This shutter's been dormant (stored, unused, set at 1/125th) for about 25 years. Brand new about 1965 in a Super Speed Graphic, it didn't see much use through about 1985. Very few fingernail scratches inside the film holders. Bellows still feels, looks and behaves as new.
Stopped by a Pro Photo Shop yesterday to get a couple of sync cords and a box of flash bulbs and the owner said he'd test my shutter. Such a deal; he does this for free and takes about 5 minutes with his optical sensored electronic counter.
Here's how this old shutter performed:
Desired times are exact; each one half the one above it starting with 1/4 second. Times measured are listed by 3 significant digits on the counter as the effective speed of the shutter. (For a small fee, I could have got a complete report including opening, dwell time wide open and close time. Note the average error for a half to 500th is +49%.
Errors are about the same I got photograping a spinning 7-inch disk with a white radial line from center out at 1750 rpm then photographing it using this lens/shutter feeding a Nikon DSLR monted on a board in the SSG's rotating back.
Guess who's gonna send this shutter to a Graflex 1000 shutter guru for a CLA?
Bart
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