Shutter question.

[majicman]

How many different types of shutters are there on film cameras? I know there are leaf shutters and curtain shutters. Are the curtain shutters the ones that go sideways? and the leaf shutters the ones that go up and down ? I think the ones that go sideways seem better for overall wear and tear but what do you guys think. Which ones do you think stand up through use better?

[casualcollector]

I kinda' simplify them into two groups, lens shutters and focal plane shutters. Lens shutters are in front of, behind or between lens elements. They can be simple, single blade type or more complex leaf shutters.

Focal plane shutters are located directly in front of the film. They can be cloth roller blind, running horizontally as in the Leica and many others. Metal slat design, running vertically, as in the original Zeiss Contax. Roller blind, running vertically, as in the Speed Graphic. Metal or plastic leaf, running vertically, like the Copal Square shutter used in just about all Konica SLRs and many others. The many others include just about all models of our pet manufacturer, Cosina.

Bill

[PeterW]

Hi majicman, you asked:

How many different types of shutters are there on film cameras?

If we go back into the history of cameras (and don't get me started on that!) there have been many different types of shutters.

But broadly, to answer your question, leaf shutters are usually taken to mean blade shutters with up to five leaves mounted either behind or inside the lens, probably the best known being Compur and Prontor.

Shutters at the back of the camera, next to the film plane, are usually called focal plane shutters whether they travel horizontally or vertically, or are made of cloth or metal.

On 35mm cameras the horizontally tavelling cloth focal plane shutter is traditional (because the Leica used it?), and it's relatively simple to build. The vertically travelling focal plane shutter has the advantage of not having to travel so far (24mm instead of 36mm), so higher speeds are easier to obtain.

Zeiss Ikon, with the Contax, was an early exponent of this, but their metal roller blind shutter was complex, took up a lot of room, and used timing mechanism spread right across the camera. The idea didn't really take off until the advent of the Copal, or Copal-type, of metal-blade focal plane shutter, which was designed basically as a unit and could be built into almost any 35mm camera.

PeterW

[mickeyobe]

We must not forget the lens cap shutter.
By simply removing the lens cap and counting the seconds and then replacing it the old time photographers exposed their film.
I still use one on a 480 mm f9 Apo Nikkor which is mounted on an 8" x10" Gundlach Korona.
This particular lens cap started life as a lid on a pickle jar and a knob from an old dresser drawer.
Very effective. Never jams. Ergonomic and user friendly.

Mickey

[paulatukcamera]

You may be interested in the following:
www.ukcamera.com/classic_cameras/shut0.html

This is part of Eric Zante's Classic Camera Web site that I now host. He abandoned it and moved to Ireland and I thought it was a great shame to let such a mine of information on German cameras vanish from the web. The full web site is here:
www.ukcamera.com/classic_cameras/camindexe.html

If any of you ever think of abandoning your classic camera web site, I'll host it for you free of charge (I could never let a good book be destroyed either!)

Paul

[kiev4a]

If I remember correctly the Robot camera has some type of unique rotary shutter. The Exa 1 has a shutter where the mirror is part of the shutter assembly.