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macandal
8-Jul-2013, 14:02
I am in San Francisco, CA. Is there a local place to have the shutter speeds of my lenses checked? Thanks.

Roger Thoms
8-Jul-2013, 14:38
Don't know of hand, but if you have an iPhone you should check out this thread. http://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?104402-Shutter-Speed-Tester-for-the-iPhone&highlight=Shutter+speed+tester

Roger

Jim Graves
8-Jul-2013, 21:21
Check with these guys:

Adolph Gasser
181 2nd St San Francisco, CA 94105
(415) 495-3852

macandal
9-Jul-2013, 09:58
Thanks. I sent Gassers an email. Waiting to hear.

Roger, I don't have an iPhone (or a smart phone for that matter).

Thanks.

fecaleagle
9-Jul-2013, 11:00
Roger, I don't have an iPhone (or a smart phone for that matter).

The guy who wrote that iPhone app is in Germany, but he is also producing phototransistor plugs that you should be able to run into any decent computer's microphone jack and get a reasonably (if not very) accurate shutter speed reading. I have one on the way from Germany now and will follow up in the original thread (http://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?104402-Shutter-Speed-Tester-for-the-iPhone) when it arrives. Well worth the 20-odd bucks he's selling them for if it turns out to be accurate.

Carsten Wolff
9-Jul-2013, 17:18
Thanks. I sent Gassers an email. Waiting to hear.

Roger, I don't have an iPhone (or a smart phone for that matter).

Thanks.

Mario,
since you don't have an iPhone, My comemnt in the aforementioned thread may be of interest to you:
"The DIYers amongst you can make your own using e.g. Audacity software and any microphone, or your own simple photoelectric circuit; I made myself one about ten years ago from this: http://www.davidrichert.com/sound_ca...ter_tester.htm
Still works like a charm, although very short speeds can get a bit hard to read."

Or you can still buy the plug if you're not into soldering and just use it with the Audacity software on your computer;
I've been running mine on both Macs and Windows PCs and its straightforward. But I've also just set shutters on my computer's built-in mic (which still works, although with limitations) and that way you don't have to buy anything.

Carsten Wolff
9-Jul-2013, 17:20
Thanks. I sent Gassers an email. Waiting to hear.

Roger, I don't have an iPhone (or a smart phone for that matter).

Thanks.

Mario,
since you don't have an iPhone/smart phone (I don't either), my comment in the aforementioned thread may be of interest to you:
"The DIYers amongst you can make your own using e.g. Audacity software and any microphone, or your own simple photoelectric circuit; I made myself one about ten years ago from this: http://www.davidrichert.com/sound_ca...ter_tester.htm
Still works like a charm, although very short speeds can get a bit hard to read."

Or you can still buy the plug if you're not into soldering and just use it with the Audacity software on your computer;
I've been running mine on both Macs and Windows PCs and its straightforward. But I've also just set shutters on my computer's built-in mic (which still works, although with limitations) and that way you don't have to buy anything. :)

Fotoguy20d
10-Jul-2013, 03:08
I built my own using parts from Home Depot and Digikey, with the limitations on accuracy described above. Now I use a Calumet tester. It should be accurate, and it's certainly more convenient than the audacity route. They're not inexpensive though.

Dan

macandal
10-Jul-2013, 08:49
Mario,
[...] http://www.davidrichert.com/sound_ca...ter_tester.htm [...] Link doesn't work.

Is this what you were linking to?

http://www.davidrichert.com/sound_card_shutter_tester.htm

Alan Gales
10-Jul-2013, 09:21
I built my own using parts from Home Depot and Digikey, with the limitations on accuracy described above. Now I use a Calumet tester. It should be accurate, and it's certainly more convenient than the audacity route. They're not inexpensive though.

Dan
The Calumet testers show up used on Ebay from time to time. Like you said they are not inexpensive. I have found that they usually go for $100.00 to $150.00. Mine works great!

macandal
10-Jul-2013, 09:27
The Calumet testers show up used on Ebay from time to time. Like you said they are not inexpensive. I have found that they usually go for $100.00 to $150.00. Mine works great!What are they called or listed as? "Calumet shutter speed testers"?

Fotoguy20d
10-Jul-2013, 09:33
What are they called or listed as? "Calumet shutter speed testers"?

That would probably work, or some combination of those words. Mine was listed as a "light meter".

Bob Salomon
10-Jul-2013, 10:07
Keeble And Shuchat in Palo Alto also has a repair department.

Alan Gales
10-Jul-2013, 17:05
What are they called or listed as? "Calumet shutter speed testers"?

Yeah, they are usually listed as Calumet shutter speed tester. You can also put in Calumet and scroll down through everything. Sometimes people list things funny.

TGR Laguna
10-Jul-2013, 18:17
I explored this subject a few months back and ran across the same "how to" site (maybe I could have figured it out, maybe not). At the same time, I ran across a guy in Romania that makes shutter testers to use with Audacity. You can find him at www.lavise.com. There are several versions, all of which can be found and ordered through eBay by searching "camera shutter tester." I bought the "Box2" version for $35, which records down to 1/2000th of a second (I chose this one as cheaper one might not have worked on a MAC).

The unit was delivered promptly. The written instructions are a little broken up, but I downloaded Audacity (free) and tried it out. the unit is very easy to use, in fact, it took longer to figure out Audacity than the unit itself. And it works like a charm.

BTW, if you are using a MAC, you will also need an audio interface (essentially a small pre-amp) to use the tester. I use the iMic by Griffin, which ran $40. As always, using anything Apple can be a bit more pricey. If you have a PC, the 1/1000th unit runs $15 and you won't need anything else if you already have a sound card.