Huge "Prestor" shutter

**Eirik Berger** · 4-Nov-2004, 23:56

For several months I have been searching for a shutter to fit my APO Ronar 480 mm f9 lens. Last week I purchased a huge "Prestor" shutter with shutter speeds from 1 to 1/30 sec (+ B and T). The shutter almost covers the hole lensboard on my Cambo SCN camera. I havent measured the diameter of the shutter opening, but it must be around 70-75 mm.

I have never heard about "Prestor" shutters before, does anyone of you guys have any knowledge/experience with this shutter?

**Arne Croell** · 5-Nov-2004, 04:44

Prestor shutters were made in the GDR in the mid-1960's. The maufacturer was VEB Pentacon. They came in sizes 1,3, and 5. Unfortunately they do not have a preview lever, but otherwise they work ok (no spare parts available, though). You have the 5, which was used for the 300mm Tessar from Carl Zeiss Jena. Note that the sizes are not compatible (both some of the threads and thickness) with the western equivalents! This is more of a point for the smaller ones than for yours, but it means it is not compatible with either the Compound V or the Ilex 5 in case you want to switch at some point, and that the adaptation is surely a custom job.

**Eirik Berger** · 5-Nov-2004, 05:29

Thanks Arne.
A friend of mine have made an adaption ring in aluminium (he borrwed both the shutter and the lens to measure the threading) so now they fits perfectly. It looks weird tough.

**Arne Croell** · 5-Nov-2004, 11:43

Adaptor rings were actually used by Zeiss Jena themselves to fit some of their lenses into the Prestor shutters. Did you front mount the Apo-Ronar or separate the cells?

**Bob Salomon - HP Marketing** · 5-Nov-2004, 13:46

In 1994 Linhof introduced the Linhof/Prestor behind the lens shutter system that mounted directly into a Linhof Kardan front standard. This was an electronically controlled shutter with speeds to 1/250th and had a built-in aperture selector on top of the shutter that could be set from behind the camera as well as a shutter speed controller that also sat on top of the front standard. It was a 2 curtain design shutter which gave flash synch at all speeds.

this shutter had an axceptionally short lifetime at Linhof and was discontinued a year or so after it was announced.

It is illustrated on page 39 of the 1994 Linhof Product Listing.

This apparently is a different Prestor Shutter then you found.

For the 480mm Apo Ronar Rodenstock supplied them mounted in a Copal 3 shutter as a 480mm 9.0 and in a Compur 3 shutter as a 480mm f11. The difference in speed was a function of the opening size in the shutter. Any good camera repair shop should be able to take your 480 out of the NF mount and remount it in a modern 3 shutter assuming your lens is not too old.

**Arne Croell** · 5-Nov-2004, 14:09

Bob, I remember seeing that Prestor shutter at the 1994 photokina. I think it was actually made by one of the companies that came out of VEB Pentacon after the German reunification, and that is why they used the name. It was probably commissioned by Linhof?

The original GDR Prestors from 1964 were between the lens shutters, similar to Compur or Copal, albeit with slightly different measures.

**Eirik Berger** · 8-Nov-2004, 01:00

Arne: I front mounted the shutter. If I had an ekstra Copal no. 3 shutter I would have remonted the lens I guess. There is no aperture scale on the Prestor (no. 5) shutter so I had to use the aperture allready attached to the lens. The APO Ronar is originally from a graphic camera (is that the correct name for it?)

Bob: If I had a "good camera repair shop" in my neighbourhood such as SK Grimes, I wood have done as you suggested. But I live in the northern part of Norway and we dont have any good camera repair shops left. The easiest way for me was to purchase this shutter and front mount the lens, and it works perfectly.