Interesting new gadget to test shutter speeds.

MrDrizz

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I love to see the innovation, this is what access to cheap electronics and 3D printer brings us.

A way to test the shutter speed of film cameras. It's £58 which isn't bad considering it'll be produced in small batches.

Shutter-Tester Archives - FAST Box One

Your portable shutter tester for analog film cameras. Check the cameras condition when shopping for a new one or just before you insert a film.
fastbox.one fastbox.one

View: https://youtu.be/sk5Bdy7-78Y?si=KW1C76Nsdt9WMszk
 
Neat, but this does seem like the kind of task that could be performed well by a smartphone app.
 
The only "shutter tester" at a reasonable price that I have seen is on eBay from Japan - different set up, looks more technical, but it's about the same price

I tried the app that you can download to your phone but for me it just did not work
 
Does it work or both focal plane and bladed shutters? they need to measure different things.
 
We had an old, very large, tabletop one donated to the charity shop - probably from around the 60s (along with a collimater which I believe was used to test focal accuracy on lenses) and when I did the research on it, it looked like there are lots of cheap electronic shutter speed testers out there. It was very cool, but like most old things, the digital age has made it smaller, cheaper and probably more accurate. Nice find!
 
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The simplest way to check your shutter, as I've mentioned before, is with film.

At night, or with the curtains closed, switch on your lighting, meter the scene and set the aperture to wide open. Choose the shutter speed to match the meter reading and expose. Close the aperture one stop, select the shutter speed to match and repeat. When you've used all the aperture/shutter speed pairs, develop the film and examine it. If the density for each frame is much the same as the others, your shutter is OK.
 
I use a cheap 'scope, but it is very easy to make one similar to this using either an Arduino or PIC if you are able and want to pay less.
Some of the ebay ones are very overpriced, and no different to the less expensive ones.
 
Sangoma said:
I use a cheap 'scope, but it is very easy to make one similar to this using either an Arduino or PIC if you are able and want to pay less.
Some of the ebay ones are very overpriced, and no different to the less expensive ones.
Click to expand...

Steve, is this one OK - I was thinking about getting it

www.ebay.co.uk

Camera shutter tester (All-in-one kit w/LED Light, w/USB Cable)No extra expenses | eBay

Furthermore, with two optical sensors, it is also possible to know how much exposure bias occurs between the right and left (or top and bottom) of the image plane. Based on this information, you can decide whether to increase (or decrease) the tension of the front curtain or the rear curtain.
www.ebay.co.uk
 
I seem to remember a way of testing the shurrer using a TV years ago. I fancy it worked from counting the scan lines or something. Cant remember now.
 
BillN_33 said:
Steve, is this one OK - I was thinking about getting it

www.ebay.co.uk

Camera shutter tester (All-in-one kit w/LED Light, w/USB Cable)No extra expenses | eBay

Furthermore, with two optical sensors, it is also possible to know how much exposure bias occurs between the right and left (or top and bottom) of the image plane. Based on this information, you can decide whether to increase (or decrease) the tension of the front curtain or the rear curtain.
www.ebay.co.uk
Click to expand...
It looks as good as the others, and that one has two sensors which saves a measurement. It also has a light and cable.

They are all much the same, and very likely to use the same code as is common with this kind of device.

It will certainly be far more accurate than your camera ever will be or needs to be :)
 
Sangoma said:
It looks as good as the others, and that one has two sensors which saves a measurement. It also has a light and cable.

They are all much the same, and very likely to use the same code as is common with this kind of device.

It will certainly be far more accurate than your camera ever will be or needs to be :)
Click to expand...

Thanks Steve

There is also this one which presumably is a bit more sophisticated

www.ebay.co.uk

[Free shipping] Camera shutter speed tester (for 35mm film cameras) w/ LED light | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for [Free shipping] Camera shutter speed tester (for 35mm film cameras) w/ LED light at the best online prices at eBay! Free delivery for many products.
www.ebay.co.uk
 
A shutter must have two accurate properties.
Control a measured quantity of light.
Have a measured stoping power.

A shutter speed tester needs to be able to measure both of these factors.
When testing a focal plane shutter it needs to check for parallelism of the slit across the film aperture and also for evenness of movement across that aperture.
 
AndrewFlannigan said:
The simplest way to check your shutter, as I've mentioned before, is with film.

At night, or with the curtains closed, switch on your lighting, meter the scene and set the aperture to wide open. Choose the shutter speed to match the meter reading and expose. Close the aperture one stop, select the shutter speed to match and repeat. When you've used all the aperture/shutter speed pairs, develop the film and examine it. If the density for each frame is much the same as the others, your shutter is OK.
Click to expand...
Agree with you if you have some cheap B/W film and home dev........but if you find inaccuracies you still have the problem of remembering at what speed/aperture combo you have to compensate for "spot on" exposed shots and if you use different cameras as well :(.......luckily with tolerance of film we get by and nowadays can always use something like Photoshop if need be.
 
Sangoma said:
No, same thing, looks like arduini, just more money :)
Click to expand...

apparently this one at over twice the price - "The tester introduced at the URL below is equipped with two light sensors and can measure the running time of the front curtain and rear curtain"
 
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