The Packard Ideal shutter - New article

[Doug Kerr]

Greetings,

I have just posted to my technical information site, The Pumpkin, a descriptive article entitled "The Packard Ideal Shutter", available here:

http://doug.kerr.home.att.net/pumpki...PackardShutter

The article describes the shutter, its features, and its operation, and in an appendix gives a detailed illustrated discussion of the workings of its simple but ingenious mechanism.

I would certainly welcome any additions or corrections to, or comments on, to the information in the article.

Best regards,

Doug

[snuck]

This is fantastic, just what I've been looking for.

Cheers

[Richard Årlin]

Just Great ! By the way why don't you write another aticle on the thornton-Pickard rollerblind shutter !?

[BrianShaw]

A nicely informative article, Doug. I especially appreciate the pics of the Packard in action. Thanks!

Only one comment -- on the first sentence. "...widely in use..."? Perhaps "still in use..." is a tad more accurate.

Keep up the good work!

[Doug Kerr]

Hi, Brian,

Only one comment -- on the first sentence. "...widely in use..."? Perhaps "still in use..." is a tad more accurate.

Well, you're probably right on that! I'll change it at the next issue!

Best regards,

Doug

[Doug Kerr]

Hi, Richard,

Just Great ! By the way why don't you write another aticle on the thornton-Pickard rollerblind shutter !?

A great idea! Could you send me a couple of 'em to study and photograph?

In fact I saw that one just sold the other day on eBay - it was listed in the caption as a "Thornton-Packard". (I straightened the seller out.)

There is a great article on the 'Net on rebuilding a Thornton-Pickard, but I can't relocate it at the moment.

This is an interesting historical piece:

http://www.msim.org.uk/uploadedDocs/...%20Pickard.pdf.

Best regards,

Doug

[BrianShaw]

One way to find that article is to go to APUG's Plate Camera forum. The link is in the thread entitled "Rebuilding Thornton Pickard Shutter" (or something very similar).

http://www.apug.org/forums/showthread.php?t=26251

[Ernest Purdum]

Doug, thank you for posting this information. I was particulaly interested in the description of the Number 7. I have never seen this shutter or any previous information on it.

One oddity is that early descriptions of the Packard talked about its value in avoiding blank skies by giving less exposure to that area. Wollensak later made a "Skyshade" shutter with that objective.

The links to T-P shutter information were also interesting. I find it amusing that nearly all T-P imitators kept the 1/30th to 1/90th speed markings, regardless of shuttter size. These are never to be taken very seriously. Shutters of this type continued to be sold in Japan up into the 1970's and I saw many in use during this period.

Does anyone know anything about the Altrincham Rubber Company's relation to Thornton-Pickard? They were in the same town as T-P and were selling roller-blind shutters long after T-P was gone. I have a device they sold for timing Bulb exposures, sort of a calibrated leak.

Here is a picture (I hope) of one of the Japanese items. Like most German as well as Japanese roller-blind shutters, it has abandoned the string cocking arrangement for a simple knob, an imnprovement, I think. (Many years ago I had the string get caught up and ruin an exposure, so maybe I am prejudiced.) This one also has a metal case. T-P made an "Aluminium" model, but at that time that metal was very expensive. Apparently this made the shutter price unattractive and today they, like the many other T-P variations other than the often seen "Time & Instantaneous" model are quite rare, not just eBay "rare".

[Doug Kerr]

Hi, Ernest,

Doug, thank you for posting this information. I was particulaly interested in the description of the Number 7. I have never seen this shutter or any previous information on it.

Yes, and I found out about it in a curious way. On eBay there was a listing for a Packard (no. 6, I think) which included the box and the original pamphlet. One picture in the listing showed the pamphlet in some detail. On the second page was mention of "our new shutter" - the No. 7 - but it was marked "not available" (a curious thing to have in a pamphlet). In any case, the text, which I could read, described what it was!

One oddity is that early descriptions of the Packard talked about its value in avoiding blank skies by giving less exposure to that area.

Yes, and I can't understand how that happened.

That will happen in an older Graflex focal plane shutter. It has no governor on the curtain system, and thus the curtain accelerates as it completes its (downward) stroke under the influence of the driving spring. Therefore the lower part of the frame (the upper part of the scene) receives a greater exposure, owing to the more rapid travel of the slit in that region.

(In the newer Graflex focal plane shutters, in the lower speed range, there is a governor in effect, so we might expect the phenomenon to not occur there.)

Wollensak later made a "Skyshade" shutter with that objective.

I'll have to look into that and maybe find out how it does that.

Best regards,

Doug

[Doug Kerr]

Greetings,

I have just posted to my technical information site, The Pumpkin, an updated edition of my descriptive article entitled "The Packard Ideal Shutter", available here:

http://doug.kerr.home.att.net/pumpki...PackardShutter

The article describes the shutter, its features, and its operation, and in an appendix gives a detailed illustrated discussion of the workings of its simple but ingenious mechanism.

The update primarily adds information on how with a Packard Ideal no. 6 shutter with the mode shift pin set to Instantaneous, one can nevertheless provide Time mode operation (for focusing, for example) by proper manipulation of the bulb.

Some other editorial improvements have also been made.

I would certainly welcome any additions or corrections to, or comments on, to the information in the article.

Best regards,

Doug