Life Expectancy of Flashes

[ryleung]

Just wondering in general, how long is a flash bulb (in an EX speedlite) good for? 10k bursts? 30k bursts? 50k bursts?

I know repeated bursts over a short time will shorten the bulb's life, and I don't go out shooting with the intent to destroy my flash. However, I am not afraid to use it when I need the light, and for evening banquets, there are lots of occasions when I flash as quickly as my 580EX allows.

-Lik

p.s. Several searches didn't really reveal anything too useful.

[Wilt]

You must have searched on the wrong parameters or used a bad search engine! My first search effort...

'2 billion' (for a stroboscopic light)
'30,000' (JTL monolight)
'10,000' (Photographer's SupplyStation monolight)
'100,000 to 500,000' (Alien Bees)
'2500 to 100,000' (article on Alien Bees)
'50,000 to 100,000' (White Lightning)
'50,000,000' (Monarch Instruments digital stroboscope)

[laimis.s]

errrr... 2 billion for flashguns??? wow that would last a while :D

[ryleung]

You must have searched on the wrong parameters or used a bad search engine! My first search effort...

'2 billion' (for a stroboscopic light)
'30,000' (JTL monolight)
'10,000' (Photographer's SupplyStation monolight)
'100,000 to 500,000' (Alien Bees)
'2500 to 100,000' (article on Alien Bees)
'50,000 to 100,000' (White Lightning)
'50,000,000' (Monarch Instruments digital stroboscope)
Thanks, Wilt. I do admit that my searching skills aren't the greatest. But do these figures apply to my trusty EX speedlite?

-Lik

[Wilt]

A 'stroboscopic light' is not a 'flash gun'. Go to a club that has dancing and you often would see stroboscopic lights. Another stroboscopic light is the lights that flash on airplanes.

Your EX speedlite is probably in the 25000-100000 range somewhere

[ryleung]

Thanks again, Wilt. I guess it would be interesting to see whether my shutter or the flash dies first!

-Lik

[Wilt]

Thanks again, Wilt. I guess it would be interesting to see whether my shutter or the flash dies first!

-Lik

Depends on which camera you have. Some have 50k shutters. And even ones with 50k shutter actuations are known to have their secondary mirror actuations fail at 25k! And it is all statistical figures.

[Kraig C]

I have read reports of speedlites like the 550ex lasting over 200k flashes. The poster mentioned something about the flash tube giving off slightly different color temp after so many flashes. As with anything, your milage may vary.

[Frank p]

So basically. Don't worry about yr flash dying :)