shutter cleaning

[venchka]

The shutter that came with my 1953 Kodak Ektar lens seemed ok. Until a friend of mine checked the shutter speeds. YUCK!

Marked - - - - Observed
1/400 - - - - - - 1/158
1/200 - - - - - - 1/139
1/100 - - - - - - 1/82
1/50 - - - - - - - 1/30
1/25 - - - - - - - 1/13
1/10 - - - - - - - 1/5
1/5 - - - - - - - - 1/2
1/2 - - - - - - - - 1/1
1 - - - - - - - - - - N/A

Not good at all.

My friend then told me that he had used automotive brake cleaner in the past to "un-gunk" old shutters. Figuring that I had gotten the shutter almost for free & that I didn't want to spend money on it, I told him to go ahead. WOW! What a change. Here are the new measured values:

Marked - - - - Observed
1/400 - - - - - - 1/324
1/200 - - - - - - 1/206
1/100 - - - - - - 1/84
1/50 - - - - - - - 1/84
1/25 - - - - - - - 1/24
1/10 - - - - - - - 1/12
1/5 - - - - - -- - 1/6
1/2 - - - - - - -- 1/2
1 - - - - - - - - - 1

This is really cool.

 

[oscroft]

1/100 - - - - - - 1/84
1/50 - - - - - - - 1/84

Are you sure that bit's right - that both 1/100 and 1/50 are the same?

 

[venchka]

Yes, he said that was the case. No worries. If that's the only bit wrong with a 54 year old shutter. Interesting too that the 1/100 speed stayed almost the same and the only speed that was close to accurate before & after the "Spartan CLA".