Bulb is Fake (Page 4): Very good comment. Caruso...

Carusoswi

iosa wrote:

It's the internet, MrBob: everybody reads, but nobody comprehends. :)

But for more examples? How about dialing a phone number. Or hanging up the phone. Rewinding a video. Pretty much all of the editing tools in Photoshop are named after physical tools and techniques that don't really apply in digital photography: the same applies in video editing.

Very good comment.
Caruso

Carusoswi

E.L.. Shapiro wrote:

so long as we can all understad each other, it's all good by me. Sometimes there is too much etymology and not enough photography aroud here.

"Aroud" should be "around" but, seeing as I am 'ol' like you, I shall grant you a pass on the typo.
Thanks for redirecting this conversation.

This is a forum which, by definition, invites questions/comment of all kinds. I think sometimes (and this is one instance), in a quest to maintain "traffic" we strain for subjects about which we can create discussion.

I have been shooting photos as long as you, Maestro Shapiro, and, if pressed, would be hard put to explain precisely where most of the terms used in photography find their origins. Frankly, I don't care. I use a consumer grade blood pressure device by which I track the control of my ever-pesky hypertension. It isn't accurate as compared to the instruments used in the office by my physician, but, relatively speaking, I know from experience with using it whether my pressure is going up or down, and that works for me. The same could be said of the scale by which I measure that pesky variable known as body weight.

I cannot explain to you with confidence the true meaning of shutter speed, f-stop, ISO/ASA, grain/noise or lack thereof. But, having been involved as a serious participant in the beautiful pursuit of photography since I was 8 years old, I understand the functional meaning of all those terms and their interactive relationship in capturing images that are useful/pleasing.

I will leave the revelation of their underlying definitions to my maker who will, at that great gettin' up mornin', likely explain to me that none of it remains relevant.

I read threads such as this, suspecting from the thread title that they are just verbal exercises, but read them I do because they give an old guy something to do when weather or health make going out to actually take pictures less than practical for such a dinosaur.

I find it refreshing that someone with your expertise and experience brings clarity to such a conversation.

Thanks.

Caruso

nadelewitz Loc: Ithaca NY

I actually HAVE an old rubber-bulb cable release. Found it in a pile of someone's photographic "junk".

It's funny how we still measure the power of engines, motors, etc. in terms of horses, isn't it? How do you really know, without getting 200 horses and your car together, that they are the same?

Carusoswi

nadelewitz wrote:

It's funny how we still measure the power of engines, motors, etc. in terms of horses, isn't it? How do you really know, without getting 200 horses and your car together, that they are the same?

Amen!

Caruso

BebuLamar

Carusoswi wrote:

Amen!

Caruso

Of course there is a big difference between the horse and the car. The horse can take you home when you pass out or death even not the car.

hassighedgehog Loc: Corona, CA

Same thing as dialing a number on your cell phone with a number pad; rolling down the window with a switch in your car; etc. I actually never used a bulb even with a film SLR. My remote had a plunger. I did have a flash that used replaceable bulbs. I believe some cameras used B for flash as well.

DLColglazier

I had a cable release with a bulb on one end of a flexible tubing and a small screw in release cable at the other end. There was a small metal enclosure that covered the air pressure to a straight mechanical action. I stopped that in 1985 when I switched to a medium format from the 4 x 5 view camera.

There was one lens with a shutter mechanism that would open on one actuation and close on the second actuation. Two other shutters would stay open as long as the cable or bulb were squeezed. In all situations the setting was "B" on the mechanism.

I did a lot of closeup photography, so the B was used a lot with the bellows extension and bellows factor.

Leitz Loc: Solms

DLColglazier wrote:

I had a cable release with a bulb on one end of a ... (show quote)

Right. "B" never had anything to do with flash. The Wikipedia quote explains it pretty well.

E.L.. Shapiro Loc: Ottawa, Ontario Canada

Leitz wrote:

Right. "B" never had anything to do with flash. The Wikipedia quote explains it pretty well.

Much of the technical information on Wikipedia is inaccurate ot incomplete. Open flash techniques a time-honored and the B setting is certainly a part of that method. Of course it has other functions.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

E.L.. Shapiro wrote:

The "B" or Bulb shutter setting may have something to do with air (pneumatically) activated Packard shutters, oftentimes found in old view and "portrait" studio camera or air operated shutter releases of the olden days- those were the "remote" releases of the past. The main usage, for the "B" setting, that I recall, was/is for any kind of shutter for "open flash" technique for non-synchronized shutters or "multiple pops". Theses techniqes entail opening the shutter and firing the flash ("B"ULB originally for flash BULB) interdependently and manually and then closing the shutter shutter quickly thereafter, OR painting with light, OR accumulating more exposure by repeatedly firing a strobe. It's also useful for stroboscopic effects. Unlike the "T" (Time) setting, closing the shutter does not require a second activation which is not as convenient for shorter open shutter times and the B setting is less likely to cause blur do to camera movement.

