Sinar Auto Shutter or Packard Shutter?

[Jim Galli]

I'm really enjoying the single shutter in camera for multiple lenses. I've got over a dozen portrait lenses ready for whatever whim surfaces already on 2D boards. 36cm Heliar early, 12 3/4" Cooke II, 15 1/2" Cooke VI, 13" Cooke III, 13" Pinkham Smith IV, 12" Velostigmat II, 12" Beach Multi-focal B, 12" Bausch Lomb Tessar 1C, 14 1/2" Verito, 11 1/2" Verito, 15" Bausch Lomb Petzval, 15" Bausch Lomb triplet, 3A Dallmeyer Petzval, #6 Voigtlander Euryscope IV, all just on a board with the common shutter inside. Then if I want sharp, I have 450mm Voigtlander APO Skopar, XV Cooke, 9 1/2" Series VII Protar, 8 1/4" Dagor all on boards and ready to rock. The Cooke fills in for longer than 450mm needs. Also I do use the shutters on the Cooke and the Protar instead of the Packard. Simply open up the Packard and the rear of the Cooke fits inside the open hole. It's quite the set-up and I've been burning quite a bit of film up with this camera. Since I'm a bit of a lens nut, the 2D becomes my test bed. Simply cobble a new-2-me lens to a 2D board and Voila.

The pneumatic entrance is very tight with a 6 3/4" shutter. I drilled at an angle and forced a piece of 1/4" copper tubing in the hole below the bottom lensboard brass rail. You have to chew up the brass there just a tad to make it fit.

If this sounds low tech to the point of being very backwards to some of you techie types, we can get together and compare negs. This old camera does an outstanding job for me.

[Hugo J. Zhang]

Jim, Can you send me some pictures of your set up? Thanks.

[Bob Fowler]

I posted this web page a couple of years ago. It describes how to make a box lensboard for your Packard shutter so you don't have to make permanent alterations to your camera. You can see it here:

http://mysite.verizon.net/fowler/photo/packard2.htm

[Hugo J. Zhang]

Thanks, Bob. That is a very beautiful box! Instead of the round hole to accept one lens, I will probably need a square hole to accept lens boards with lenses of different diameters. Very unfortunately I have no woodwork skills to build such box. I emailed your page to skgrimes and they replied that they could do the job for $750-$1000, of course not including the cost of the shutter. That is twice what I paid for my 2D and a tripod plus some film holders. And I have to ship my 2D all the way from California to them for the job. Of course, another suggestion from them is to make some adspting rings for my lenses to front mount the Parkard shutter into which a flange with thread will be added to accept these rings. Cost will be around $800-$1000.

Jim, please help me out. You are the one who got me into this at the first place--))).

[Dan Dozer]

Hugo - Where in California are you from? I'm in the Coachella Valley (Palm Springs/La Quinta). I 've been wanting to tackle this problem for some time for my 2D, and maybe this is an excuse to do it - maybe do it together. I have a wood shop (build a lot of my own things) and agree with you that $750 - $1000 is not anywhere worth it. It shouldn't take more that a few dollars worth of materials. Any thoughts/possiblities of making it here to the desert any time in the future? Let me know if you're interested.

[Hugo_6476]

Hi Dan! Paml Springs is only 2 hours away. I live in Walnut, about 25 miles east of downtown LA. I will drive up to you during one of these weekend. How about I bring a few cases of beer for the hot desert? I am waiting for for Heliar 36cm and 42cm. Jim Galli seems to get away without the shutter box and I really want to see how he did it.

[Bob Fowler]

$750 to a $1000?????

Hell, I make them for $150 to $250 (depoending on how they have to be set up) plus cost of shutter...

I posted the page to help the DIY'ers, but have since started custom making them. Let me know if you're interested.

[Dan Dozer]

Hi Bob,

Since Hugo and I live fairly close together, we're going to get together over the next few weeks to develop a Hybrid version of your "box design" that fits our 8 x 10 Kodak 2D's. Your info on your website has provided us with a lot of ideas and inspiration for our approach, that is to have a box with packard inside that also allows removable lens boards for different sized lenses. When we get something together, we'll send you some images - maybe our final design will give you some more ideas on your custom boxes.

Thanks again for putting all your ideas and images on your website.

[Hugo_6476]

Tor- What is the diameter of the hole on Sinar auto shutter? Is it going to take a lens with rear diameter of 3 1/2"? I read somewhere indicating that it has a hole of 85mm. Is that true? Thanks.

[Jim Galli]

Hugo, Sorry for the silence. My internet provider that I pay large sums of $$$ to has got me throttled to about 100 bytes a day it seems. I'll try to get pictures but it will be Monday at work before I can post them. Cheers. Jim