HELP! Cable release with not enough throw for Ilex #5

[Ryan McIntosh]

I have a old Kodak Ektar 14" in a Ilex #5 Shutter. The problem is...No cable release I find can trigger the shutter! I found a cable that when you hold it perfectly straight in the air, with now bents or anything in the cable...it will be about 1mm away from triping the shutter, so on occations I get lucky and it works.. but I would prefer a cable release that WORKS ALL THE TIME!

Anyone has a recomendation? I heard something about a "Calumet HV2000" that is red and black, but I cant find info on it, or where to purchase one.

Someone please help me find a cable release that has a long throw to trip my shutter please!

Thanks so much!

Ryan McIntosh www.RyanMcIntosh.net

[tor kviljo]

Hmmmm - you might be in for a long hunt. I had the same problem, but with my first Sinar shutter. The generical Sinar-Copal shutters is spesially made for the long throw cable release necessary for this press-type (double action: do not have to be set before tripping) shutter. If You manage to find a Sinar-Copal shutter release - this have the standard 3mm (?) cylindrical threads making it possible to use it on standard shutters - and having at least a centimetre or so more throw than ordinary cable releases. Don't even think about buying a new Sinar-copal cable release, they are about $$ 200 (in norway) - cable release alone... However, used ones that have lost contact with their belowed one (i.e. the shutter unit) sometimes goes cheap. KEH camera brokers might be a place to look. If You are handy, You might find a way to extend a pneumatic shutter release to longer throw: a matter of getting a longer cylinder & mounting a matching length trigger bolt. Should be easy if You just find a piece of plastic or thin metal-tubing of same diamter as the piston in the pneumatic release. I use a standard 5m HAMA pneumatic release for ordinary shutters (when I do not use the Sinar-Copal) excellent for total vibration free release & when I need to be 3 yards away from the camera twisting back a twig or so for clear view.

Good luck!

[lee nadel]

the calumet pro release works fine

[RichSBV]

See this thread:

http://graflex.org/helpboard/viewtopic.php?topic=2655&forum=15&10

[Ernest Purdum]

The deGroff pneumatic release has a throw of 5/8" (16mm). Many older shutters had straight, rather than tapered, threads for the release fitting. The deGroff used to be available with straight threads and I imagine it still is as a special order item. I like pneumatic releases because they reduce the chance of shake and let the photographer move around to shade the lens, shade the subject, hold a reflector, etc.

[Salty]

The Ebony cable release I got from Mpex works on all my Ilex shutters.

[David A. Goldfarb]

There's a mechanism in the shutter that seems to migrate with use, requiring a progressively longer and longer throw. It's probably time for a CLA on that shutter. I had the same problem with an Ilex 5, and after having it serviced, it fires with just about any cable release I have.

[MIke Sherck]

They're easy enough to make, and a lot cheaper than spending cash for a "professional" cable. Buy the cheapest cable release you can find, one of those that's just a cable running through a cheap piece of plastic tubing. Using a sharp knife, cut about 1/2" (12mm or so) from the center of the plastic tube that the cable runs through, then pull the ends together and secure them with duct tape. Note: make sure that you don't cut the steel cable inside the plastic housing! Your cable now has an extra 1/2" of "throw". Worked well for me with an ancient Wollensak self-cocking shutter and should work for you, too.

Mike

[Keith Fleming]

Contact S. K. Grimes. I had the same problem a couple of years ago with an Ilex #5, and they had shutter releases in stock that have a long "throw" that work fine. The same shutter releases were available elsewhere--I forget where I found them--under the Gepe trademark.

[jantman]

I have the same lens and shutter, and had the same problem. I went to my local camera store, and found an old used cable release that came out of a grip for an 8mm movie camera. It's an all-metal release with a metal plunger, and has more than enough throw. I would just be wary of using it with anything putting out high sync voltages.

[tim atherton]

"The same shutter releases were available elsewhere--I forget where I found them--under the Gepe trademark"

The Gepe ones are nice and heavy duty, comparatively cheap and seem to do the trick on most older shutter I have including Ilex?Kodak ones.

Available from Midewst Photo www.MPEX.com

[Wayne]

Necropost alert.

I bought a brand new cloth 20" Gepe recently and it has about 1/4" of throw. It won't even trip a Copal 1 except when the wind and moon are properly aligned. And you know how hard that is.

[Bob Salomon]

Necropost alert.

I bought a brand new cloth 20" Gepe recently and it has about 1/4" of throw. It won't even trip a Copal 1 except when the wind and moon are properly aligned. And you know how hard that is.

Return it, it is defective.

[Tin Can]

Beware of Gebe look-a-likes. I recently bought one and it is absolute garbage. The casing collapses.

Real Gepe is great stuff.

[Jim Andrada]

You can order great cable releases from Gebr. Schreck in Germany - I suspect they make the stuff most others sell under their own name. Re the original ancient question, the old Prontor releases you find on eBay trip everything I have.

[Wayne]

Huh. I didn't know there were fake Gepes. I bought it on ebay last June from a Hollywood dealer. It says Germany on da button but I don't see Gepe anywhere. I've had my old Gepe for decades but lost da button.

[Bob Salomon]

You can order great cable releases from Gebr. Schreck in Germany - I suspect they make the stuff most others sell under their own name. Re the original ancient question, the old Prontor releases you find on eBay trip everything I have.

Jim, while they make the Gepe releases they are far more expensive then just buying one from your camera store.

[Jim Andrada]

Buying one from where? Camera store? Haven't seen a REAL one of those for a long time now. At least around here.

But your point is well taken.

[Alan Gales]

I buy and sell camera gear and somehow I got ahold of some Prontor cable releases. I use them for my Ilex #4 and #5 shutters. My Gepes work fine but I just prefer the Prontors for the Ilex shutters.

[jbenedict]

I've had that same problem with a #5 shutter. This might not be much help but I took it to a dealer who had quite a few out loose (not in sealed packages) and just tried them until I found one with enough throw.

If you decide to have it CLAed, I'd send a cable release with it and have the tech make sure it works with the shutter.

[Bob Salomon]

Buying one from where? Camera store? Haven't seen a REAL one of those for a long time now. At least around here.

But your point is well taken.

Then call B&H or Adorama or Tempe or the View Camera Store.

[Jac@stafford.net]

You might luck out as I did and find a pneumatic-to-mechanical release. Mine has the non-tapered thread and lots of throw.

[Wayne]

Beware of Gebe look-a-likes. I recently bought one and it is absolute garbage. The casing collapses.

Real Gepe is great stuff.

Was it used or new? How does one distinguish real Gepe from fake? If it comes in a Gepe package can I be sure its Gepe? I dont remember what mine came in, but I'd like to replace it.