Shutter Options for Kodak Commercial Lenses?

[Ari]

I'm getting annoyed at my two Ilex 5 shutters, both Kodak versions.
One holds a 14" Commercial Ektar, another holds a 10" Wide Field Ektar.

I know these shutters are generally unreliable, but I just had them both CLA'ed by a good guy; they're still off, especially at slower speeds, and I was told that was the best possible scenario.

Will the lens cells fit in a Betax or Alphax shutter? Any other shutter-mounting suggestions?

Thanks in advance.

[Alan Gales]

Hey, Ari. I don't know the answer to your question but you might give SK Grimes a call. They should know what shutters the lenses could fit and how much it would cost to adapt them. I'm sure other photographers have had the same idea as you.

[Ari]

Thank you, Alan; I had briefly thought of contacting SKG, then I got too afraid of what the price might be. :)
Very good idea, I will call them in the morning.

[Luis-F-S]

They're not cheap, just very good! L

[Mark Sampson]

I've never found a Kodak/Ilex shutter to be unreliable. That is, once it was adjusted, and I knew what the speeds actually were, they were consistent. Not that that was as marked, necessarily.
See the SKG site for an informed analysis of these shutters. For the record, I had a Kodak Supermatic #2 CLA'd in 1990 and it's still running fine.

[Steve Goldstein]

I talked with Frank Marshman a while ago about Ilex 5 shutters. His comment was that you could get the fast speeds reasonably accurate, or you could get the slow speeds reasonably accurate, but not both. It's something about the design and not really related to old or new parts. He should know, he bought the entire factory stock of Ilex parts.

[Richard Johnson]

On mine, the fastest speed was 1/40th so I just used that as a basis for my wide open exposures. For times when I needed to stop down it was easy enough to use bulb.

[Ari]

On mine, the fastest speed was 1/40th so I just used that as a basis for my wide open exposures. For times when I needed to stop down it was easy enough to use bulb.

That made me laugh, as it's about where I am right now.


I talked with Frank Marshman a while ago about Ilex 5 shutters. His comment was that you could get the fast speeds reasonably accurate, or you could get the slow speeds reasonably accurate, but not both. It's something about the design and not really related to old or new parts. He should know, he bought the entire factory stock of Ilex parts.

Steve, thank you for reminding me of Mr Marshman; he's a real gentleman, and I didn't know he bought the whole stock of Ilex parts.

Thanks for all the other answers!

[Ari]

I've never found a Kodak/Ilex shutter to be unreliable. That is, once it was adjusted, and I knew what the speeds actually were, they were consistent. Not that that was as marked, necessarily.
See the SKG site for an informed analysis of these shutters. For the record, I had a Kodak Supermatic #2 CLA'd in 1990 and it's still running fine.

Mine is behaving inconsistently; the slow speeds (1/2s) are all over the place; I can't tell precisely if the faster speeds are ok, but they sound better than the slower speeds.

[karl french]

I think the general consensus from the repair techs I've dealt with is, you're either gonna get accurate fast speeds or accurate slow speeds. I generally choose to have better slow speeds since with any lens that requires mounting in an Ilex no. 5 I'm likely going to be shooting at a very small aperture (landscape.)

[Ari]

Thanks, Karl; I may have them re-repaired by Mr Marshman, if he's not too busy, just to get more consistency from the slow speeds.
I use the lenses in the same way you describe, I rarely, if ever, use the higher speeds.