What s the deal with new copal 0s?!!

[julienlanoo]

Ok i ve bought brand new copal 0s 8 months ago.
- the first - on 35mm, the flash sync broke off after 3 weeks
- 6 months the 47mm shutter broke in repair ( fantasic martin from arca lent me a replacement lens during repairs, Arca is Fantastic!!)
- 8 months th 35 mm copal breaks to!!!

Guys of Copal , pro s ise their cames everyday.. Not once every month!!

Its shure i ll go electronic shutters soon now !!

[torger]

Soon(ish) you'll have to as these shutters are no longer being manufactured.

Electronic shutters are not great for field use though, so I hope a good alternative appears. DHW's new one may be an alternative. I think we will be using focal plane shutters (ie Hcam, Alpa FPS) rather than electronic leaf shutters in the future. I'd prefer leaf shutters, but with a cost of ~€1000+VAT per lens it's not that attractive to me. Using an Alpa or RM3Di it means you'd pay like €2000 in mount and shutter even before the lens comes on.

I'd love to see an extended life of the Copal shutter, partly due to nostalgic reasons (like to have a 100% mechanical camera), but also because there are not many alternatives around.

[Graham Welland]

Have you read the notices warning about shutter failures with MF tech cameras? It's very important that  you set exposure BEFORE cocking the shutter ...

http://www.getdpi.com/forum/medium-format-systems-digital-backs/15754-tech-camera-users-copal-shuttered-lenses-please-take-note.html

[Chris Barrett]

Very Strange.  When I was shooting 4x5 film (the first 10 years of my career) I carried 9 lenses in a hard case with no padding and clicked the shutters... oh about 15,000 times a year.  Rarely did I ever have to have one repaired.  Most of my digital lenses are all now close to 5 years old, I'm still clicking about 15k shutter actuations a year and haven't needed to repair any yet.  I will sometimes send one or two in for maintenance, if the mechanism starts to feel a little rough.  I wonder if QC at Copal has gone out the door since their business has slid downhill?

It's probably not a bad idea to source old stock or used shutters as backups and have them serviced and mothballed.

Electronic shutters?  I'd love to have the precision and ability to do half or third stops but my camera already has too many cables coming out of it and they're not very portable.

CB

[Paul2660]

The whole issue with the Copal shutters being discontinued still has me a bit surprised.  As far as I know there has not been any statement from either Rodenstock or Schneider in regards to a follow up design.  How are they going to handle warranty repairs and new sales?  Did they buy up the last batch of Copal shutters so they have a few hundred sitting around?  After purchasing a 5k lens I would like to know that these companies have a plan to handle repairs for at least 5 years in the future other than "replace it with a electronic shutter".

Alps users have a solution with the FPS if that design works for them.  Arca and Cambp so far as I know have not made any statement which surprises me since their sales are definitely tied to these shutters. 

So far the designed electronic shutters I have seen do not really work in the field as you have to have a PC or MAC to fire the shutter or some other device/black box to fire set the shutters.  They also add an additional 1K to the cost of the lens. 

The cost of these lenses is already high enough and with the future unknown about replacement shutters I feel it does add a good bit of additional concern to the future of tech camera usage and lenses.

Two things I have learned:

1.  In the US, Precision Camera works can attempt to fix or adjust a Copal shutter.  But I don't believe they can replace one.

2.  If the shutter needs replacement,  it has to go back to the lens manufacturer as the new shutter will have to colimated to the lens.  This is not a simple process and will more then likely have a cost.  Then the lens will have to go back to the camera company (Arca, Cambo, or Alpa) to be fitted back to the mount.

There are a few Copal shutters on eBay new being sold out of Japan. 

I also assumed that that the Copal shutter issue effects users other than just tech camera owners since the Copal shutters are also used large format solutions.   

If you are using these shutters it must make you wonder.

Paul Caldwell

[Steve Hendrix]

Maybe a good time to refresh this page:

https://captureintegration.com/copal-shutter-repairs-on-the-rise/

[julienlanoo]

Thanks for your replies,
Some awnser from my side

Of course i know you have to choose the speed frist before cocking it, that's quit logic no ? :p:p

Protable solutions for the field , well in meanwhile i had some info that i have to w8 for December to be electronic and usable...

I also never had problems with my realy old copals on the sinar, even never had problems wit nikors or kodak variants... but just those hellish new one's ...

Always something wrong with it,or don't feel right, ok I shoot A lot, in different conditions ( as i am an architecture photographer, and shoot 2 à 3 projects a week) but that's the way one has to do it no ? ...

How shneider & Rodenstock handels the repairs and waranty?
Well as Copal does NO waranty ( against any European Law, wich states every product must have 2 year factory warranty ) Shneider & Rodenstock forsee the waranty them selfs.. That's why the prices of copals went up, as Shneider & Rodenstock have a Hudge stock now...


mhm, hoping for that new electronic solution ( with some regret) ..

greets
ju