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Cable release

Kilgallb

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Oct 14, 2005
Messages
843
Location
Calgary AB C
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4x5 Format
I just broke my third cable release in the cold this winter.

Any recommendations for a good cold weather cable release?
 

I use the same unit. Highly recommended. I do leave them as flat and as loose as possible. I found out after having one being wound too tight over time started to fall apart. After that lessen early on no more issues when packing them up for outings to the field.
 
Interesting. I routinely encounter cold and hot conditions with the same Japanese PTFE-lined 1.2m release for my two Pentax 67s. No idea who made it, but after being burnt badly with supposedly top quality KAISER German releases, this $17.99 eBay find, ultra-flexible long-throw release has outlived anything the Germans have offered, at a fraction of the price!

Not convinced from long experience that a cloth-covered release is any better or robust than a vinyl sheathed or stainless steel one, in any conditions. Personal preference plays a part, but there is something bigger maybe to consider...

... If you are breaking cable releases, the problem might be excessive throw for the shutter. Shutter nib depth could be measured with a match stick, then snapped off at the shutter button fascia top, and then compared to the extended plunger of the cable release. A plunger throw range of 12mm to 15mm is short to medium, while 15mm to 20mm is long to very long (excessive for many cameras and lenses) . Not all cameras or LF lenses have universally the same shutter nib depth. Using the wrong release can either bottom out the release plunger button without tripping the shutter, or with a long-throw plunger, fire the shutter while causing back-tension in the release, leading to snapping.

Gepe stainless steel braided cables are very robust, but not particularly flexible (nor cheap!). The beefy, business-like Linhof Profi releases have an adjustable plunger throw, but that novel luxury could set you back around $160 (they are $320 here in Australia). I carry a spare Pentax-branded cable release in my pack, lest I should somehow misplace the eye-catching clear-sheathed braided release. You can never have too many cable releases!
 
The longer cable releases have been more fragile than shorter ones for me. More friction and binding, perhaps? The cover material never seems to matter.
 
BrianShaw said:
The longer cable releases have been more fragile than shorter ones for me. More friction and binding, perhaps? The cover material never seems to matter.
Click to expand...

Length should not be an issue. But flexibility certainly is. The world is flooded with "MeToo!" offerings that look cheap and cheerful, but will more likely give nothing but grief, at the worse possible moment. Make it a rule to avoid cheap, mass-produced releases with stiff, inflexible plastic covers – there are too many of these menaces, including from Linhof and surprisingly, the worst being Gerbr Schreck, a German contract manufacturer that frequently appears in discussions of stiff, seized, jammed or broken cable releases. One of their releases broke the shutter plunger on my Zero Image 69 MF pinhole camera in 2008. No problems with Pentax-branded, red-brown 'tiger-tail' cloth releases bought soon after on a trip to Japan. Still in use!

 
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Carry it inside your jacket until time to use it, the return it when done.
 
I've done an awful lot of bad weather photography in the mountains. The Gepe releases were so-so, better than most, but all them failed under those conditions within a couple of years or so. For quite awhile I've been using Minolta ones with much better success; none of them have failed yet, after two decades.
 
Brain storming for a few seconds, a short length of battery powered led bulbs, battery powered and joined/gaff taped with some 1/8 or 3/16 inch, malleable aluminum sculpture wire, would provide plenty of heat for a cable release.

A bit of hight denisity foam sandwiched with the cable release would also provide enough insulation to help and again, tiny led bulbs could also provide heat.

Some bulk, yes, but no broken cold cables.

Lastly, how about taking apart a release, cutting the push/pull wire from
The stylist and plunger, silversoldering the plunger/stylist probe with a length of multistrand electrictal copper wire and rebuilding the updated release.

I suggest it'll be less likely for such a cable to break in the cold than the single wire affair.


Eli
 
MattKing said:
Must resist temptation, must resist temptation .......
Click to expand...

Temptation be damned. Let's go!

I'm about to head off into an area that, like a small number of other sorties, I may well regret come next week – the "autumn break" – a very distinct change in weather and temperature, away from the balmy summer and early-autumn halcyon days, is not far away, and snowfalls with sub-zero temperatures have been recorded overnight... A good warm up for bigger things on the near-horizon.
 
I too have been happiest with the cloth covered releases. I have an older Nikon one that has been faultless and have recently acquired a Minette made in Japan one that is super smooth. I have a suspicion that there are a bunch of cloth covered "made in Japan" releases that came from the same factory due to the plunger end size/shape. "King" is another brand that comes to mind.
I have an odd-ball release I got in a box of misc. that has a huge plunger end. It's big and heavy. I wonder what the thinking was behind that? Use with gloves on maybe? A device to ward of thieves?
 

Possibly, a release for non standard photographic kit.
 
MTGseattle said:
I have an odd-ball release I got in a box of misc. that has a huge plunger end. It's big and heavy. I wonder what the thinking was behind that? Use with gloves on maybe? A device to ward of thieves?
Click to expand...

Possibly (no reference photo) a heavy duty, adjustable throw bell-style cable release — often chosen for Hasselblad and Leica cameras. These cable releases are quite imposing, all made in Germany. Linhof's Profi releases are of this big, heavy (and expensive!) design, also available in red and blue. Incorrect setting of the plunger pin length can result in the release breaking suddenly.

 
I looked at it a bit closer. Made in Japan, cloth jacket, overall length 24," red accents and has a spring surrounding the last 1-1/2" of the cable that is attached to the camera end. Strain relief, I guess?

I think it is damaged as it has a skip in the motion when unlocked and the plunger will stay in almost any level of depression in locked mode.
 
Another vote for Nikon releases. I've had one for close to 50 years, still like new. Cloth covered, press to release lock, 12 inches end-to-end. Similar (if not identical) releases were branded by Pentax and Minolta and probably others. Made in Japan. I don't know who the behind-the-scenes manufacturer is. I don't know if they are still made, but there are plenty to chose from on ebay & Co..
 
Taylor K Nankervis said:
See post #6.
Wouldn't go near them with a 12-foot barge pole...
Click to expand...

Over the last decades I bought three Schreck cable releases - the model Linhof sells - the best I've ever used. Smooth and reliable.
 
I did buy a Gepe red plastic covered release to trip old Alphax and other large shutters as the inner wire is a larger diameter than my other releases.
 
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