Seiko shutter question

[j.e.simmons]

I picked up a lens in a Seiko S-1 shutter. I’ve never dealt with a Seiko LF shutter before and can’t seem to find much online. I see that to open the lens for focusing, I must first cock the shutter. Can I change speeds with the shutter cocked?

[AJ Edmondson]

Carol Flutot recommended to me (when she overhauled my Seiko) that the shutter be set before cocking, exercise once and recheck. By the way, I prefer the Seiko - though I couldn't tell you why.
Joel

[linhofbiker]

I have had a soft spot for Seiko shutters since my days with the Bronica GS-1. The electronic controlled #1 shutters always worked perfectly and accurately for years. I did have a 90mm f/8 Super Angulon in a Seiko #0 for a while and it also worked well. I always considered the Seiko as a copy of the Synchro Compur.

[Alan9940]

I always fire the shutter after closing the aperture blades, then set my taking shutter speed / aperture, re-cock the shutter and take the picture.

[ridax]

I have had a soft spot for Seiko shutters since my days with the Bronica GS-1. The electronic controlled #1 shutters always worked perfectly and accurately for years. I did have a 90mm f/8 Super Angulon in a Seiko #0 for a while and it also worked well. I always considered the Seiko as a copy of the Synchro Compur.

I've used #0 Seiko and older Seikosha mechanical shutters on my Mamiya TLRs. The shutters are reliable but no they are not Compur copies. The Seikos are just like the Copals, Prontors and all the other stuff - they are cheaper shutters that are nowhere near the Compur and Compound in their efficiency, i.e. the relation of the shutter speed to the actual time the shutter is open (I've talked on the topic in this thread: https://www.largeformatphotography.i...Picture-BEAUTY).

I have no experience with electrical shutters; as an electrical magnet can only be switched on or switched off and is not too convenient a device to slow the moving shutter parts down without stopping them completely, - chances are that electrical shutters of any brands are just as efficient as the mechanical Compurs. But sorry that's only a speculation. I still have to borrow some electrical shutters and test them....

[B.S.Kumar]

Here is a brief history of Seiko: http://camera-wiki.org/wiki/Hattori

Kumar

[domaz]

Seiko shutters work well, but they seem prone to breakage. I've fixed two Seiko's (using parts from other shutters) where one part of another had broken. I've never actually seen a broken part in a Compur or Copal, that I could identify at least.

[j.e.simmons]

Thanks. I’ll focus, close the lens, fire the shutter, then set the shutter and shoot to be safe.

[Mick Fagan]

To add to Kumar's link, I have a book put out by Seiko in 2003, "A Journey in Time. The Remarkable Story of Seiko."

Fabulous book, centres mainly on their timekeeping machines, mainly wristwatches, but it does work its way from 1881 when Kintaro Hattori started the company, which I believe is still being run by the third or fourth generation of the Hattori family.

In the late sixties and throughout the seventies on racetracks around the world, there were two time standards, normal time, and Seiko time. Anyone who was anyone was almost always using a Seiko time piece to measure track times.

I have four lenses with Seiko shutters, not one of them has given any trouble, I have had one Compur 1 that required a broken part replacement and two Copal shutters requiring servicing and one required a broken part replaced.

My wristwatch is a Lorus, which is a Seiko lower tier product, works brilliantly and has done so for the last couple of decades.

[Joseph Kashi]

Thanks. I’ll focus, close the lens, fire the shutter, then set the shutter and shoot to be safe.

I have several earlier Fujinon LF lenses in Seiko shutters and I have tested all of them with a Calument shutter speed tester. I have been impressed by how closely the actual and marked speeds compare except for the very fastest marked speed, which is almost always slow across all brands. I have also been impressed by the consistency of each speed.

I understand from Carol at Flutot that Seiko shutter failures are difficult to repair due to unavailability of parts but a CLA works well on these shutters. If worst comes to worst, they are directly interchangeable with Copals of the same size.

Some model Seiko shutters use slightly different levers and sequences, so don't force anything! Just find out how to do things like opening the blades to focus your particular model.