Where can I buy a front shutter ?

[William Leviit]

I have read several posts from people talking about a shutter made by a company in Germany called LUC.

The shutter fits over the front lens element of barrel lenses and has a similar funtion as a packard shutter.

Can anyone help me in locating such a shutter? Thanks.

[Chris Hawkins]

I'd give the folks at Midwest Photo Exhange a call. I have found them easy to deal with and they have a lot of unusual stuff. http://www.mpex.com/

[Sean Billy Bob Boy yates]

You can front mount a Packard as well. Does the LUC have a particular advantage?

[William Leviit]

I really don't know if the LUC has any advantage over a front mounted Packard. I must admit that I am new to barrel lenses. There were a few interesting posts about the LUC and I thought I would try and find additional information.

I am also looking for a website with REAL information, including pics if possible about the installation of a packard shutter. I have checked out the sites that are most often mentioned, but I have yet to find practical informatio n about the installation. BTW, I have a Wista 8X10" field camera and a Rodenstock F9, 360mm barrel lens.

Thanks for the help!

[Erik Ryberg]

William,

There's not much to it. You just screw the thing into the back of your lens board and run the hose (ideally) out a hole in the lensboard or (less ideally) out the bellows or front standard. I've done all three.

Make sure the outside dimensions of the shutter are smaller than the dimensions of your lensboard, and the diameter of the hole in the shutter is greater than the diameter of your rear lens element, or the shutter will vignette.

The shutter comes with screws to screw into your lensboard.

Buy the real bulb that is designed for the shutter.

Erik

[William Leviit]

I see what you mean Erik, thanks. My problem is, the mounting flange is in the middle of the barrel, and not at the end, which means I have a good 50mm of the rear element which protrudes through the lens board. I guess I could rig up an "extension" plate to screw on the back of the lens board before mounting the packard which would place the packard fully behind the rear elements. I think I have gotten some good ideas and leads, thanks to all who have responded!

[Chauncey Walden]

Hi William, A close examination of an old shutter I just picked up at an antique shop revealed that it is a "Luc". It is 100mm in outside diameter with about a 43mm six-bladed shutter and a recess 51mm in diameter for the front of the lens. The shutter is locked in place on the lens by three setscrews operated by milled knobs. There is a dial on the front which opens the shutter for focusing and the shutter operates at about one-thirtieth of a second via a standard cable release which both cocks and releases. Cute, but obviously pre-war. Good luck in your search.

[David A. Goldfarb]

I've had a large shutter of this type, but unknown manufacturer, for a few years, and I just had Frank Marshman add flash sync to it, which makes it a much more useful thing. Frank did a beautiful job on it and got it back to me in about a week for $90 including adding the sync, cleaning the shutter, and shipping.

In the latest issue of _View Camera_ (May/June 2005), there's a good article by Kerry Thalmann on barrel lenses that shows several of these front-mounted leaf shutters. I hadn't realized there were so many manufacturers of them.

[Dan Fromm]

William, if your lens is a 360/9 Apo Ronar, its cells should screw into a Copal #3 shutter. See http://www.butzi.net/rodenstock/apo-ronar/p21.htm.

A Packard or similar would be less expensive, also less capable.