I have a very short question: Why is the fully manual controlled shutter-speed on a camera called "bulb"? I do not see any connection between this feature and the use of a bulb, which I mean to know is a formerly used word for a flashlight!

-- Thomas Tind (thomas@tind.dk), March 02, 2002

Answers

Because the shutter release cables on older cameras (and still available for cameras with manual shutter releases) were often not mechanical, but pneumatic, cables which were activated by squeezing a BULB at the end of the cable. This forced air through the tubing which fired the shutter release and as long as the bulb was held the shutter would remain open, when the bulb was released, the shutter would close, thus allowing for long exposures. Jim

-- Jim Simon (jsimon724@aol.com), March 02, 2002.