Sinar Shutter Cables and Accessories

[Cletus]

I've been looking at and considering these Sinar/Copal shutters to enable use of barrel lenses in my Sinar F cameras. In an earlier discussion, I was advised to make sure if I bought one of these of EBay or elsewhere, to make sure 'all the cables' came included, as these can be expensive and hard to find.

I've been going through some Sinar stuff I have and I may already have some of the necessaries for using the Sinar shutter. I have what is obviously a "long throw" cable release, for one, and also a little tapered plastic doo-dad, about an inch or so long, with some kind of bayonet mount on the big end a metal "plunger" moving inside, which appears bent at an angle.

This may not mean much without some photos, but I am confident these are both parts for a Sinar shutter. What else, or what exactly, are the proper cables and accessories needed to operate these shutters? I know there is also some kind of sync cable too - can this be easily improvised?

I'm seeing Sinar shutters here and there for sale and those without the attendant cables seem to sell for somewhat less than 'complete' shutters. Thanks for your help! (More questions coming soon...)

[rdenney]

There are three cables associated wtih the Sinar "auto-aperture" shutter. One is the flash synch cable, which is a pigtail that hangs out of the shutter.

Then, there is the cable that connects the shutter to the rear standard on the camera. The purpose of this cable is to actuate the automatic aperture for wide-open viewing, and to close the shutter when a film holder is inserted to avoid ruining the film by accident. This cable is not necessary to the operation of the shutter at all, unless you desire those features. This is the one with the bayonet fitting on it, and an adapter for the specific shutter in use.

The most important cable is the release cable. Because this is a self-cocking shutter, the supplied release cable is much stronger and thicker than a standard cable release, and it has a much longer throw. Nobody has ever identified a commercial substitute with a sufficient throw, though there has been discussion of buying a general-purpose bowden cable and fabricating the necessary connections. This one has the curved end section. Sinar still sells these, but they are quite expensive if bought new--more than the usual difference in price between a used shutter with the cable and one without.

The plunger thing, without a photo, is hard to picture from your words. If there is no flexible cable part, it might be the actuator for the aperture that was used with Norma-era shutters that did not have the built-in automatic aperture control used by the DBM lenses.

Rick "thinking a clear picture might help" Denney

[Cletus]

Rick - Thanks and I think you have answered my questions. The "Long throw" cable release I have does definitely appear to be the Sinar type and fortunately, seems to be the expensive hard to get one. The plunger goes from zero to about an inch and half extended and has the bend at the end I've seen in photos of Sinar shutters.

So it appears that the black plastic (which is actually black metal) "doo-dad" relates to the auto aperture thing? That I would most probably not use anyway. Here are a couple crappy iPhone photos of the two items I have. Do you think this part would be worth anything to anyone?

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[rdenney]

Yes, that is the adapter for the cable that connects the film back to the aperture control. Keep it with the shutter in case you ever want to sell it.

Rick "who has never seen anyone seek out one of these, but has seen many people seek out the release cable" Denney

[Steven Tribe]

Yes, the cable release you have, looks like the one used with the first generation sinar/copal. The later version is not so flexible.

[pierre506]

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Someone'd already made the DIY release for the Sinar shutter in China.
And it's sold about $110.
I'd also made one for myself.
They are the pix of my DIY release above.

[Sevo]

Someone'd already made the DIY release for the Sinar shutter in China.
And it's sold about $110.


Who is "someone" and where does he sell?