Aperture Scales for Copal Shutters

[srpirolt]

This has probably been discussed before...

Are there any less expensive options for a new aperture scale for a modern Copal 1 shutter? Currently SK Grimes charges about $100 for a set. I can certainly mark up a piece of paper and adhere it with a piece of tape, but I would rather have something a little more permanent and durable and also something that looks a little nicer.

Thanks for any advice.

[Bob Salomon]

Call a service repair center like BOB Watkins at Precision or Rim at Nippon.

[Leigh]

$50 ($100 for a set of 2 different items) is mighty cheap for custom anything from a professional machine shop.

- Leigh

[Bob Salomon]

$50 ($100 for a set of 2 different items) is mighty cheap for custom anything from a professional machine shop.

- Leigh

Up until we closed, 2 years ago, we charged $60.00 per set of 2 Copal scales for Rodenstock lenses.

[Leigh]

Up until we closed, 2 years ago, we charged $60.00 per set of 2 Copal scales for Rodenstock lenses.

And how many sets did you buy at one time?

The setup and tooling costs all roll into the price of the first piece.
Subsequent identical pieces cost much less.

I suspect you bought them from Copal, who would have made many identical sets of each version.

We're talking about the price of a single one-off set here.

- Leigh

[Dan Fromm]

Leigh, Grimes have rolls of aperture scales. If they don't have to make a custom scale, they just snip a scale off the roll.

[Kevin Crisp]

I've had scales on a few of my lenses that are accurate and held on with Scotch tape. They've been fine for more than 20 years. I've also had Grimes do the work properly on most of them.

If you want to be really cheap, and if the shutter already has a scale inappropriate for the glass you are putting in it, then you can notch the existing scale or put white marks on it for the difference. Or just carry a conversion scale. Sometimes the difference is easy to remember. As when a 305 Repro Claron goes in a Compur 2 made for the 240mm Symmar, the difference is just one stop. An even one stop.

[Bob Salomon]

And how many sets did you buy at one time?

The setup and tooling costs all roll into the price of the first piece.
Subsequent identical pieces cost much less.

I suspect you bought them from Copal, who would have made many identical sets of each version.

We're talking about the price of a single one-off set here.

- Leigh

One, unless the customer for some reason needed more then one. That was rare though. We ordered them for customers directly from Rodenstock, since we were the Rodenstock distributor in the USA from 1986 till we closed two years ago.

[Leigh]

Hi Bob,

OK.

Ordering one from a manufacturer that has hundreds on the shelf is very different from ordering a single custom piece.

- Leigh

[srpirolt]

Thanks for the responses.

Leigh - I have no problem paying a shop whatever they charge. I understand custom work is labor intensive. I was just curious if there was a less expensive option.

Bob - Thanks for the recommendation. I'll give them a try.

Kevin - I would prefer a permanent scale rather than a self made fix or do the conversion. The lens by the way is a 240mm f/9 in a Copal 1.