199A flash shots

[GaryR]

I'm quite excited about my recent Canon 199A flash purchase, and thought I'd post a few quick shots. Shooting at low ISOs is great!

FS-Sony a7R, Nikon 50mm/f1.8 Ai lens + B+W 403 / BG39
1/100s, f11, 400iso

 

 

[Andy Perrin]

Nice!

[Nate]

Cool, I might need to get one of those flashes, was it easy to convert? and do they have their own power supply? Thanks

[Doug A]

Looks like fun. Flash is very handy for UV.

Thanks for sharing,

Doug A

[Fandyus]

1 hour ago, Nate said:

Cool, I might need to get one of those flashes, was it easy to convert? and do they have their own power supply? Thanks

It's very easy as long as you have the tools needed. I had a whole post on it, albeit not a tutorial.

https://www.ultravioletphotography.com/content/index.php?/topic/4701-my-first-full-spectrum-flash/

[Nate]

Thanks @Fandyuslooks easy enough

 

[GaryR]

The 199A is powered by 4 AA batteries.

 

Lots of info here on UVP about the 199A. It's a fairly easy conversion, with no risk of shock from the charging capacitor. After you remove the 2 screws on the bottom of the frame, I found that swinging the lower frame forward and gently pushing upward, releases the frame. The inner UV-blocking diffuser, is held in by 4 tabs on the reflector, so you have to carefully pry it off. Unfortunately the diffuser holds the xeon tube/reflector in place, so you can either cut out the middle of diffuser and replace it, or do without it, with a loose fitting xeon tube. I ordered Langaelex acrylic sheets on Amazon for the replacement window. The reflector was a bit loose with 1mm acrylic, but everything fit much better with 2mm.

 

Instead of a hot shoe extension cable, I decided to go with the convenience of a wireless flash trigger.

[Nate]

Thanks @GaryRfor the info, I'm going to order one

[JCDowdy]

I have several and have found them to be more than adequate for my needs.

 

Yes, these have long been considered one of the easiest (and IMHO safest) to modify for UV:

 https://www.ultravioletphotography.com/content/index.php?/topic/828-flash-flash-triggers-etc-for-panasonic-g5/&do=findComment&comment=3167

 

Another really important feature is the trigger voltage is low enough to be safe on modern digital cameras so you don't need a Safe-Sync.

 

They came with a slip on diffuser (if you can find one) which can host properly sized filters:

https://www.ultravioletphotography.com/content/index.php?/topic/1463-365nm-uv-flash/&do=findComment&comment=9262

 

 

 

[Cadmium]

Wow, nice black orange skins!

Here is a quick test pic I took of a Rudbeckia outside in the rain at night using a full spectrum converted Canon 199A flash.

 

 

Here is the slip on diffuser frame JCDowdy talks about.

 

[GaryR]

Great outdoor shot Steve! I ordered a second 199A before prices escalate. Both came with the slip-on diffuser, but I haven't done anything with  them. Your custom filter for the diffuser looks intriguing.

[GaryR]

On 12/22/2021 at 12:03 PM, GaryR said:

 I ordered Langaelex acrylic sheets on Amazon for the replacement window. The reflector was a bit loose with 1mm acrylic, but everything fit much better with 2mm.

The Langaelex acrylic sheets that I've installed in the 199As's work fine, but a comparison test shot reveals that the recommended CD case acrylic is indeed more UV transparent. Not sure if it makes a lot of difference, but I'll switch them out anyways.

 

B+W 403 / BG39 stack shot, taken with a modded Vivitar 2800 thyristor flash, triggered manually.