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Thread: Simple bulb only shutter

  1. #1

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    Feb 2012
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    Simple bulb only shutter

    Hi guys,

    I was wondering if anyone might have a link for how to make a simple "bulb only" mode shutter. I am currently shooting with brass lenses on paper negatives so have exposures anywhere from 1 sec to 15 sec generally, which is not a problem when shooting a still life or someone else as I just remove and replace a make shift lens cap. But I would would like to try my hand at some self portraits and so need a way to expose without moving (other than to fire a cable release of some sort).

    A Packard shutter would fit the bill but they seem hard to find in the UK and are possibly a little too complex for me to try to recreate at home from foamcore and cardboard. I was trying to think of some sort of gravity device, which is easy enough to do to uncover the lens but couldn't think of a way of closing it again.

    Anyway, I'm sure one of you smart people has done this before.....any advice?

    Many thanks,

    Moiz

  2. #2

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    Re: Simple bulb only shutter

    Would something like this be what you're looking for?

    We have instructions for guillotine shutters here: http://www.largeformatphotography.in...struction.html

    And there are other tutorials elsewhere, too:
    https://www.diyphotography.net/made-...otine-shutter/

  3. #3

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    Re: Simple bulb only shutter

    Hmmm. I suppose it would take some additional creativity to solve to get a "bulb mode."

  4. #4

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    Re: Simple bulb only shutter

    Quote Originally Posted by MAubrey View Post
    Hmmm. I suppose it would take some additional creativity to solve to get a "bulb mode."
    Indeed, that's the bit i was getting stuck at. The more I've investigated the more it seems I'll have to make some sort of Packard shutter, it will probably be the simplest way.

  5. #5
    Jim Jones's Avatar
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    Re: Simple bulb only shutter

    The guillotine shutter would be far easier to improvise than a Packard style shutter, which requires some careful precision work. Activating the remote release would both drop the shutter blade and interpose a device to block it in the wide open position. Releasing the remote release would retract the blocking devise and close the shutter.

  6. #6

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    Re: Simple bulb only shutter

    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Jones View Post
    Activating the remote release would both drop the shutter blade and interpose a device to block it in the wide open position. Releasing the remote release would retract the blocking devise and close the shutter.
    Lovely! You just forgot to say to the OP a small detail, a piece of cake, I guess - that is, how to achieve this...

  7. #7

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    Re: Simple bulb only shutter

    Quote Originally Posted by Pfsor View Post
    Lovely! You just forgot to say to the OP a small detail, a piece of cake, I guess - that is, how to achieve this...
    Ha, it's ok, I had a brainwave (possibly) following Jim's message. Anyone think something like this could work?


  8. #8

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    Re: Simple bulb only shutter

    Quote Originally Posted by moizak View Post
    Ha, it's ok, I had a brainwave (possibly) following Jim's message. Anyone think something like this could work?

    How will you get rid of the vibration when you stop the guillotine in its open position?

  9. #9

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    Re: Simple bulb only shutter

    Quote Originally Posted by Pfsor View Post
    How will you get rid of the vibration when you stop the guillotine in its open position?
    Hey! I thought you were on the side of giving solutions not giving me more headaches!!!

  10. #10
    Jac@stafford.net's Avatar
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    Re: Simple bulb only shutter

    Quote Originally Posted by Pfsor View Post
    How will you get rid of the vibration when you stop the guillotine in its open position?
    Make the guillotine-type slide from construction paper. It works. Consider that some large shutters use coated paper blades. Also place the slide on its side so the shutter passes horizontally and use it as a push-pull device. That simplifies construction, too.

    Don't fret too much about vibration because your exposures are going to be long enough that vibration has no significant effect.

    If you have a favorite lens that you will use often enough to invest more time in, then I have a couple that insert into a lens slot very much like a Waterhouse stop.

    Search also for guerry shutter. I have a pneumatic simplification of one right here on the bench. It's like overlapping barn doors.

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