Help with choosing a camera, probably MF.

[Leigh B]

The advantage of the leaf shutter to me is the flash sync - if I want fill-flash in daylight, it's hard to do it with a focal plane shutter, as most of them top out at 1/125th for flash sync. And most medium format focal plane shutters top out at 1/60th for flash sync.

Yes, that is a distinct difference in the technologies.

However, it depends on the size of the leaf shutter.
Top speed available on a Copal #3 is 1/125 of a second, so obviously it cannot sync flash any faster.

The Copal Square focal plane shutter, used in all of Nikon's second-tier vintage cameras (FA-FE-FG-FM types),
will X-sync at 1/250 because of its titanium curtains, vertical travel and faster traverse speed.

- Leigh

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

Leigh- I'm talking about in this case specifically the leaf shutters found in medium format cameras. There may be some very old and/or very primitive medium format cameras that do not have a 1/500th of a second for a top shutter speed, but most medium format cameras have that 1/500th for a maximum shutter speed if they use leaf shutters. The focal-plane shutters in most medium format cameras top out at 1/60th or 1/90th for flash sync, even though they may go to 1/1000th or even 1/2000th for maximum shutter speed.