I am looking to use Bowens self contained stobe heads on my 10" Ektar lens. The problem is that there is no way to attatch a cable without some type of adapter. Does anyone know how to make this work? Thanks for the help.

-- Bruce E. Rathbun (brath@iquest.net), July 15, 2001

Answers

I don't, but Paramount Cords at http://www.paramountcords.com knows exactly what to do!

Give them a try.

-- Brian Yarvin (byarvin@nyc.rr.com), July 15, 2001.

Yes, the shutters with Ektar lenses usually have a bipole connector. Paramount will make one with the right connections for you if they don't have it in stock.

A while back I picked up a "new-old-stock" Paramount bipole-to-household cord from the B&H used department. You might give them a call.

-- David Goldfarb (dgoldfarb@barnard.edu), July 15, 2001.

A bi post cord is basically the same a TV cheater cord or an electric shaver cord.

-- Bob Salomon (bobsalomon@mindspring.com), July 16, 2001.

I made mine from an old razor cord. Works great!

-- Pete (gregarpp@icqmail.com), July 16, 2001.

Radio shack has a two-alligator-clip on a split wire deal in a little plastic bag for 2.98. The clips are insulated. I made a couple of bi post synch cords with these, they dont look totally pro but they work fine. Bi post width to shaver cord hole separation can sometimes vary.... but the clips go on everything...

-- Chris Yeager (cyeager@ix.netcom.com), July 16, 2001.

Thanks for all of the advise. I did go to paramount cords and find a custom cord that will do the job. Thanks again for all of the helpful advice. This is why I enjoy this site. There are so many people that can have an answer within a few hours. Keep the info flowing!

-- Bruce E. Rathbun (brath@iquest.net), July 19, 2001.

Custom? Calumet has a paramount household to bipost in stock maybe give them a call.

-- john (dogspleen@juno.com), July 20, 2001.

Bruce, I don't know what you kind of shots you're doing, or the shutter speeds...but one low-tech thing I do is just fire the strobe myself...one hand on the power pack, one on the shutter release...

-- DK Thompson (kthompson@moh.dcr.state.nc.us), July 21, 2001.

I've done that with barrel lenses (DG-sync speed with a lens cap is about 1/2 to 1 sec.), but it's not that hard to get a sync cord for an Ilex-type shutter, and well worth the modest cost.

-- David Goldfarb (dgoldfarb@barnard.edu), July 21, 2001.