>There certainly are some intricacies to protect the tube and capacitor

Normal photographic flashes extend the life of the tube by limiting the rise 
time of the current by using specific lengths of wire between the capacitor 
and the tube, thereby providing a suitable series inductance that limits 
di/dt. Early model flashguns that used paper dielectric capacitors charged 
to around 2kV could produce an extremely short and intense flash.

I have spoken to commercial photographers who used these old units and 
considered it normal to be able to get an extremely sharp stop motion of a 
ballet dancer doing a twirl, and in the photo the outer edge of the skirt is 
absolutely crisp sharp in the photo.

later units that used electrolytic capacitors charged to around 500V do not 
have the same short flash, as the internal impedance of the capacitor lowers 
the di/dt. Also I suspect the lower operating voltage means the tube is 
harder to fire.

The most modern units seem to run at around 200-300V across the storage 
capacitor. 

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