Sinar Shutter Cables, cheap option, is there such a thing?

[Ed Bray]

I bought a Sinar Shutter from ebay, seller stated they had used it themselves, and it had an image of shutter cable with it, when it arrived, no shutter cable.

So before I send it back, is there a cheaper alternative to the Sinar Shutter Cable which seems to cost circa £200 ($300), which is more than I paid for the shutter.

it would be a shame to send it back, as it is in really nice condition, but a) I only bought it to have a play with old projector type lenses and b) I don't have any DB lenses.

I have sent a message to the seller as he might just have forgotten to pack it.

[Louis Pacilla]

No other option. Sorry Ed

[cyberjunkie]

If the shutter is perfectly functional, the price you payed is reasonable.
With little patience, you'll find a Sinar cable on Ebay for 30% ca. of the price you reported.
Check Ebay.de for them.
Most Sinar shutters are sold without cables.
Mine came with the cable, but i decided to purchase one more to operate a big Silens shutter, which is not working with its pneumatic bulb.
I was not in hurry, so i could find it cheap, as part of a job lot of large format parts and accessories.
There is a professional german seller who has a Sinar cable on auction every month or so (all auctions starting at 1 euro).

have fun

CJ

[Steven Tribe]

It is quite easy to make a short approx. 4" release mechanism. The fixing thread is either .75 or .70mm pitch thread. I have made a couple but haven't quite solved the thread problem yet (dye size). Making a flexible longer release is not so easy.
I use the copal shutter on modified field cameras and I don't like walking about with the "springy" and expensive release which is just waiting to get lost in the wilderness. I know the problem from angling expeditions!

[Leigh]

'Sinar' and 'cheap' do not belong in the same sentence.

- Leigh

[Frank Petronio]

A small screw driver will fire it, suitable for testing... I'll leave it to you to perfect an anti-vibration technique!

[Jimi]

A small barbecue pin of wood works also (I tested a shutter for a friend a few weeks ago). But it got a kick of an angry horse, so don't expect any miracles...

[Ed Bray]

thanks folk, just had a reply from the seller, he was very apologetic and had just forgotten to pack it, he is sending it to me tomorrow. Brill.

Not such a bad Friday 13th afterall.

[Ed Bray]

A small screw driver will fire it, suitable for testing... I'll leave it to you to perfect an anti-vibration technique!

Thanks, it's got some kick on it, seems pretty acurate too with checking at the longer speeds.

[cyberjunkie]

Just a small advice:
some second-hand Sinar shutters are a little temperamental; make sure you don't fire in rapid sequence, when testing the equipment.
It could stick open. To close the blades you'd need to open the shutter case and touch in the right place with the tip of a screwdriver.
To avoid that, better to wait a few seconds before tripping again the shutter.
Some lucky guy bought a stuck (and supposedly broken) Sinar/Coal for next to nothing, and found that it was extremely easy to bring it back to life.

One more thing:
if the shutter is used with generic barrel lenses, it's better to place the back of the lens as close to the shutter leaves as possible.
It is very important to keep the distance within 1/2mm, especially with wide-angles, to avoid vignetting.
Sinar DB lenses, fitted to their original lensboard, are perfectly optimized. Unfortunately many barrel lenses have a protruding back, so that a proper adaptation is needed.

have fun

CJ