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Thread: Shutter speed question

  1. #1
    Ron Miller
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    Shutter speed question

    I want to start off by saying that I often refrain from asking questions. As a newbie, I sometimes get answers that are intentionally belittling. For the most part everyone here has helped me tremendously, but there are those...

    My question is on setting shutter speed. I had heard a while ago (somewhere) that you should always set the shutter speed on a shutter dial to one of the marked speeds. Never inbetween. If I wanted f22 aperature and the meter read 1/25 but the shutter speeds were 1/5, 1/10, 1/50, etc...I would adjust my aperature accordingly to use 1/10 speed (for example only).

    What I heard is that when you select a speed between 2 markings on a shutter, that the shutter makes a choice on which of the 2 speeds to use. So with my example (of 1/5, 1/10, 1/50, ...) I would never get 1/25.

    Is this true?

    Thanks...

  2. #2

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    Re: Shutter speed question

    yes and no.
    Some shutters used stepped cams to set shutter speeds, while others use a continuous cam. Those which use stepped cams can only be set at marked intervals. if set in between, they will commonly used the lower speed.
    those with a continuous cam can be set between marked speeds however usually not very accurately.

  3. #3
    Octogenarian
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    Re: Shutter speed question

    Yes. Assuming that you have a Copal shutter, the shutter will use the higher shutter speed, if you set it at an in-between speed.

    Make your fine adjustments with the aperture settings. They are marked in 1/3 increments.

  4. #4

    Re: Shutter speed question

    I do not believe Copal or Compur can be set between speeds but Ilex can. I'm also fairly certain Betax can be set between also. Others I don't know.

  5. #5
    Martin Aislabie's Avatar
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    Re: Shutter speed question

    I always use the fixed/marked shutter speeds and take up the increments on the aperture dial.

    Martin

  6. #6

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    Re: Shutter speed question

    Yeah, I agree with Martin. Use the f-stop to adjust. Also, your speeds should be checked periodically.

  7. #7

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    Re: Shutter speed question

    Quote Originally Posted by Don Dudenbostel View Post
    I do not believe Copal or Compur can be set between speeds but Ilex can.
    It depends on the Compur. Synchro Compur cannot but Compur Rapid can... except between 1/50 and 1/100.

  8. #8
    kev curry's Avatar
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    Re: Shutter speed question

    Quote Originally Posted by gevalia View Post
    I want to start off by saying that I often refrain from asking questions. As a newbie, I sometimes get answers that are intentionally belittling. For the most part everyone here has helped me tremendously, but there are those...
    It would be a shame if you were to allow 'those' few insentient individuals to put you off from seeking out information

  9. #9

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    Re: Shutter speed question

    The problem with doing that is you don't know what the speed will be. I have done some serious testing on older shutters, and some late models, using a shutter speed tester. My results show that almost always, the speed will be very inconsistent and it's extremely hard to get the intermediate speed you want. The only way you could hope to get accurate intermediate speeds is on site testing. A crap shoot not worth taking, in my opinion. I have some shutters similar to yours. My take on it is, for general use, I err on the side of a slower speed and smmaller aperture. If you haven't had your shutter tested, you may unknowingly not have the marked speeds to begin with. For what it's worth, if you trip the shutter twice at 1/50, it will give you an equivalent exposure of 1/25.
    Last edited by Glenn Thoreson; 7-May-2009 at 10:56. Reason: Forgot something

  10. #10
    Ron Miller
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    Re: Shutter speed question

    Thanks all. There is light at the end of this tunnel, of course that could just be someone else that is lost walking my way with a flashlight.

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