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Rare, Original & Nice Condition GE M to Bayonet Flash Bulb Adapter Re-enacters, Collectors, Flash Photography Fans, Stores, Dealers, Theatrical Special Effects Managers! Just $9.99 each adapter for BIN sale! plus +s &h If You Buy all 5 adapters at the same time I'll add to the package One Full Box of 12 Nice NIB NOS M2B Flashbulbs For Free With No Added Shipping Charges!! Fixed price sale. All descriptions apply to each individual adapter in this sale. Photos are of two adapters that are identical to the adapter(s) being sold here. Save money! Use less expensive M2-M2B or M3-M3B flash bulbs instead of the pricy 5-5B, P25-25B, 6-6B, 26-26B flash bulbs in your vintage Graflex-Graflite-Heiland-Kalart-Busch-Minicam-Kodak-Ansco, etc., flash "gun!" This simple-looking adapter, once make by G.E. decades ago, allows you to use the smaller M-base "miniature" size flash bulbs in flash "guns" or units that otherwise only accept the larger more expensive bayonet mount "midget" size bulbs like G. E.'s 5, 5B, and Sylvania's Press 25 and 25B, etc. This includes flash bulb units or "guns" like those from Minicam, Graflex (newer Graflite models), Kalart, Heiland, Busch, etc., and special camera-linked or cameras with built-in flashes from Kodak, Ansco, Sears, Wards, etc. These flashes also work with your film AND DIGITAL Nikons, Canons, Pentaxes, etc. at X-synch settings. See instructions below and on the flash bulb package for shooting with X-synch. When experimenting using flash bulbs with your digital cameras that have a PC cord contact, you should follow the instructions printed on the flash bulb box for open flash and/or X-synch exposures of 1/30 or slower and follow any compensation procedures as mentioned for film cameras above and below. Unlike many vintage electronic flash units, the voltage to the pc cord and camera when using flash bulb flash guns is usually from 3 to 6 volts. Using bulbs with digital cameras at shutter speeds shorter ('Faster' Speeds) than 1/30th of a second will require your personal testing-M3/M3B flashbulbs may work very well at shorter shutter speeds with digital cameras, though I have not tested this idea and offer no assurances how well this will work. NOTICE: This is NOT the adapter to use glass tipped "baseless" Phillips PF style flash bulbs in bayonet sockets. Buy one or two for yourself, sell the others to your camera club members! These adapters are a collectable item all by themselves. Many collectors like to gather the accessories for their favourite type of flash or for certain brands or film size cameras, putting all of this flash bulb technology on display-and/or also using it for fun or profit. Dealers, stores can buy these and offer these adapters individually to their customers that use flash bulbs! As a youth, I used a Graflex Super Graphic and, yes, used flashbulbs! Even after I went to electronic flashes and mediunm format and 35mm cameras, if I needed to photograph something a long distance away, the cheapest and easiest to carry way enough flash power to do the job was with a flash gun with the right size flash bulb. There's a style and flair to using flash bulbs that electronic flash does not have. There's smell and crackle of the bulbs after they are fired. The light given off by the flash bulb "guns" have a more wrap around directional nature. Technically, it is very easy to remove some maker's flash guns' or unit's reflector (Graflite, Heiland, Busch) and use 360-degree open flash and use bounce off the wall or ceiling lighting techniques-you'd have to pay hundreds of dollars to find an electronic flash and attachments to do all of the same things and to match the same light output as a flash bulb unit. Today, I have to be more economical in my use of flash bulb equipment. The costs for the larger flash bulbs are rising all the time, especially the prized bayonet and screw based bulbs. I've acquired some M to Bayonet Flash Bulb Adapters (they go by other names as well) to save some money for my hobby and to pass on some of these adapters on to you so you can save money-and still work or play at the craft and art of photography. Actors, stage managers, amateur and professional stage performaces often use flash bulbs when performing period plays and cutting edge theatrical productions. This might save you money or allow you to buy and use more bulbs to be used in your plays and productions/reenactments of the 1930's-1960's and other special effects stagecraft! I believe that these are unused, though they have the marks of the machines that made them, and they are several decades old. I have tested several of these adapters at random with M2/M2B, M3/M3B to replace the costlier 5/25/5B/25B flash bulbs, and all tested fine