My New Shutter Tester And My Shutter. Now What?

So, my new shutter speed tester came today, and as expected all my between the lens shutters are a mile off. Oddly enough my old Nikon F was reasonably accurate, and this tester wasn't really meant for FP shutters. Pictured is the Graphic Synchro Compur shutter on my Super Graphic. Look at these figures. Sad. Pitiful. Now what? I really don't want to open it up and try to re-work i myself, although I probably could, but it would be a long harrowing ordeal, and I might even completley foul it up. Wonder what it would cost to send it to somebody? And what result I might expect, given the fact there's no new parts out there. I hate iris shutters. Never seen one anywhere near accurate. Thank you.
1 sec 1.4
1/2 sec 1/1.35
1/5 sec 1/3.6
1/10 sec 1/6
1/25 sec 1/15
1/50 sec 1/31
1/100 sec 1/55
1/200 sec 1/80
1/400 1/150

Hi F4U,

I would clean the gaps/points where levers/parts are moving while exposure without opening the shutter first.
Here dust or dirt can slow down shutter speed...
Some lighter fluid (or better surgical spirit as it evaporates quicker) on a slim wooden stick (toothpick) with some eye cotton (or similar) helped me with several rim set Compur's this way.

Best
Jens

Tables written like that are not very useful. It's better to convert it into exposure error in stops. Your shutter is about 1/2 to 1/3 stop slow at 1/50 second and slower, and 1 stop slow at the three fastest speeds, 1/100 and up. Write this on a small piece of paper and tape it to the lensboard or something. It's really not that bad, being within 1/3 of a stop is considered acceptable tolerance by most shutter standards.

It's possible to do a very simple cleaning job on a leaf shutter with something that evaporates completely (I prefer electronic contact cleaner), but not recommended for someone who is anxious about screwing things up. And a basic job may not ever get you closer than 1/3 stop.

Thank you. I realize I could simply take the glass out of the shutter and drop the entire shutter assembly into a bucket of diesel or kerosene. Or even an ultrasonic cleaning tub of these fluids and then wrap it in a few layers of cloth or paper towels to sit in the hot July sun a couple days to dry out the diaphragm and shutter blade surfaces and it wouldn't hurt anything. And then it would likely work much better. But then I'd be horsewhipped by any self-respecting shutter service professional. None of those kinds of ideas are going to replace tired springs or properly lubricate metal to metal surfaces.. I've never heard of any iris shutter that could hold any kind of accuracy for very long, even brand new.

Any measuring device can potentially make you unhappy

With my cameras, I only adjust the ones I shoot.

For example, I have several Nikon F4s with slow aperture mechanisms, which I leave as they are until I activate them. It would be too much effort otherwise.

A camera with a misaligned shutter is not defective unless the shutter is damaged.

If you decide to clean it yourself, concentrate on getting the escapement clean and clean the sector wheel and blades. The sector wheel has to change directions and make two spins for each open-close sequence.

F4U said:

Look at these figures. Sad. Pitiful.

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They look pretty normal to me for an LF shutter this age.

F4U said:

Now what?

Click to expand...

Here's what I'd do: determine whether the numbers are consistent. If so, write them on a piece of paper and paste it onto the shutter or lens board somewhere. Then use those numbers instead of the official speeds. Periodically retest the shutter to see if the speeds have started to slow down even further. If so, correct the numbers on the paper, or perhaps consider having a CLA done. Given the numbers as they are now, I'd frankly leave the shutter alone.