Olympus E-3 User Manual page 53

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portion of the frame exposed by flash illumination and the

balance of the frame by ambient light.

The FP (full synchro) flash operates like most other flash units at

speeds up to the X-synchronisation setting but it then turns back

the clock to the early days of photography and behaves like the

flash illuminators one often sees in period comedies where

magnesium powder is set in a tray and ignited by a spark.

Usually the comedies then show the poor photographer with a

blackened face and singed hair!

Luckily, the modern equivalents do not pose any danger to the

operators. What made the old

units special is that their light/time emission graph looked

something like the following example:

1.2

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

You will notice that the FP system reaches peak illumination a bit

slower than an electronic flash unit, however, it stays at this peak

level for some time before gradually fading away.

In essence, therefore, there is a bright light for a longer period.

Now, if the period for which the bright illumination co-incided

Magnesium Powder Flash Emission

FlitsligtPulver (flash light powder)

Time (ms)

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