and the flash bulbs inserted in them that were then inserted into a flash gun, fired and ejected their flash bulbs sucessfully. Treat each of these adapters as you would carefully handle and use your camera, and don't use a lot of unnecessary force and they should last a long while. One of mine has lasted more than 20 years! See *. There is some ageing to the bottom tips of these adapters, but, when you put the adapter into a bayonet socket, it "marks" the adapter, making good elecrical contact. Think of the savings. This adapter is an increasingly rare device and there is a cost for me to buy these and for you to buy them from me. Take this comparison of the cost of a 12 bulb box of M3 or M3B flash bulbs to the larger bulbs you might otherwise have to use. M3 and M3B bulbs are currently selling here on Ebay from $4 to $8 a box (a lucky few might get them cheaper). By comparison, the larger and increasingly rarer GE and Westinghouse 5 clear or 5B or Sylvania Press 25/26 clear and 25B/26B flashbulbs that you would need for your vintage flash (if you didn't have this adapter) are now bringing up to $8-$15 a 12-bulb box, rarely cheaper-that's OVER A BUCK A BULB! (You can sometimes get single boxes cheaper but the percentage of cost for shipping is higher). Technical notes: M3/M3B flash bulbs can be used with appropriate M synch (preferred) , using M2/M2B bulbs, use X synch camera or shutter settings and/or with marked pc cord socketslike the Nikkormat and other camera sthat have separate flash synch terminals (see camera and flash bulb instructions-procedures and f/stop, fastest shutter speed settings will differ). You can also use M3/M3B bulbs with 35mm camera having verticle or horizontal moving focal plane shutters, see camera and flash bulb instructions on the box. They will not produce as much light as the larger and more expensive, harder to find 6/26/6B/26B type"FP" flash bulbs, but they should work for your situations with compensation for exposure, see below. If you can do your flash photography at a slower shutter speed (1/30 of a second) (those frozen "say cheese" moments) and don't need to stop action, M2/M2B flash bulbs work fine with this adapter and are currently even cheaper! Is there a trade-off here, a light loss for using the smaller bulbs rather than the more costly larger ones? Yes, due to the laws of physics, not because of the adapter. Larger reflectors spread out the light over a larger surface, reducing its' intensity at any one point. The practical difference from going, say, from a P25 to an M3 is not usually a big one, especially with the more modern, efficient 4-6 inch parabolic flash bulb units (like Kodak and Ansco on the cheaper camera flash combos) and the professional units from Graflite, Kalart and Minicam with films speeds of 100 ISO/ASA or higher (faster). If the reflector of your flash unit is shiny, parabolic (shaped like a bowl with some depth) and 6-6 inches across (radius) or larger, you might need to open up your lens aperature up to 1, maybe up to 1 1/2 f/stops or reduce your shutter speed, when using the smaller M2-M3 flash bulbs instead of the larger bayonet end bulbs, not a big hassle IMHO at the reasonable distances that most flash pictures are taken at. For the flatish pan reflectors normally used for the much larger "household" style screw in flash bulb, open up at least 2 f/stops and check the results. Most folks want to take pictures of family and friends in comparatively shorter distances, where these M2 and M3 bulbs are fine for the job. What's a guide number? How do you use the numbers that are printed on the back of the box of most flash bulbs? (its' a number given by the bulb maker and determined by a combination of film speed-shutter speed-model of flash bulb and size and shape of reflector). This gives you a starting point, a number which you divide by the distance from the subject to the flash to determine your initial f/stop setting. Additional advantages of using this adapter and smaller bulbs, your flash batteries will probably last longer, you can carry more bulbs in the same space, you can do multi-flash or painting with light flash photography of large spaces or items and so all these things while spending less money than before. * While they are not "fragile" like photographic bulbs, undue force can bend the spring metal ejector stem, break or make disfunctional this device. Following the following instructions makes the simple operation of using the adapter easier. From my experience, the adapters work fine with Flash bulb using Kalart and Minicam flash "guns" and with Heiland flash units with bayonet flash bulb reflector mounted. For use with late model (1960's plus) Graflex Graflite flash guns, make sure the reflector is set at the normal position. Even then, there is little clearance for the springy tab to release the flash bulb once fire. You might have to insert the flash bulb into the adapter, put the adapter in the Graflite flash unit, make the flash photo, then use the Graflite bulb ejector to remove the spent bulb and M to Bayonet adapter together. The adapter sometimes need "wearing in" since they were not made to extremely close tolerances and there are differences between flash guns. Most adapters work better if inserted and removed several times from the flash unit. Then, insert the adapter into the flash, leave it there, and several times put a bulb into the adapter and eject it several times. 