Long Air Bulb Releases

[Frank Petronio]

I see Hama, Samigon, General and Kaiser listed at B&H, from $12 to $44. They all look identical from the photos... any difference?

The large end pc that screws into the shutter looks like it might interfere with some smaller shutters and tight lens mounts -- any practical experience?

Thanks. I want a 20 foot or so release...

[Bob Salomon]

For one. The bulb. Some are plastic and the good ones are rubber. Then length. Kaiser makes 16 and 32' ones. Not 20'. Then the case to roll the tubing up into and store the tubing and bulb. Some have no means of rolling up the tubing safely for long life use \. Then the pressure generated at the shutter. Some may not have enough pressure to reliably fire a view camera or medium format shutter.

Hint: you get what you pay for with cable and air releases.

[Andrew_4548]

I'll second the get what you pay for comment - some of the cheapo plastic ones look like they've been made in gash injection moulding setups with lots of flash around the edges and seem fairly flimsy. The rubber ones are a lot better but the problem is telling the difference from catalogue / web photos...

Some of the tubes are harder plastic and you wonder whether they'll take a set and not seal very well on the push-fit connectors.

Some of the ones I've seen have a connector maybe 20" from the bulb so you can use it at that length or use the full 20' etc length - a craft knife is another option ;)

[BrianShaw]

The large end pc that screws into the shutter looks like it might interfere with some smaller shutters and tight lens mounts -- any practical experience?

Yes, my experience is that they do not fit any lens of mine that is mounted to a board. My only success has been with a SLR/TLR/RF camera.

[Greg Lockrey]

Yes, my experience is that they do not fit any lens of mine that is mounted to a board. My only success has been with a SLR/TLR/RF camera.

If you get one of those recessed lens adapters, you know the kind that pivots, then it works pretty good.

[bsimison]

I bought the one stocked by Freestyle which works fine with my schneiders and rodenstocks mounted on Linhof boards. Build quality is nice -- rubber bulb, nice reel -- especially considering the $13 I spent.

[vinny]

I bought the one stocked by Freestyle which works fine with my schneiders and rodenstocks mounted on Linhof boards. Build quality is nice -- rubber bulb, nice reel -- especially considering the $13 I spent.

I got the same one just to try it since b&h's photos all looked the same. It fits and fires my copal 3 shutters fine, i doubt it would fire a prontor3 though. I put shrink tubing over the joint someone metioned earlier so it wouldn't pull apart for shorter uses.
vinny

[Oren Grad]

The large end pc that screws into the shutter looks like it might interfere with some smaller shutters and tight lens mounts -- any practical experience?

I have one of the cheap generic-brand ones. On the whole I'm happy with it. But yes, the fat end gets in the way sometimes, and on some cameras the lens has to be oriented just so in the lensboard for me to just barely be able to squeeze it in without its being obstructed by something on the camera's front standard.

[jnantz]

hi frank

i have gone through 2 or 3 of those cheep bulb air releases
the plastic end falls apart and the thing will stop working
.... then i bought a degroff. it cost an arm and a leg
but i will never buy another shutter release again ...
if you ever get wollensak studio shutters or betax shutter
it will work flawlessly with them.

sometimes you can find the piston on FleeBoo, and just use a blood pressure hose
and bulb ... ( cut a hole in the end of the bulb so you can regulate the air ) ...

good luck!
john