Copal Press No. 1 Mod/Solution?

[cptrios]

Hi all,

I recently picked up a very cheap Dagor 8 1/2 in a Copal Press 1 shutter. It seems like someone kludged the whole thing together quite a while ago, in generally a pretty charming way (see the hand-etched numbers on the aperture scale, for example). There are two main issues with it, one of which can't be easily gotten around. As you can see, someone at some point pretty clumsily chopped the shutter release socket out of the side of the shutter housing:

There's another socket for the preview lever, which would be good enough for me considering I'm probably going to be using bulb mode most of the time with this lens anyway. Unfortunately, because of the way press shutters work, the preview lever fully opens the aperture no matter what you've got it set at.

Sooooo...the obvious solution is to rig up a new shutter release socket. That doesn't seem beyond my skills (though that little lever has to be pushed deeper than either of my release cables can go). Alternatively, though, does anyone know if there's a way to 'unlink' the preview lever and the aperture without breaking the entire shutter? I'm guessing not...but it's worth asking!

 

[Dan Daniel]

You'll need to open up the shutter front to see how the preview and aperture are linked. These shutters are pretty open and simple so you can probably figure it out watching it operate.

There's these cable sockets on some Kodak shutters. The center to center on the rivets is ~3/8 inch, 9.6mm or so. #2 screws would fit. Not sure if there is enough metal left at the break-away section on yours or if you want to play plastic surgeon with some epoxy. I can send you that part if you want it.

There are larger such parts on assorted shutters. The issue is finding a donor body.

 

[OAPOli]

In principle yes? If you look at the shutter from behind, there is a "L" shaped pivoting arm that actuates the aperture. The long section rides on the aperture cam and the short section looks to be actuated by the preview lever. Maybe there is a way to uncouple them?

 

[Rick A]

How about just replacing the shutter.
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[BrianShaw]

If this was my problem, I’d take the shameless plug option rather than fiddle with that mess if a shutter.

 

[cptrios]

Sorry to post and run! I think, unfortunately, that the hole is too wide for most of those two-screw socket plates. Just a hair over 3/8 of an inch on its own. I do have some spare thin brass lying around that could be used to patch the hole, I suppose...

In the meantime, I'll take the thing apart and check out what OAPOli suggested. If, after giving the lens a bit of a workout, I wind up really liking it, I'll think about buying a new shutter! Being the genius that I am, I bought a different 210mm lens at the same time, thinking I wouldn't win either auction. Hopefully one will turn out better than the other.

 

[OAPOli]

@cptrios another option would be to fashion a cable release socket using a 3mm nut. Glue the nut onto a thin band, itself glued onto the housing. The thread pitch is compatible.