1-Insert the adapter the same way you would put in a bayonet flash bulb. Some flash units have a specific spot where the bulb, or adapter is to inserted and sometimes turned, so the bayonet stem of the adapter goes in the right way and remains installed. The ejection lever should be at the side or behind where the bulb is inserted, not in front. 2-Then insert the bulb into the adapter with deliberate but modest strength. You want to make the bulb stay there but also be able to be eject it after it is fired. Do not lick the bulb's metal tip to get better contact. The bulb will rub gainst the adapter's interior, clearing the tip of any crud due to age.) Once inserted, make your photo. 2A-Note: With some flash units, put the bulb into the adapter then put the adapter into the flash gun. Eject them both with the flash unit's ejecting mechanism, eject the bulb and repeat the process. 3-After the bulb is fired, the flash bulb is to be ejected by pushing back slightly-towards the flash reflector, carefully the metal stem of the adapter. You may have to keep the stem there for a brief instant or wiggle it before the bulb pops out. Do not eject bulbs close to anyone's eyes or face. This process gets easier once you get the hang of it. If you break the adapter due to excessive force or by accident under your care, don't ask for a refund. Keep adapter dry to avoid corrosion. Use only as directed. CAUTION, when using any flash bulb of any size, inspect each flash bulb prior to making a photo with it to see that there are no cracks or splits in the bulb's laquer coating. Damaged or split laquer or broken bulbs can explode and shoot glass splinters where the flash unit is pointed. Do not use the flash unit in explosive air (near soruces of gas fumes, coal dust, inside mines and spots wheter methane might be present). Don't carry loose bare bulbs in your pocket or use or store them near any source of electrical radiation, such as a radio, Xbox 360, PS/3, television, etc., as radiation and static electricity can fire the bulbs spon-taneously. When flash bulbs (or flashbulbs) are fired, the flashbulbs are very hot for a period of about 4-7 seconds after firing and can burn exposed skin! Use the bulb ejector lever and gently push it slowly towards the back (towards the reflector bowl) and hold until the bulb ejects with the spring power of the adapter. Don't touch the hot bulb. Do not allow, while taking pictures using flash bulbs, let the flash unit or the flashbulbs to get wet. Neither may work under wet conditions. There is a lot of information on flash photography on the web, including sections of the Graflex.org site. You can also find web sites where they sell adapters and flash bulbs for much, much more money than I sell them for here on Ebay. Any questions, email me prior to bidding. Although I wish to encourage persons new to flash bulb photography to bid and win my Ebay auctions, I have no control as to the expertise and experience of the purchaser and the conditions this adapter, your flash unit, its' battteries and the flash bulbs that will be used in your environment. Due to this, I can only promise that I will ship duplicate (same model, same condition, same use) GE®™ flash bulb adapters as illustrated and described on this Ebay page and that it will work as described when you receive it. I will replace any defective adapters returned to me that are inoperable but are not damaged because of undue force or by accident under your care. Undue force can bend, break or make disfunctional this device, I will not replace adapters for these stated reasons. Use only as directed. You as the bidder-buyer needs to determine and is soley responsible for determining whether this product is suitable for your use. By bidding on this item you are declaring that you are of legal age, are mature, responsible and are able in all ways to voluntarily enter into a legally binding contract involving the shipment of the item to you at a fixed address (sorry, due to uncertainties of shipping and receiving items, no P.O. Boxes or APO-FPO addresses). Winning bidder/buyer must contact