Here is a Copal Japanese camera shutter assembly out of the camera. This unit is fully mechanical and has varying speeds as well as a bulb exposure mode.
This level of mechanical engineering is so magical to me. I can somewhat understand how one might make a clock, it's just some relatively simple gears spinning at the right ratios to make the hands move precisely. However, a completely mechanical shutter seems miraculous: It seems like an impossible task to make a tiny door that opens for a thousandth of a second with no electronics to control it. Such beautiful technology, it is a shame that this kind of craftsmanship is dying out. Luckily we still have plenty of old cameras left to enjoy.
My first training in high school photography was before digital cameras ever existed, believe it or not, and the details of a camera's mechanical makeup were never shared like this. It was explained though that at high speeds, one side moves closely behind the other to create a stripe of exposure in equal timing all the way down the film and just today I was wondering how that was mechanically possible. Your video gave me a good clue about that but what I am really looking for is a breakaway mechanical drawing and 3D digital model/animation that can demonstrate this at slower than real time. Mechanical cameras were a wonder of technology. Something I saw recently that triggered my curiosity on this subject were some video of old phosphorous flash cameras being used where a second person held the flash in the air. The timing coordination between the camera and this kind of flash intrigued me as well. Of course, film was not as fast to expose back then so motion would be pretty blurry.
Hi this video is so useful to me! Nothing else like it. I wonder if you can help me im trying to make a 35mm camera and the shutter mechanism is something that I need to source elsewhere as I dont have the skills to make one myself. Would you think this would be similar to most mechanical shutters as I can see how I could attach this to my own body and control it. Any help is much appreciated :)
Hi - most 35mm mechanical SLR cameras will have either a metal shutter like this, or a horizontal silk fabric shutter(Minolta X-700 for example). The X-700 is a type of shutter that needs electronic control, whereas the one here does not. Some of the older cameras won't fire the shutter like you want if you take the light meter/control electronics out of the picture. Best suggestion I can give - If you need to find one on the cheap my advice is cragislist or if there is an antique shop nearby sometimes you can pick up old cameras there. Good luck with it.
C Roberts yeah thanks so much :) I know I need one without a battery this system just seems so simple I was planning on using an old zenit em I have, should do the job nicely. Also making a way of focusing it will be tricky, need some ground glass I suppose. I'm thinking a 35mm hasselblad style machined out of aluminium. But cheers for the help there's no other video showing how the shutter works!
@@ChrisR I think only three minolta camera models in existence had vertical traveling shutters. The XD 11, XM/XK, and the XE-7 could have been one of those three.
@@needleneck3770 All of those cameras have electronically timed shutters, and the XD shutter was made by Seiko, not Copal. I don't think any fully mechanical Minolta camera has a vertical shutter, so maybe it was from a different brand camera after all?
This level of mechanical engineering is so magical to me. I can somewhat understand how one might make a clock, it's just some relatively simple gears spinning at the right ratios to make the hands move precisely. However, a completely mechanical shutter seems miraculous: It seems like an impossible task to make a tiny door that opens for a thousandth of a second with no electronics to control it. Such beautiful technology, it is a shame that this kind of craftsmanship is dying out. Luckily we still have plenty of old cameras left to enjoy.
Ya I agree with you in every point. Definitely masterpiece of craftmanship.
My first training in high school photography was before digital cameras ever existed, believe it or not, and the details of a camera's mechanical makeup were never shared like this. It was explained though that at high speeds, one side moves closely behind the other to create a stripe of exposure in equal timing all the way down the film and just today I was wondering how that was mechanically possible. Your video gave me a good clue about that but what I am really looking for is a breakaway mechanical drawing and 3D digital model/animation that can demonstrate this at slower than real time. Mechanical cameras were a wonder of technology. Something I saw recently that triggered my curiosity on this subject were some video of old phosphorous flash cameras being used where a second person held the flash in the air. The timing coordination between the camera and this kind of flash intrigued me as well. Of course, film was not as fast to expose back then so motion would be pretty blurry.
wow no battery needed
thank you sir
have you found schematics for these anywhere?
Hi this video is so useful to me! Nothing else like it. I wonder if you can help me im trying to make a 35mm camera and the shutter mechanism is something that I need to source elsewhere as I dont have the skills to make one myself. Would you think this would be similar to most mechanical shutters as I can see how I could attach this to my own body and control it.
Any help is much appreciated :)
Hi - most 35mm mechanical SLR cameras will have either a metal shutter like this, or a horizontal silk fabric shutter(Minolta X-700 for example). The X-700 is a type of shutter that needs electronic control, whereas the one here does not. Some of the older cameras won't fire the shutter like you want if you take the light meter/control electronics out of the picture. Best suggestion I can give - If you need to find one on the cheap my advice is cragislist or if there is an antique shop nearby sometimes you can pick up old cameras there. Good luck with it.
C Roberts yeah thanks so much :) I know I need one without a battery this system just seems so simple I was planning on using an old zenit em I have, should do the job nicely. Also making a way of focusing it will be tricky, need some ground glass I suppose. I'm thinking a 35mm hasselblad style machined out of aluminium. But cheers for the help there's no other video showing how the shutter works!
@@timpowell4178 have you finished this project yet???
What camera was this out of?
Excellent question, I pulled this out of a Minolta body but I cannot recall exactly which one, sorry.
@@ChrisR I think only three minolta camera models in existence had vertical traveling shutters. The XD 11, XM/XK, and the XE-7 could have been one of those three.
@@needleneck3770 All of those cameras have electronically timed shutters, and the XD shutter was made by Seiko, not Copal. I don't think any fully mechanical Minolta camera has a vertical shutter, so maybe it was from a different brand camera after all?
So what camera is it?
@@habin959 Nikon FM has similar (Same?) shutter mechanism made by copal.
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