What is the advantage of the Sinar Auto Shutter? I know you can use use the Sinar DB mounted lenses and they are cheaper. But there are plenty of lenses mounted the standard way.
Also, for the metered back, who meter probes do people use?
What is the advantage of the Sinar Auto Shutter? I know you can use use the Sinar DB mounted lenses and they are cheaper. But there are plenty of lenses mounted the standard way.
Also, for the metered back, who meter probes do people use?
The metered back is not popular for a variety of reasons and it can be clumsy in the field.
The Auto-Shutter will work with both DB and older barrel-mounted lenses depending how you mount them. While most people use normal lenses mounted with Copal shutters, the Sinar shutter allows you to use a variety of inexpensive or exotic lenses without the expense and hassle of mounting them in individual shutters.
So the DB mounted lenses are only suitable for Sinar shutter?
Also, how much the set of auto shutter and metered back would cost? $500 or higher? In decent lightly condition.
DB mounted lenses are only suitable for the Sinar shutter as these lenses don't have a shutter mounted, only an aperture. One can remount DB lenses into the corresponding Copal shutter in my experience but that's not the goal of the Sinar shutter
A well functioning Sinar shutter routinely fetches over to well over $500 with the cable releases ... the latter are hard to find and expensive if you don't get them together with the shutter ... caveat ... ymmv ...
Metered backs fetch routinely over $200 and don't make sense if you don't have the full metering solution, this is probe and matching light meter
In my opinion ... it is worth the money ... I have a few of them
Originally Posted by RedSun
Or lens cap, darkslide, top hat (or ball cap for less formal settings), Packard shutter (or similar), or Galli patented shutter, or any other solutions used for barrel mounted lenses.
The Sinar Copal does seem to be a much more elegant solutions however...
Most people will happily trade you their darn no-good bulky get-in-the-way metered backs for a nicer non-metered back. The metered back deserves no premium price, most people hate them.
Note that in 8x10 Sinar changed the bellows between the metered back and earlier non-metered versions so make sure you know what you are buying. All the 4x5 bellows are interchangeable.
The DB lens mounting is designed to automatically open and close/stop down the lens when you insert the holder, one button opens the lens for focusing, everything can operate from behind the camera - if you have compatible cables and match the right era parts up. It can be a real hassle to sort it all out now that everything is dated but if you buy a matching outfit then it works pretty slick (as long as the $150 cable is good and the lens apertures are not gummed up).
The DB mounting moves the rear of the lens forward of the shutter blades, this adds to their expense and complication. What you can do is set up the lens on normal flat boards and mount the shutter on an intermediate standard. Use a second bellows to join the shutter to the front standard so you can then use any old lens regardless of how much sticks out of the rear. Here is how Ken Lee did it: http://www.largeformatphotography.in...l=1#post682128
All of this stuff adds to complexity in the field and has more failure points. The ideal back in the day of shooting dozens of studio catalog shots per day was that the photographer could meter and adjust everything from one spot behind the camera, shouting at assistants to move lights and being really productive. But it was intended for a nice controlled studio environment, not running around outdoors or for shooting a few sheets at a time.
You might find this short article helpful.
It is also worth mentioning the Expolux shutter which was a small electronic box which connected the shutter and meter,it was very accurate and the saving of not having to bracket was considerable. It took a reading and set the shutter, when the slide was put in the back it then closed the shutter and stopped down, it was the finest studio shutter ever made, needless to say Sinar stopped making it years ago and will not service it any more, and as such best avoided
Here's the application scenario: Shutter on the back of the front standard or on an intermediate standard, iris clamp on a Sinar board on the front of the front standard, and any barrel lens or lens with a broken shutter in the iris clamp.
For those who like the idea of buying lenses in barrels rather than shutters, using the Sinar shutter avoids the need and expense of installing a shutter or fabricating something custom to provide a shutter. It only takes a few of those sorts of lenses to make the Sinar shutter seem pretty cheap. I have some medium-format lenses I'd like to mount on my Sinar, for example, and the above arrangement makes that possible.
(DB mounted lenses provide conveniences all their own, especially allowing the photographer to view at full aperture and work from behind the camera, the same as with a fixed-body camera. I personally wouldn't spend the money for that feature, however, though I might if I did a lot of studio work.)
Rick "who owns the shutter and the iris clamp, but not one single DB-mounted lens" Denney
I feel completely the opposite about my 8x10 metered back, which I use regularly. Being able to spot meter within the camera is, in my opinion, a very nice feature. I use an older Gossen Profi-Select TTL probe which attaches to my Gossen Ultra-Pro (ProfiSix) and Luna-Pro SBC meters depending on what I need to accomplish. Of all the meter options available for Sinar probes, the Gossen probe is the best and the rarest, as it is at least 2 EV's more sensitive than any of the other meters meant for probes. This is important with the probe since the amount of light being measured is much, much smaller than under regular reflected use.
The Copal-made Auto-Aperture Shutter is also a joy, but would only be so with all the cables in place. If you weren't interested in using specific lenses to provided specific looks (antique lenses and such), then pretty much anything you can get that screws directly into a copal shutter will screw to a DB board and work exactly the same. I like my Sironar-N just fine.
On the other hand, as I said, I use all of this with an 8x10, and it is a Sinar P2, so between the camera and the accessory fittings, and the tripod, and film holders, there isn't much of a chance hauling the setup into the field with anything less than my Jeep. I drive directly to 99% of the locations I shoot from.
My darkroom used to be a meat freezer.
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