Prontor Professional Shutter Control Cables?

[Frank Petronio]

So if I use these Prontor Professional Shutter Control Cables with a Prontor Professional Shutter then I can literally "Play God" from behind the camera, simply flipping the lever swith to open, stop down, and fire the shutter?

How much do these usually go for? $200 is steep but it seems much less cumbersome than a Sinar Auto Shutter in the field.

Mainly looking for the fastest way to check focus on short depth-of-field portraits. If I can do it with a lever and not jostle the front end then I am way ahead...

[Arne Croell]

Yes, thats all possible - and no electronics involved. Here in Germany, typical ebay prices are in the range of 90-160 Euros, depending on when and in which category they are listed.

[Ted Harris]

One additional caveat abnd two additional purchases required though. Arne, correct me if I misstate it ..... many of the shutters you see are "bare" that is you buy the shutter alone. There are two attachments that are also available, one to control aperture and the other shutter speed ... both from behind the camera. They arae not necessarily there when you buy the shutters used. I have a #3 and a #1 and the #3 just came bare.

[Arne Croell]

Ted, you are right that these two attachments are available. They are not a necessity though, and Frank's list was "flipping the lever swith to open, stop down, and fire the shutter". That can all be done without those attachments, and the setting of the aperture and the time is the same as any other shutter. You can switch the shutter between wide open, stopped down to check depth of field, and closed for firing it from the back without those levers.

[Frank Petronio]

Would two normal, traditional cable releases do the same thing or is the Prontor device based on varying the amount of "throw" that the plunger moves?

Is anyone using a set-up like this for portraiture? It seems like a really nice, efficient, faster way to move between checking focus and shooting...

[Arne Croell]

Would two normal, traditional cable releases do the same thing or is the Prontor device based on varying the amount of "throw" that the plunger moves?


The overall throw necessary is no different from regular cable releases (unlike the Sinar shutter). However, the one cable (the connector is coded with the white ring) that opens the shutter for viewing stopped down and wide open has two positions that depend on the throw. Half way depressed opens the shutter stopped down to the preset aperture, full depression opens the aperture in addition. You can feel the positions in the cable release but it would be awkward to keep it depressed in a given position.

[Frank Petronio]

Well now I have to wait for my Sinar shutter to sell on eBay. It was too cumbersome in the field, too many cables and hard to pack. The Prontor system looks much simplier, at least for modern lenses.

THANK YOU