Handbook of High Speed Photography - IET Labs, Inc.

XENON FLASHTUBE (STROBOTAC)
7000 ANGSTROM UNITS
700 MILLIMICRONS
Figure 4-2. Comparison of xenon lamp spectral emission and
film sensitivity. Note that xenon radiation in the U.V. range is
absorbed by and does not pass through the glass well.
4.3 FILM CHOICE.
A xenon-filled flashtube, such as that used in most stroboscopes,
produces good results on both orthochromatic and panchromatic films
because most of the light emitted falls in the visual region where
both types of film are sensitive (see Figure 4-2 for a graphical compar
ison of film sensitivities to the spectral content of a xenon flashtube
emission). Orthochromatic films, however, will not take full advantage
of this type of output, and panchromatic types are preferable for appli
cations where the flash intensity is marginal.
The equivalent color temperature of the flash produced by GR
strobes is approximately 6500° - 7000° Kelvin. While the bare flash
may produce acceptable results with color films under some conditions,
use of the filters may result in improved color balance. Not shown in
Figure 4-2 are the strong lines present, including some in the vicinity
of 9800 angstroms, the near infra-red region.
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