Wrinkly Curtains

Plain Nev

Plain Nev

Vincent Furnier
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Neville
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Just a quick question. If a shutter curtain has a wrinkle in it will it still keep out the light? I only ask because I've noticed it on a couple of my Pentax bodies.
 
What a cloth horizontal or metal vertical curtain? Well there should be no wrinkles and don't know with wrinkles how it affect shutter speeds or light transmission to the film when taking a shot. The mirror down stops light getting to the film. If you open the back and fire increasing the shutter speeds (with the lens cap off) you should see a circular flash of light until at a fast shutter speed it's difficult for the eye to see if circular, if you see say half a circular flash of light then something is not working properly.
 
Cloth curtains on a S3 and S1A. I've run through the speeds with the back open and lens cap removed, and all seems to be working well in that respect. It's the potential for light leaks that is concerning me. I don't know if it's an issue, or not.
 
Plain Nev said:
Cloth curtains on a S3 and S1A. I've run through the speeds with the back open and lens cap removed, and all seems to be working well in that respect. It's the potential for light leaks that is concerning me. I don't know if it's an issue, or not.
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All the shutter does is control the amount of light to the film, if not used then no way can light get to the film.
 
I have a number of cameras with very wrinkled curtains and they work just fine. I cannot guarantee their speed is accurate but they are well within the exposure tolerance of film.

My Zarya camera not only had very wrinkled curtains but they were translucent as well. I painted both curtains with Bestbeloved's black acrylic paint and the shutters still work fine.

In my experience, cameras are much more robust than most people expect.
 
excalibur2 said:
All the shutter does is control the amount of light to the film, if not used then no way can light get to the film.
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If the cloth is stretched to the point that the opaque coating is compromised then light will leak to the film.
 
excalibur2 said:
All the shutter does is control the amount of light to the film, if not used then no way can light get to the film.
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Well, there's that...

Thank you for the replies gentlemen. On the basis that it's probably okay I'll risk it.
 
john.margetts said:
If the cloth is stretched to the point that the opaque coating is compromised then light will leak to the film.
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erm how? When the mirror is down it stops all light getting through. When people have problems with light leaks it's problems with seals.....mirror, back etc
 
There are no seals around the mirror and light can reach the film/sensor around all four edge of the mirror. That is assuming there is a mirror there in the first place. I mentioned my Zarya camera - it is a viewfinder camera with no mirror. Leica rangefinders (and their derivatives: Zorki, Fed, Mir, Read, Canon and others) also have curtain shutters and no mirror.
 
john.margetts said:
There are no seals around the mirror and light can reach the film/sensor around all four edge of the mirror. That is assuming there is a mirror there in the first place. I mentioned my Zarya camera - it is a viewfinder camera with no mirror. Leica rangefinders (and their derivatives: Zorki, Fed, Mir, Read, Canon and others) also have curtain shutters and no mirror.
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......but we are talking about Neville's Pentax bodies and mentions S3 and S1a ;) Welcome to the shoehorning club, I'm good at it too o_O ;)
BTW if you get a kink or wrinkle in a more modern camera with a metal shutter then you have a problem.
 
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excalibur2 said:
BTW if you get a kink or wrinkle in a more modern camera with a metal shutter then you have a problem.
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Speaking from experience, wrinkles in the titanium curtains of Canon rangefinder bodies and Nikon Fs had no obvious effects. I imagine that a bent blade in a Copal Square or similar bladed shutter would be a different matter.
 
AndrewFlannigan said:
Speaking from experience, wrinkles in the titanium curtains of Canon rangefinder bodies and Nikon Fs had no obvious effects. I imagine that a bent blade in a Copal Square or similar bladed shutter would be a different matter.
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Well none of my cameras have shutter curtain wrinkles, but the oldest camera I use is 1960 Pentax S3 (thrown Zeniths etc away) and latest is the Nikon F4..................... and how you get them is a mystery, unless you know?
 
excalibur2 said:
......but we are talking about Neville's Pentax bodies and mentions S3 and S1a ;) Welcome to the shoehorning club, I'm good at it too o_O ;)
BTW if you get a kink or wrinkle in a more modern camera with a metal shutter then you have a problem.
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Still no seals around the mirror.
 
AndrewFlannigan said:
I don't know but my first guess would be someone putting their finger where their finger shouldn't be put! :naughty:
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Like us all they get wrinkly as they get older. :p I imagine there might be a degree of stretching, or wear involved.
 
john.margetts said:
Still no seals around the mirror.
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..but still if a moth got into your camera and laid eggs on the shutter curtain and the grubs ate it all away, light still can't get to film as long as the mirror is down ;)
 
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