Applying a Sinar Copal Shutter on Taylor Hobson Cooke 325mm and Chamonix whole plate

[muratsariyar]

Hello everyone, I have been reading this forum as a guest for some time (since I bought my Chamonix whole plate camera and 12" Taylor Hobson Cooke f/4.5 portrait lens series ii).

I have been making ambrotypes with this setup but now I need to shoot on film as I want to learn the process of exposure and development relationships.

I need to have a consistent shutter speed as you may guess as I will be working with Ilford Fp4 (125 iso) 6.5x8.5 inch film.

Things I can do is buying a Sinar Copal Shutter or a Packard Shutter or buy a new lens Something like a Schneider.

What I am after is buying a Sinar Copal Shutter but not sure if I will be able to or some wood worker can apply it to my camera (or I even don't know if it will fit my lens's diameter). (I am pretty new to large format cameras)

My lens is already on a Sinar lens board

Any help or knowledge will be appreciated. Will see if the things I'm planning in my head is applicable.

Respects and love for all.

www.muratsariyar.com

[Steven Tribe]

I am sure your don't want to "adapt" your Chamonix to a take a "behind the front standard" Sinar/copal.

If you are going to use the 12" TTH series II as a sole portrait lens (highly recommended!) a front mounted curtain shutter is the easiest to mount and use.

I enclose an example with speeds up to 1/90th. Don't be put off by the controls, they are really very simple. There is a single screw to mount on the lens barrel. The example I show will fit on barrel sizes from 3.5" tp 4".

They are quite cheap and there are people here who can repair if necessary.

[Peter De Smidt]

Steven, can those do flash sync?

[muratsariyar]

Thanks for your interest in this,

I was going to ask the same thing as I only make photographs in the studio with strobes. Don't think these can trigger flashes.

So is it now I'm left with only Packard shutters? (will be needing more NDs)

Or, can you recommend a reasonable priced lens which will cover whole plate and which has a shutter?
As far as I have calculated the diagonal of the whole plate I at least need a 270mm lens, is it true?

[Steven Tribe]

You can mount the sinar/copal on the lens board and the lens in front of this. There is a thread on one side of the opening for mounting an adaptor to a extra lens board - or directly to the thread for the flange. Expensive one-off machining! There are people who done flash with Speed graphics (focal plane shutters) - but I have no zero knowledge or experience of the system. A mechanical contact could be made. I have a Grundner shutter (1900!) which had a very good sync. system.

[DrTang]

here is what I did

first..get a sinar shutter

second - get a sinar front standard

take the standard apart so that there is only the square part left

make or have an adapter made that goes:

your lensboard - spacer - sinar lensboard


then.. mount that adapter on your camera..mount the Sinar shutter to the front of that..then the standard to the frint of the shutter

and finally.. mount your lens on a sinar board to the front orf the standard


it's heavy..it's ugly..but it works



and

[DrTang]

or... mount the lens w/o a shutter on your camera


place a black bowler hat over the lens

pull the dark slide


then take hat off lens and fire flash (using the flash meter)

then quickly repolace hat

now close the darkslide



I did just that last weekend..works fine

[muratsariyar]

DrTang, doing the same while making ambrotypes but this has to be precise as the iso will be 125..

By the way instead of paying 500 dollars and messing around with the loved lens and camera, guess i will buy a somewhat modern lens for a little more..

But thank you all for getting interested in this and welcoming me.

[DrTang]

the second idea (hat) would cost you the price of a gnatty hat

and with strobes.. shutter speed does not matter..just keep the studio moderately dark and the ambient light won't even enter into it

[Tin Can]

I do the same thing but without a hat. I bathe the studio in red LED, shoot X-Ray which sees no red and don't use any shutter or hat and hand pop the flash.

But I prefocus with white light...