Anni Speed Graphic Rear Shutter Test

Ariston · Dec 9, 2019

With the help of shutterfinger, I have managed to get the focal plane shutter moving again on an Anniversary Speed Graphic that John was so kind to give me as my first 4x5 camera. Now, I am trying to figure out how to test the speeds for the shutter. I read somewhere that you can take four shots on one sheet of film, but I can't figure out how that would be done.

Does anyone know how to do this, or know of an easier or more economical way of testing the focal plane shutter speed?

removed account4 · Dec 9, 2019

hey ariston -
awesome you and shutterfinger were able to rehabilitate the shutter !
i think what you might be able to do is just pull the dark slide out incrementally like a "test strip"
or cover the lens incrementally with the dark slide ...
just remember to cover the lens/ take it off bulb/time when you re-wind the shutter to make your 2nd/3rd and 4th exposures
it's too easy to forget to do that ( been there done that ) / kind of a homer simpson d'oh! moment when you forget
what i've done is 1/2 a sheet of film with the FP shutter, and the other half with a behind the lens shutter to see how close they are on the same shutter speed.
FWIW, i always "err" on the side of "too much light" ...

have fun !
john

shutterfinger · Dec 9, 2019

To make 4 exposures on a single 4x5 sheet of film cut a piece of black poster board/heavy paper to fit the image opening of a film holder, cut a corner out that is 1/2 of the length and 1/2 the width. Start with the blocking board corner in one position, say top right, insert the film holder, pull the darkslide, make the exposure, insert the darkslide, move the board so the open corner is now bottom right, repeat, move the block board to the top left, repeat exposure, move block to bottom left, make final exposure, process the film. The blocking board can be made to fit either the film holder or the camera ground glass opening so that it will be in front of the film holder when the holder is in the camera.

Ariston · Dec 9, 2019

jnantz said:
hey ariston -
awesome you and shutterfinger were able to rehabilitate the shutter !
i think what you might be able to do is just pull the dark slide out incrementally like a "test strip"
or cover the lens incrementally with the dark slide ...
just remember to cover the lens/ take it off bulb/time when you re-wind the shutter to make your 2nd/3rd and 4th exposures
it's too easy to forget to do that ( been there done that ) / kind of a homer simpson d'oh! moment when you forget
what i've done is 1/2 a sheet of film with the FP shutter, and the other half with a behind the lens shutter to see how close they are on the same shutter speed.
FWIW, i always "err" on the side of "too much light" ...

have fun !
john

That is what I thought, too, and I like this idea. But I'm not sure which shutter speeds to use. Do I use the correct exposure four times consecutively? For instance, if 1/250 is the correct shutter speed, do I use that four times? Or do I use 1/250, 1/250, 1/500, and 1/1000, so the exposure is doubled each time? I'm also not sure how to interpret the results...

EDIT: Oops, my math is backwards.

shutterfinger said:
To make 4 exposures on a single 4x5 sheet of film cut a piece of black poster board/heavy paper to fit the image opening of a film holder, cut a corner out that is 1/2 of the length and 1/2 the width. Start with the blocking board corner in one position, say top right, insert the film holder, pull the darkslide, make the exposure, insert the darkslide, move the board so the open corner is now bottom right, repeat, move the block board to the top left, repeat exposure, move block to bottom left, make final exposure, process the film. The blocking board can be made to fit either the film holder or the camera ground glass opening so that it will be in front of the film holder when the holder is in the camera.

I think I can work with this. In either of these cases I wonder if there will be light leakage.

Thank you both!

shutterfinger · Dec 10, 2019

With a block card just in front of the darkslide the light bleed over will be about 1/32 to 1/8 inch maximum.
With the curtain tensioned so that it closes fully and locks when released at O on tension 1 with the body in any position start with 1/30 second and work your way up in 1 stop increments adjusting aperture and lighting to maintain correct exposure. 1/30; 1/60; 1/125; 1/250 or the closest speed on the table. On worn, reconditioned cameras the slow speeds below 1/30 are rarely accurate as are 1/500 and 1/1000 speeds. You can also shoot a additional sheets of film and use one exposure from each curtain aperture and tension setting.

Ariston · Dec 10, 2019

Thank you. I am going to do just that. If I can find a couple of speeds that are accurate enough to allow for handheld use, I will be thrilled.

shutterfinger · Dec 10, 2019

I put an 8x10 gray card in the scene and meter off it to check exposure accuracy. It helps to have the gray card show in each exposure also. You can read the gray card with a densitometer or scan the negative then read the grayscale for it in post software.

Anni Speed Graphic Rear Shutter Test

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