me within 3 days via email and give me your full first and last legal name, full street, city, state (or province or parrish) and postal code address-NO P.O. Boxes!). You must also provide your full phone number including national province and city codes, and your statement that you will pay for the this item plus shipping and handling and customs fees and insurance (if needed) as I list on the invoice I will send you. If there are any other difficulties related to this sale, please contact me via email within 3 days of receipt of this unit (or when necessary by phone) so we can work things out. Please do not post negative or neutral feedback without first giving me a fair opportunity to resolve with your imput whatver dispute may arise. I will refund your payment minus shipping and handling charges only as above and/or if the item was materially misdescribed in words and pictures on this Ebay web auction site (or if I send you the wrong item-contact me I'll treat you right). No buyer's remorse returns. This is not an "on approval" or rental agreement. Shipping insurance is required on items valued at more than $20, and is optional but suggested for items of lesser price. I take no responsibility for damages occuring in shipping and also am not responsible for consequential damages following your purchase of this item. If the flash bulb adapter or package is damaged in shipping, contact the shipper at once. Keep all shipping materials, box, foam peanuts, bubble wrap, paperwork, for inspection by the shipper. Shipper pays insured loss, not me. I reserve the right to terminate this or any of my Ebay internet acutions/Buy It Now sales and/or cancel bids if eBay experiences a technical problem within the final 2 hours of an auction. In such case, I will re-list the item ASAP with a shorter term. I reserve the right to determine whether to cancel bids from members with significant unexplained negative feedback, those who do not promptly contact me via email within three calendar days of the end of this acution/sale to give me their name, address, and phone number and restate their promise to pay as directed for the items they win or buy in my Ebay auctions, or who do not respond to my emails for payment or location queries. Currrently my Ebay auctions sales are exclusively to: legal residents of the United States of America, Canada, The United Kingdom (England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland), Ireland, Germany, Mexico, Australia and Japan. Sales/shipping to residents of other nations depends on many issues. If you are an experienced international buyer/seller in a country not listed herein and have a fine Ebay record, we can "talk" about your special situation, email me first. Your payment to me for this item must be expressed in U. S. currency using an instrument that I will not be charged additional costs to cash if you are the winning bidder for an Ebay auction and/or purchase it from me through a Buy It Now sale on Ebay. I accept payment for this Ebay auction only by Paypal, U.S Postal Money Order, or International Postal Money order, all written in U.S. dollars. If you are paying by postal money order or as above, you do not have to be signed up with Paypal. Overseas buyers will pay enhanced handling fees (+$2 to $4) due to added costs and stringent shipping and customs paperwork. My overseas shipping is by International Priority Mail exclusively unless you and I communicate and we agree on another method. All shipping to international locations is expensive! I do not falsify customs forms for any reason. Never. Don't ask. If you have a complaint about customs charges in your country, talk to your governmental respresentatives. My preference for domestic shipping is USPS Priority Mail. You will be given the option of choosing USPS Parcel Post IF the package content is not fragile and IF I can pack it well enough to probably survive the package's stay at the post office. I strongly suggest that you insure any item you choose to have shipped by the USPS by Parcel Post. The U. S. Post Office will not pay damages on items that are damaged or destroyed while the package is in their care! unless you have purchased insurance from them! I won't pay any damages for any package I ship that is damaged in shipping. My Ebay auctions never end early unless I error. Reserve price will never be prematurely released. I like honest buying and fair sales and safe, well packed insured shipping. Fraud will be prosecuted. Positive feedback will be posted following a sucessful sale and transaction including shipping and permanent receipt of payment. This may take up to 2 weeks. Your viewing, bidding and winning my Ebay auction are sincerely appreciated.
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