
ond L.onoticol  to operote ond hos been designqq
ond  built to exocting specificotions,which should
give its owner mony yeors of relioble service.

The bottery octuolly compriseso set of severol indi-
 viduol celis connected together ot  their terminols
ond held together firmly in o metol cose. Should
 on occident occur to one cell, the other cells will trot
 be offected.

 The following simple rules hove been estoblishedby
 the bottery tonufocturer ond should ossure the user
 procticollymointenonce-free,odvontogeousperform-

      o Botteries moy be  stored  in ony  stote. of
        chorge or dischorge with no Permonqnt loss
          in copocity.
      o Overchorg ing  or  reverse cho rg ing usuolly
           will not domoge the bottery providing thot
                it hos not been too long to electrolyze ond
       decompose most of the woter of the electro-
           lyte.
                                             2 l

a a a a a       Low electrolytelevel due to woter evoporo-
                    tiofi moy be odiusted by odding distilled
              woter to the cell, ofter removolof the vent,
                 to  bring the level up  to the  level-line.
             Droppersor other devicesused to odd dis-
                  filled woter must be cleon ond free of ony
               troce of ocid compounds.

             Hormless potossium corbonote moy be
             formed in oreos oround the vents during
             heovy chorging, ond moy be removed by
               dry brushing or woshing the bottery with
              woter.

           When filling the new dry bottery with elec-                                                   .|320                 trolyte, or replocinglost solution,odd
               specificgrovity potossiumhydroxide (KOH)
             up to the tops of the plotes or to the level-
                 line indicotedon the side of the bottery cell.

           A chorgingcell shouldbe set firmlyond up-
                 right in the metol bottery-holderso thot ony
             gossingduring chorgingwill not bulge ond
           domoge its cose snd electrolytewill not
              leok out.





22

tWl Vatripper


              Thisphotosensitiveelectronicdeviceoctivotes
            one or more ouxiliory MEGALUMEpower
                unitsond their flosh-heodswithoutthe need
                            f or  interconnectingcobles. The MEGA-
           TRIPPERmountson top of the ouxilioryflosh-
             heod in o socketdesignedfor this purpose
            ond is oimed ot the mosterflosh-heodfor
                direct light, or ot the subiectfor reflecfed
                  light operotion. The obove unit, equipped
               with MEGATRIPPERis not offectedby ombi-
               ent lightingond is triggeredonly when the
             moster flosh reoches its peok of  light in-
                tensity coincidentollywith the wide-open
               positionof the comero shutter. Thus,per-
                fect synchronizotionof comeroond lightsis
             ossuredof oll times.

    iift,, JJ,/J,,


           ft is used to supporto sth-inchfilter in front of the
    MEGALUMEflosh-head. The FILTERHOLDERhos
     been especiollydesignedfor the criticolworker who
      does not wish to reducethe definitionof his pictures
      by oddingo filterto his lens. lt hos beenprovenuse-
        ful in obtoiningspecioleffectsin multipleflosh with
       differentcolorhlters. lt is olso quite useful in outdoor
       color photogrophywhen the MEGALUMEis used to
      supplementdoylight. In the lotter cose,o color-cor-
       rectionfilter is instolledon the flosh-heodto motch
         its color quolity to thot of doylight.
24

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C|,rse /ilnh,


This precise instrument,plugged into the top
of the Megolume power unit, indicotes of o
glonce the condition of the bottery during
the chorging period.   lt serves to prevent
overchorging ond will olso show when the
bottery  is in o dischorged stote, thus the
user's requirement for  olwoys  hoving  o
chorged bottery is fulfilled. The CHARGER
METER co n be used on power pocks con-
toining either the 4 or 6 volt nickel-codmium
bottery.





           This cord is used to connect two flosh-heod
            unitsto o singleMEGALUME. The moin leod
           plugs into the socketot the top of the power
            unit with one of the two remoining leods
          going to the moin flosh-heod,ond the other
           leod  to the occessory flosh-heod with  its
        MEGATRIPPER.The connected flosh units
         moy be spreod os for os l4 feet oport.
                                         25

-4uto  Clrarg er -LJ'ptn,



       With this odopter, the MEGALUME bottery
       con be rechorged f rom the cigorette lighter
         in on outomobile. This is convenientwhen
        troveling ond where no source of AC power
          is ovoiloble. The ADAPTERpermitsthe pho-
       togropher to chorge his Megolume bottery
       while troveling between ossignments,thus
       increosingthe number of floshes ovoiloble
               f rom his MEGALUMEin one doy.  There ore
               f our models of the CHARGING ADAPTER
       ovoiloble for use with the four clossesof
        bottery systemsin use in Americon cors:

              o Models 6N ond l2N-for  6 ond 12 volt cor bot-
                 teries hoving the negotive terminol grounded.

              o Models 6P ond  l2P-for  6 ond 12 volt cor bot-
                  teries hoving the  positive terminol grounded.

     'lIJrJn           -4,,fr/"-4J*ptu,
            It is used to increosethe flosh-heodreflectorcover-
      oge to 75". The odopter moy be used on ony but
       the norrow ongle reflector,ond moy be fixed to the
       flosh-heodby meonsof o five-inchfilter holder.The
        unit moy be ottochedond removedquite reodilyond
       occupieso minimumof storogespocein o photogro-
       pher's occessorieskit.


26

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        %orrou,-4ry/" K"fl'cto,





This 7-inch diometer flosh-heod reflector increoses
the light intensityf rom the MEGALUME by concentrot-
ing the light into o smoller oreo, reducing the cover-
oge to 20" . Used only on MEGALUMESl, 2, ond 4,
the intensity of the light is increosed four times, re-
sultingin the multiplicotionof the guide number by 2.


The cord is l0 feet in length, thus ollowing the Mego-
lume power pock to be ploced on odditionol l0 feet
owoy  f rom the flosh-heod. This is porticulorly useful
for studio work where  it  is desiroble to hove the
power pock on the floor ond out of the wgy while
ihe flosh-heod is mounted on o stond. No odiustment
in exposure is necessorywhen this cord is used.

          8*hntion  C"rJ