Fujinon L 300mm 5.6

[Drew Wiley]

Doubt you're seeing a correlation at all with the specific design of the Copal, just with its potential age & wear n' tear. Copals are rarely or ever accurate at the highest speeds, but most LF photographers never use top speeds anyway. I test every single one of my lenses with a shutter tester. The older Copals have been just as accurate and predictable. You just want to be aware of condition. Sometimes old shutters can stiffen up with inactivity over the years in storage, and need a CLA.

[StoneNYC]

Doubt you're seeing a correlation at all with the specific design of the Copal, just with its potential age & wear n' tear. Copals are rarely or ever accurate at the highest speeds, but most LF photographers never use top speeds anyway. I test every single one of my lenses with a shutter tester. The older Copals have been just as accurate and predictable. You just want to be aware of condition. Sometimes old shutters can stiffen up with inactivity over the years in storage, and need a CLA.

I agree, it's partly age and inactivity.

BUT there's a reason they updated the copals over time, to make them function better (I know this is true of the blades too, the new design of leaves is the most efficient at not breaking) so I'm sure the black copal design inside had minor improvements as well.

Pretty much done buying modern lenses in copal shutters anyway at this point I'll only be looking for long FL lenses in Ilex 5 shutters (and only after I pay off my debt on my current gear).

But the thought of pretty Bokeh in my black copals is a nice dream best of both worlds

[Drew Wiley]

Since by far the greater volume of shooting I do is with more modern lighter lenses, especially when I'm out in bad weather, I think my older shutters will do just fine during what's left of my personal usage. I've even sold off a few duplicate lenses. "Bokeh" is determined not only by the roundness of the shutter but by the optical design itself. It's easier to find nice examples in older lenses, with the exception of a few modern 35mm lenses specifically engineered for that kind of look.
Quite a different game than soft focus per se. For 4x5 it sure would be fun to try one of those 229 whatever Cooke's. But those are way out of my price league.
It's fairly easy to find nice old 8x10 lenses in barrel.

[kleinbatavia]

Wow, quite te debate about shutters! It's obvious that the shutter has an integral and important role to play in how an image turns out. Combinations of shutters and glass are very interesting from that perspecfive. This is also what I had in mind with this thread. A discussion on (the quality of) just shutters seems a bit of a deviation. Interesting as it may be, I am particularly keen on peoples opinions on the glass. That said anyone with comparisons of the same lens in different shutters is strongly encouraged to post samples!