Te "B" setting is also handy for "shutter dragging with flash, whereby you allow the shutter to remain open after the flash to include more ambien ligh in the exposure.

By the way- most of theses techniqes require a good solid tripod!

Ain't anythg "fake" about it- it's a useful shutter setting for certin kinds of work.

If you are old, like me, and remember using a Packard shutter, there were certain SLOW squeezing techniques to open the shutter for composing and focusing on the ground glass, closing it to insert the film holder and the a QUICK abrupt squeeze for making the exposure. The bulb had a special valve atop the assembly- not like a turkey baster or a medical fountain syringe.

There are lots of terms that stem from older and perhaps obsolete or seldom used methods and equipment but they stuck and became part of the photographic vernacular . The "B" shutter setting is not a part of any automated camera function so anyone who is familiar with the manual use of their camera will understand what it does and how to use it.

What's with all the "FAKE" business lately. "ISO is fake, "B" is fake, post processing is FAKE, formal portraiture is FAKE"? My goodness- we use everyday terms in modern photography that go back to the Renaissance and Baroque painters and artists of yore- canvas, brushes, Chiaroscuro, palette, and we say "tools"in Photoshop-are there hammers, wrenches and drills there? Of course as technologies change there are technical terms that replace the older versions such as grain vs. noise etc, however, so long as we can all understad each other, it's all good by me. Sometimes there is too much etymology and not enough photography aroud here.

The "B" or Bulb shutter setting may have... (show quote)

MrAnalog

I suspect that that even today, bulb is used to eliminate shake caused by mirror, shutter and aperture movement. To accomplish this you would use a black light shield held closely in front of the lens and then removing and retuning it to make your exposure.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

MrAnalog wrote:

I suspect that that even today, bulb is used to eliminate shake caused by mirror, shutter and aperture movement. To accomplish this you would use a black light shield held closely in front of the lens and then removing and retuning it to make your exposure.

These days, I use an iPhone app to control my mirrorless camera via WiFi. I also put it in 100% silent electronic shutter mode when doing macro or long exposure work.

E.L.. Shapiro Loc: Ottawa, Ontario Canada

I am not an etymologist nor am I an English professor- my faulty writing is evidence of that. I am certainly not a philosopher and diffidently not a lawyer! I, therefore, find it an unmitigated waste of time to participate in protracted arguments and ongoing litigation about trivia. I prefer to talk about nuts and bots photography and troubleshooting problems. In my work in commercial photography, I find that perhaps 50% of the work is problem-solving. That's how I can best participate in this forum.

Photography, just like any other art, craft, science and/or business has its nomenclature, lingo, slang, terminology. Some of the terminologies come and goes and some of it sticks as per tradition. The "B" and "T" shutter settings have been indicated on all kinds of mechanical and electronic shutters for as long I can remember. Theses letters engraved on the dials of equipment made in the United States, Germany, Japan, Sweden, and even Russia. Anyone who is familiar with cameras in a serious way knows exactly how these functions work and when to apply them. If they don't, the should endeavor to find out. Long exposure, shutter dragging, open flas techniques, multiple pops, paint with light, star traces, and stroboscopic photography have been around for a very long time and are not in any way archaic or obsolete. To do any of these techniques you need a way of holding the shutter open for longer than the built-in timed shutter speeds so whichever setting, "B" or "T", is the photographer's choice as to which is more practical and convenient.

I am also not a fan of euphemisms or overly embellished language for simple camera functions and techniques. If you don't like the word "Bulb", what would y'all want to say instead. "How about SAPE- Single Action Prolonged Exposure and rather than TIME- DAPE- Double Action Prolonged Exposure. That a heck of a lot to engrave on a shutter speed dial or an LCD readout.

By the way- old pneumatic Packard shutters did not have adjustable shutter speeds. It could be open and closed for focusing and had one instantaneous setting- probably about 1/50 sec or thereabouts. The air operated remote shutter release an operated with an air bulb at one end, a length of rubber or plastic tubing and a small cylinder that activated a mechanical cable release at the other end. The shutter speed had to be pre-set and the shutter cocked for each shot. The release system had nothing to do with shutter speeds or time exposures.

Winslowe

Leitz wrote:

Right. "B" never had anything to do with flash. The Wikipedia quote explains it pretty well.

It would probably be more accurate to say that flash never had anything to do with naming the B function.

chrisg-optical Loc: New York, NY

MrBob wrote:

Come on Paul, the point was how outdated names hang on despite possible new meanings and adaptations.... We all know WHAT the B does. I use it all the time but I don't recall squeezing a bulb.

The movie/ M&E industry still refers to shooting a "film" and "footage" even though those terms are technically obsolete, unless of course a "filmmaker" (another obsolete title) still uses 35 or 70mm film (which a handful still may). Some terms will probably stick around "forever". I do remember those "bulb" days I had one for my Olympus SLRs but I preferred an electrical remote off the motor drive.