There seems to be a contradiction here. Although "there is lots of activity going on" with a 50% efficient shutter, such activity leads to less exposure than if the shutter was 100% efficient, as you mention earlier, so a 1/1000 s speed could still be useful, and even faster.
Your surprise reminds me of when I was a kid, I made a switch out of a can with a balloon stretched over it, like a drum, with foil that actuated an electronic flash. I made pictures of glass bottles shattering as the sound actuated the flash. The shutter was set on B or T, and the bottle was in the dark.
Let's keep it to mechanical leaf shutters. Otherwise we could wander to Faraday/Kerr cell shutters and other fancy stuff like that. Or Eg&G Microflashes.
Expert in non-working solutions.
Do not rely on higher speed markings!! All of my newer and older shutters are generally one stop slower than marked. Carol Miller at Flutots' repair ( The Best!!) tuned up a Linhof Synchro-Compur for me a month or so ago. 4ooth of sec. is one stop slow. All of the slower speeds are almost right on! In practical use, stay away from counting on higher speed accuracy with any leaf shutter. My Rollei TLR shutter is similar. I never use a shutter speed higher than 60th sec. on my large format anyway, so who cares. The science is informative, but of little practical use in the field.
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