Shutter for a Wollensak Velostignat 12" f4.5 ??

[MJSkerpon]

I am new to LF and have recently taken a wet plate workshop. I am in the process of designing
and building a 8 x 10 camera for use in wet plate. I have acquired a Wollensak Velostignat 12"
f4.5 and am wondering if it is possible to incorporate a shutter into the design? I am doing the
design work in Inventor and will post the plans after completion of the final camera configuration.
Thanks. BTW, this is my first post...

[mdarnton]

The proper shutter is a Betax No 5, but good luck finding one. A Packard shutter behind the lens would be sufficient for wet plate, I think.

Or a hat.

[Greg]

Look for a lens in terrible shape but with a working Betax No. 5 shutter. Last year I needed a Copal No 3 shutter. Several were up at auction but for many hundreds of dollars each. I waited and finally found a lens that was all scratched up but in a Copal No 3 shutter from a dealer in Japan at a bargain price. Dealer was happy to sell it to me and I was overjoyed to buy it.

[michael_los_angeles_photo]

Yes, I agree with the hat. That is, for wet plate you really don’t need a shutter. You can use a lens cap...just off then on again after the likely several seconds you would need for an exposure. Or without one, as I often do, just pull out the dark slide to begin your exposure and then either reinsert it or simply cover the lens with anything from a hat to your dark cloth before sliding the dark slide back in without having to worry about rushing that step. A Packard works fine too, of course, but if you have the space for it I really like the Ilexpo shutters, which are Packard-like but have a small lever on the front you can use to open and close the shutter so you don’t have to even worry about the bulb. I start with the shutter open, pull out the dark slide and then just use the lever to close. If I had lens caps for all of my lenses it would be even easier, but as luck would have it they all came without them and I have yet to make or buy the many I would need.

If you are planning to use a strobe, on the other hand (so are not going to be dealing with several seconds of exposure), you can still do it the same way — lens cap off or dark slide out, pop, then immediately cover the lens, etc. The vast majority of your exposure is going to result from the strobe, so the tiny bit that would occur before and after the pop, likely with little light, is more or less irrelevant.

I use my 12” Velostigmat with both wet plate and film with a Packard, other lenses with the Ilexpo, and some with no shutter at all.

[Mark Sawyer]

The later Alphax 5, being the newer version of the Betax 5, would take the same cells with the same spacing and probably be more reliable. As has been pointed out, shutters aren't a necessity in wet plate, but if you also plan on doing film, I could see it. But if your Velostigmat is in a Studio Shutter, it won't be compatible with and other shutter.