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- Dec 10, 2013
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One of my "other" hobbies is the collection and storage of a small amount of light bulbs or lamps. When they enter the collection I do my best to photograph them in an attractive or glamorous manner.. here are some of my best attempts.
First up is a very old incandescent carbon filament lamp I acquired which I think, going by the handpainted numbers on the stem, is from 1927. it's being run in series with the two GEC 150W incandescents, as its an odd voltage and it'd end up getting fried on our mains.
Something newer, but perhaps only slightly so, is an old Siemens Projection lamp with a tungsten filament.
Next up is an MB/U lamp (clear mercury vapour). I have three of these and they are actually US lamps that I had posted over here, the bulb shape is slightly longer and thinner than our elliptical ones. I love that you can see the arc detail if you dim the photo down enough, and the light these give off is a really eerie crisp whitish-blue. Some parts of the world, namely certain places in the US, still use clear mercury in street lighting.
Here is the arc tube of a 400W High Pressure Sodium lamp. This was lit on a 70W ballast to give me enough time to photograph it in its preliminary firing stage. Running it at the correct power does not produce a show nearly as pretty as this. If you look closely, you can actually see the arc running through the starting gas mixture, as the sodium has not yet vaporised into the arc stream.
And finally, a shot of my favourite type of lamp in lighting, a low pressure sodium lamp of the SOX variety. These use a neon-argon penning gas to help strike the arc which causes the bulb to burn pink for around 10 minutes. the sodium metal then gradually vaporises into the arc stream and it turns a strong yellow - 589nm the same as our yellow lasers. Colour rendering is literally non existent in these but their efficacy is still unsurpassed by any other man made lighting technology today.
Enjoy. I have more where that came from...
First up is a very old incandescent carbon filament lamp I acquired which I think, going by the handpainted numbers on the stem, is from 1927. it's being run in series with the two GEC 150W incandescents, as its an odd voltage and it'd end up getting fried on our mains.
![DSC02346_zps0nc6rbem.jpg](http://i886.photobucket.com/albums/ac70/trencheel303/DSC02346_zps0nc6rbem.jpg)
![DSC02343_zpswxqyr3ky.jpg](http://i886.photobucket.com/albums/ac70/trencheel303/DSC02343_zpswxqyr3ky.jpg)
Something newer, but perhaps only slightly so, is an old Siemens Projection lamp with a tungsten filament.
![DSC02313_zpspaagcqer.jpg](http://i886.photobucket.com/albums/ac70/trencheel303/DSC02313_zpspaagcqer.jpg)
Next up is an MB/U lamp (clear mercury vapour). I have three of these and they are actually US lamps that I had posted over here, the bulb shape is slightly longer and thinner than our elliptical ones. I love that you can see the arc detail if you dim the photo down enough, and the light these give off is a really eerie crisp whitish-blue. Some parts of the world, namely certain places in the US, still use clear mercury in street lighting.
![EYE%2050MBU%20detail_zps0nydpeby.jpg](http://i886.photobucket.com/albums/ac70/trencheel303/EYE%2050MBU%20detail_zps0nydpeby.jpg)
Here is the arc tube of a 400W High Pressure Sodium lamp. This was lit on a 70W ballast to give me enough time to photograph it in its preliminary firing stage. Running it at the correct power does not produce a show nearly as pretty as this. If you look closely, you can actually see the arc running through the starting gas mixture, as the sodium has not yet vaporised into the arc stream.
![Venture%20400W%20HPS-T%20runup%20on%20low%20power_zpsnajuipke.jpg](http://i886.photobucket.com/albums/ac70/trencheel303/Venture%20400W%20HPS-T%20runup%20on%20low%20power_zpsnajuipke.jpg)
And finally, a shot of my favourite type of lamp in lighting, a low pressure sodium lamp of the SOX variety. These use a neon-argon penning gas to help strike the arc which causes the bulb to burn pink for around 10 minutes. the sodium metal then gradually vaporises into the arc stream and it turns a strong yellow - 589nm the same as our yellow lasers. Colour rendering is literally non existent in these but their efficacy is still unsurpassed by any other man made lighting technology today.
![DSC00868_zpsohieleru.jpg](http://i886.photobucket.com/albums/ac70/trencheel303/DSC00868_zpsohieleru.jpg)
Enjoy. I have more where that came from...
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