Shutter speed tester for leaf shutters

John Wiegerink · Mar 10, 2025

I've searched on this site and haven't seen much about the cheaper bought shutter speed testers for leaf shutters. I was over on the big auction site and see some shutter testers that are listed for leaf shutters and was thinking about picking one up. I really only need it for speeds from 1 sec. to maybe 1/250th of a sec.. Anybody here have any experience with these, good or bad?

loccdor · Mar 10, 2025

Before you buy something, check to see what kind of slow motion video your cell phone can record. My old Samsung could do a crazy 960 frames per second. Then it would just be a matter of counting the frames in video software.

Photographica · Mar 10, 2025

I made my own shutter speed tester using an optical sensor. I learned that using cheap components yielded poor results at higher shutter speeds. My point is that if you find an inexpensive tester, you may compromise accuracy at extreme speeds. If you're going to only test slower speeds (less than 1/500 or so), don't spend a lot of money on a high end test system.
Alternatively, I've used an audio processing program on my computer that can measure time between various sounds - like shutter clicks. Looking at the captured audio signals told me a lot about my shutters. I noticed some have a lag time after release. I even had one lens that exhibited a bit of a stutter while open. Depending on your computer's audio system you can even get some higher speed testing.
"Audacity" is free software (Windows and Apple) that you can download. There are others...

reddesert · Mar 10, 2025

You can use a smart phone, the "Shutter Speed" app, and the Photoplug, which is a little doodad (really a phototransistor and resistor) that plugs into the 1/8" headphone/mic jack of your phone (or adapter if your phone no longer has a 1/8" jack). It works. The app is free. You can make your own plug if you know something about electronics and source the right components. The app can also measure speeds from the sound of the shutter (no plug required), but this doesn't work great for speeds faster than about 1/30.

ChrisGalway · Mar 10, 2025

reddesert said:
You can use a smart phone, the "Shutter Speed" app, and the Photoplug, which is a little doodad (really a phototransistor and resistor) that plugs into the 1/8" headphone/mic jack of your phone (or adapter if your phone no longer has a 1/8" jack). It works. The app is free. You can make your own plug if you know something about electronics and source the right components. The app can also measure speeds from the sound of the shutter (no plug required), but this doesn't work great for speeds faster than about 1/30.

I use the PhotoPlug gismo with the free Shutter Speed app, it works well up to 1/500th (although none of my old cameras with a 1/500 setting actually read that speed, I feel lucky to get 1/300th!). I got mine from Filmomat in the EU, in the US there is https://www.catlabs.info/product/photoplug-optical-shutter-speed-tester .

Maris · Mar 10, 2025

I bought a shutter speed tester from eBay a couple of months ago. It looks like a small USB powered circuit board with a digital read-out module on it. It works really well and at less than $100 it's got to be a bargain.
I also found out how bad some of my shutters are. At least if I know the error and it's consistent I can allow for it and get exposures to where they need to be.

ChrisGalway · Mar 10, 2025

Maris said:
I bought a shutter speed tester from eBay a couple of months ago. It looks like a small USB powered circuit board with a digital read-out module on it. It works really well and at less than $100 it's got to be a bargain.
I also found out how bad some of my shutters are. At least if I know the error and it's consistent I can allow for it and get exposures to where they need to be.

I have about a dozen older cameras with leaf shutters (folders, TLRs, stereo) and ALL of them have slow shutters! Rule of thumb is the 1/100th setting is closer to 1/60th (of course, it varies). My relatively new Mamiya 7ii still has spot-on speeds, as does one of my Rolleiflexes, but all the others run a bit slow. It's not a problem ... that's why one should always have a shutter tester!

John Wiegerink · Mar 10, 2025

Maris said:
I bought a shutter speed tester from eBay a couple of months ago. It looks like a small USB powered circuit board with a digital read-out module on it. It works really well and at less than $100 it's got to be a bargain.
I also found out how bad some of my shutters are. At least if I know the error and it's consistent I can allow for it and get exposures to where they need to be.

Maris,
I think that might be the one I was interested in. They were around $50.00 and it showed leaf shutter cameras in the pix. Here's the link:

F4U · Mar 10, 2025

John Wiegerink said:
Maris,
I think that might be the one I was interested in. They were around $50.00 and it showed leaf shutter cameras in the pix. Here's the link:
View attachment 393344 View attachment 393344

What link? There's just 2 thumbnail pics in your post. No link.

John Wiegerink · Mar 10, 2025

F4U said:
What link? There's just 2 thumbnail pics in your post. No link.

I was going to, but this was just to see if it is the one Maris has. The picture is worth a 1,000 words anyway.

Maris · Mar 11, 2025

John Wiegerink said:
I was going to, but this was just to see if it is the one Maris has. The picture is worth a 1,000 words anyway.

Yep, that's the one. I used its millisecond readout to tabulate correction factors for each nominal shutter speed. For example 1/125 sec+1/2 stop means the shutter is running slow and I need to move the aperture indicator 1/2 of the way to the next smallest stop so the right amount of light hits the film.

John Wiegerink · Mar 11, 2025

Maris said:
Yep, that's the one. I used its millisecond readout to tabulate correction factors for each nominal shutter speed. For example 1/125 sec+1/2 stop means the shutter is running slow and I need to move the aperture indicator 1/2 of the way to the next smallest stop so the right amount of light hits the film.

Thanks Maris! I think I'll pick one up. I know I could build one, but I got too much going right now and will cheat on this one.

Shutter speed tester for leaf shutters

Privacy & Transparency

Privacy & Transparency