For Sale: NOS Sylvania FF-33 FloodFlash Flash Bulb Lamp & Box - $19.00

Not the mother of all flash bulbs, but mighty, mighty close!

I think a lot of us remember using flash bulbs on old film cameras.  Some used the little bulbs stuffed with what looked like steel wool, some of us had flash cubes, others had the bars with 5 or 6 flashes built in to it.

 This, though, is not your mama's flash bulb.

This bulb...well...it's a special bulb.  Rather than be used for taking pics of grandma's birthday cake, this one was designed to be used if you wanted to take slow-motion film footage of your granny blowing the candles out.

This is a hard-to-find FF-33 FloodFlash bulb from Sylvania.  It was designed for needs where a high-intensity, long-duration flash was required, such as high-speed motion picture photography, special effects, and destructive testing.

The flash in typical flash bulbs and cubes lasted maybe a fraction of a second.  The flash on this baby lasted an average of 1.75 seconds!  Plenty of time to film a test plane crash into a wall, an arrow tear through a water balloon, or...well...you get the idea.  Like I said, this ain't your mama's flash bulb.

Like most flash bulbs and cubes, these bulbs are no longer made and I am pretty sure  that this one is from the very early 1960's.  There are other identical NOS (new-old-stock) FF-33's out there and they are going for a pretty penny at about $50 a pop!  There is, though, one company making a flash bulb that's the equivalent of the FF-33 in both duration and intensity, and that company sells them for about $60 each!!

So what you're looking at is not only a great collectible piece of photographic history, it's also a functional piece that could be used for some highly-specialized photographic of cinematic projects.

And if you're wondering if people are actually using bulbs like this today, take a look at these pics! Don't forget, digital photography is fantastic but can never replace traditional film for a lot of people, and the same can be said for flash bulbs.


Oh...and by the way...if you REALLY want these bulbs, but need more than one, just contact me.  I will be happy to work with you on a volume discount!!!

Shipping:  $3.00.