Lomography Cameras - Where do they get their shutters made?

[kkuehn]

Looking more and more like I need to just build my own from scratch...

Very simple shutter for being German. Just a shutter blade assembly and a solenoid. How fast is can be would be up to the solenoid and the electrical impulse. Maybe a mini computer could be used as a controller.

Still too slow. That shutter probably maxes out at 1/20s if I had to bet. I mean, nowadays they are using titanium allows and stuff so they can pull more G's on the shutter and get faster actuations. Plus, I'm more interested in an off the shelf unit that I could buy more in the future. A one off unit without a name is not useful to me.

 

[aw614]

A cursory look at the CT1 shows that it uses a vertical metal blade shutter made by Compur, very similar to the modern shutter designs used in DSLRs. It is specifically the Compur Square shutter which was a drop in unit used in many cameras because it was simple and reliable and reduced development costs. This is exactly what I'm looking for, except Compur stopped producing them long ago.

I'd think that all DSLR shutters operate exactly like old film shutters, being that they wouldn't be much good as a shutter if they let light through.

But I do believe the Bessa R had additional light baffling that the CT1 and its SLR variants did not due to the mirror

 

[xya]

Rodenstock still makes lenses with classial shutters. They must have an enormous stock of Compur shutters. In 1990 they still had a stock of 1920s large Compound shutters for their Imagon lenses, I own one. Maybe they have also a stock of shutters made after the merge of Compur and Prontor by Zeiss. These were made until 2002.

In any case classical shutters are still available at small prices, if you come down to a preferred model, you could build your own stock for your "project(s)" which you have not spcified yet...

 

[reddesert]

I'm confused, or someone else is, or both. The OP refers to wanting a medium format focal plane shutter. This doesn't spell inexpensive, or fast. Lomography cameras like the Lubitel typically don't have a focal plane shutter, they have a between-the-lens or behind-the-lens shutter, which can be a lot smaller than a focal plane shutter. Brownies, which were also mentioned, often have a behind the lens shutter - the simple lens in a Brownie allows the shutter to be behind the lens for easier assembly, yet still relatively compact.

The reasonably practical alternatives for between or behind the lens shutters may be Packard (simple, have been around forever), Copal/Compur leaf shutters (no longer made but there are a lot of them), or designing a 3D printed shutter and servomotor controller - there is someone who has done the latter but it can only go as fast as 1/8 second or so.

People who need shutters in an optics lab might typically buy an electronic shutter and controller from a place like Uniblitz, or Thorlabs, or Edmund (who probably gets their shutters made by a contractor). These are expensive and not easily adaptable to portable photography.

I don't think buying cameras or components from a Chinese manufacturer is simple to the degree of ordering shutters on aliexpress. Building the relationship with the manufacturer surely matters. I think this working with the manufacturer is something people miss when they criticize Lomography for selling expensive plastic cameras - I doubt Lomography just sends a picture of a Lubitel or Diana overseas and says "Please make this and ship us 10,000 units."

 

[kkuehn]

I'm confused, or someone else is, or both. The OP refers to wanting a medium format focal plane shutter. This doesn't spell inexpensive, or fast. Lomography cameras like the Lubitel typically don't have a focal plane shutter, they have a between-the-lens or behind-the-lens shutter, which can be a lot smaller than a focal plane shutter. Brownies, which were also mentioned, often have a behind the lens shutter - the simple lens in a Brownie allows the shutter to be behind the lens for easier assembly, yet still relatively compact.

The reasonably practical alternatives for between or behind the lens shutters may be Packard (simple, have been around forever), Copal/Compur leaf shutters (no longer made but there are a lot of them), or designing a 3D printed shutter and servomotor controller - there is someone who has done the latter but it can only go as fast as 1/8 second or so.

People who need shutters in an optics lab might typically buy an electronic shutter and controller from a place like Uniblitz, or Thorlabs, or Edmund (who probably gets their shutters made by a contractor). These are expensive and not easily adaptable to portable photography.

I don't think buying cameras or components from a Chinese manufacturer is simple to the degree of ordering shutters on aliexpress. Building the relationship with the manufacturer surely matters. I think this working with the manufacturer is something people miss when they criticize Lomography for selling expensive plastic cameras - I doubt Lomography just sends a picture of a Lubitel or Diana overseas and says "Please make this and ship us 10,000 units."

I'm simply wondering if there are any still in production modular shutter assemblies produced anywhere. For my unspecified project, I'd prefer a medium format focal plane shutter, but curious overall as to the state of the industry and if there are still any independent shutter manufacturers.

The brownie shutter (which is undisputedly simple and easy to make) is all fine and good, but beside the point. The conclusion of this thread is that, no, the likes of Compur/Copal no longer exist to any practical extent.

I'm not interested in getting anyone else to develop a camera or shutter or anything, overseas or otherwise. I'm well aware of the challenges involved. I want to know if there is anyone that has a current production of stock shutters to minimize those challenges for my project.

 

[kkuehn]

Rodenstock still makes lenses with classial shutters. They must have an enormous stock of Compur shutters. In 1990 they still had a stock of 1920s large Compound shutters for their Imagon lenses, I own one. Maybe they have also a stock of shutters made after the merge of Compur and Prontor by Zeiss. These were made until 2002.

In any case classical shutters are still available at small prices, if you come down to a preferred model, you could build your own stock for your "project(s)" which you have not spcified yet...

I'd prefer not to have to scrounge used/old stock shutters that may or may not work.

 

[henryvk]

I don't think buying cameras or components from a Chinese manufacturer is simple to the degree of ordering shutters on aliexpress. Building the relationship with the manufacturer surely matters. I think this working with the manufacturer is something people miss when they criticize Lomography for selling expensive plastic cameras - I doubt Lomography just sends a picture of a Lubitel or Diana overseas and says "Please make this and ship us 10,000 units."

I have the Lomography-made Lubitel 166+. iirc the book that comes with the camera says they got LOMO to provide the original design documents for the Lubitel and they licensed the right to re-design it and have it manufactured, so they probably had to price a licensing fee into it as well. The price must be okay because whenever there is new stock at Lomography it's sold out very quickly.

 

[kkuehn]

Interesting. Well, I've started work on a focal plane shutter mechanism of my own. Planning to use titanium or stainless foil for the curtains to protect against damage from the sun. Microcontroller for releasing the shutter. I will report back when I get further along.