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idrive495 · Joined: 16 Dec 2002 Posts: 3 Location: New York

Have yet to take any photographs with my "new" speed graphic but have 1 question. If the handheld meter reading can be applied by using either the rear focal plane shutter, or the front shutter on the lens, which would you use assuming both are accurate? Is there a general preference?
Thanks

clnfrd · Posted: Mon Dec 30, 2002 10:22 pm Post subject:

This may be a simplistic answer, but having a focal plane shutter in operating condition, to me, is a blessing not to be toyed with. Since they may be fragile at best on a 50-year-old camera, I prefer not to press my luck. I prefer the front shutter since it is easily replaced with one of my spares if I have a problem. And, I exercise the FP occasionally just for funsies. After all, the 1/1000th capability of the FP is great for freezing the froth on a waterfall. Fred.

[ This Message was edited by: clnfrd on 2002-12-30 14:24 ]

Dan Fromm · Joined: 14 May 2001 Posts: 2120 Location: New Jersey

Les · Joined: 09 May 2001 Posts: 2682 Location: Detroit, MI

The shutters in Pre-Ann and before were made of natural rubber and it's rare that these work at all as rubber has a tendency to become brittle and take a set, most of the time, wound around the spool.

In a worse case scenario, the set is so bad the shutter won't move. In lesser cases, like that found in Anniversaries, the rubber will crack slightly when forced through the aperture of the rear of the camera . This is why you'll see Anny Speed shutters that have 'wrinkles' in them. These become hinge points for the shutter and when worn, become pin holes.

Also during this aging process the some of the rubber gets brittle engough to let go of the fabric backing. Shoving an old shutter through the slot tends to shake a lot minute rubber particles loose, which is usually attracted to a negatively charge polyester sheet found near the shutter. We call it film.

Pacemakers don't usually show this tendancy as much as Anniversaries and older Graflexes, but I still say a quarterly vacuuming of the focal plane shutter will help the dust problem. You should be doing the bellows anyway.

_________________
"In order to invent, you need a good imagination and a lot of junk" Thomas Edison

45PSS · Posted: Tue Dec 31, 2002 7:42 am Post subject:

The other aspect of "Which Shutter".
A leaf shutter opens from the center and expands until all blades have reached the outer edge then return to the center in the time it is set to exposing the entire sheet of film at once.
A focal plane shutter runs a small window of light across the length of the film so that an equal window width of film is exposed for the set time and continues to do so until the entire sheet of film is exposed.

When I tested a Top RF Speed that I repaired the shutter on I set a 135 Optar to 1/100 and exposed a sheet of polaroid #52, then set the fp to 1/125 and made a second shot, both hand held. Close inspection showed NO DIFFERENCE, but the fp exposure was more like shooting a leaf at 1/25.
Charles

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The best camera ever made is the one that YOU enjoy using and produces the image quality that satifies YOU.

clnfrd · Posted: Tue Dec 31, 2002 1:40 pm Post subject:

If I want speed other than the FP shutter on my baby Speed, I use my Kodak Synchro-Rapid 800 shutter. I get the impression this shutter is much maligned, but mine works like a charm and the Ektar Lens is excellent. Fred.