Ideas for new shutters 40 years from now when ours are all dead

[Jim Galli]

That other thread has me thinking out of the box . . . sort of. Rotating polarizers that go from total black out to wide open and back again. All you need is 2 polarizers and a motor. Or how about my welding helmet that is black and then suddenly lets light in and then goes black again. It's magic. Know idea how it works. Making clockwork mechanisms with tiny machined parts with hours of labor probably isn't going to happen again any time soon. Electronic black magic or simply light aiming polarizers may be the next wave.

[Jac@stafford.net]

Back in the first nuclear bomb testing decade I recall reading about a camera shutter that was blinkered by a small cannon that shot opaque wax upon the lens. That ain't gonna be popular anymore.

[Jeroen]

Back in the first nuclear bomb testing decade I recall reading about a camera shutter that was blinkered by a small cannon that shot opaque wax upon the lens. That ain't gonna be popular anymore.

Best invention ever! I bet it was patented by Canon.

Back on topic: in 40 years time there will be no more film available, so nobody will care about defective shutters anyways. If you want to shoot analogue, the only option you'll have is to make your own sensitised emulsion: collodion. And collodion is so slow that you can get away with lens caps instead of shutters. Shutter problem solved!

[Michael E]

Or how about my welding helmet that is black and then suddenly lets light in and then goes black again. It's magic.

LCD (liquid crystal display), I guess - just like in a watch or phone, without the back light. I read years ago that somebody was working on a shutter like this without moving parts. Today, it should be pretty easy to set up for anyone sufficient in electronics. Which I'm not. Bummer.

[Jac@stafford.net]

Back on topic: in 40 years time there will be no more film available

In 40 years I will be 114 years old and I would pee on your grave if I did not hate standing in line.

[Jim Galli]

maybe not such a good day to think out of the box; eh??

[Jac@stafford.net]

Those who think and imagine have no such boundary as a box.

[reddesert]

Electronically controlled shutters are still a going item in optics and laser applications. Uniblitz and Melles Griot make them. They aren't cheap, and they aren't a drop in replacement for Copal shutters of course. For example, https://www.uniblitz.com/product-cat...ical-shutters/

I have to think that with electronics and miniature motors becoming so cheap and fast, someone could design and build an electronically timed leaf shutter that is compact and works off a few volt source for between-the-lens or behind-the-lens use. For example, the SWM/HSM motor technology that goes into autofocus lenses today is much smaller, faster and more powerful than camera AF motors of the 1990s. However, there would have to be a market for tooling up to make it. You can buy motors, but the shutter leaves and bearings need finer tolerances than cottage industry 3d printing (I think - I haven't done any 3d printing).

[MAubrey]

Electronically controlled shutters are still a going item in optics and laser applications. Uniblitz and Melles Griot make them. They aren't cheap, and they aren't a drop in replacement for Copal shutters of course. For example, https://www.uniblitz.com/product-cat...ical-shutters/

I have to think that with electronics and miniature motors becoming so cheap and fast, someone could design and build an electronically timed leaf shutter that is compact and works off a few volt source for between-the-lens or behind-the-lens use. For example, the SWM/HSM motor technology that goes into autofocus lenses today is much smaller, faster and more powerful than camera AF motors of the 1990s. However, there would have to be a market for tooling up to make it. You can buy motors, but the shutter leaves and bearings need finer tolerances than cottage industry 3d printing (I think - I haven't done any 3d printing).

$700 isn't wholly an unreasonable for a brand new shutter. With a Raspberry Pi or Adruino board to programed to trigger it, you could get solid shutter speeds, too.

Noting that this 45mm shutter is just slightly wider across than the housing of a Copal #3 (also 45mm aperture), I could imagine some creative person figuring out a way to make it fit.

https://www.uniblitz.com/wp-content/...-datasheet.pdf

[David Lindquist]

I recently had a CLA done on a dial-set Compur. Based on the serial number of the Carl Zeiss Jena Goerz-Dagor mounted in it, it is 90 years old. Speeds, except for the top marked speed of 1/150, are now accurate and consistent. Despite this I'm sure we can't be confident that 90 years from now the last Copal shutters made can still be made to work. For one thing will there be enough people wanting them to work to support a base of people who can make them work.

David