"David Nebenzahl" wrote in message
s.com...
On 1/26/2011 2:05 PM Richard Knoppow spake thus:

I keep a release in the kit of accessories for each
camera. For view cameras I like fairly long cables.
However, for a length over perhaps 18" a mechanical
release becomes a bit stiff and an air release is more
satisfactory. They may still be made. Some very old
shutters have air cylinders built-in but mostly you have
to find the parts.

There's another method of remotely tripping the shutter,
as you know: a solenoid. I rigged my Crown Graphic
(w/127mm Ektar) to use the attached solenoid, using a box
with 3 D cells in it and a pushbutton switch on a wire.
That seemed to me to be the ultimate in remote luxury.
Takes a little more gear to haul, but works really nicely.

I actually made my own 2-pin connector: it attaches to the
solenoid, and has a mini-power plug socket that attaches
to the cable that goes to the battery box. I should post
some pictures of it somewhere.

A solenoid works very well and one can use a very long
cord with a pushbutton on it for tripping. Some shutters are
better than others for solenoid use: the Kodak and Compur
shutters, at least the older Compur, have booster springs
for the highest speed which significantly increases the
"trigger pull" so that a solenoid with a normal three-cell
battery case can not overcome it. They used to make
extra-high-voltage "photoflash" cells for this reason and
Graflex offered an extension for their cases allowing an
extra cell. The Wollensak Rapax or Graphex shutter has a
uniform tripping pressure which is also a bit lighter than
the Kodak or Compur shuttes. Wollensak made very good
shutters but some awful lenses. As a result the
synchronization point stays constant at all speeds and the
draw of the solenoid does not reach the point where the bulb
does not fire, a frequent occurance with other shutters. Of
course, its also possible to use the internal synch of
shutters that have it to fire the bulb and use the solenoid
strictly for remote tripping.
At least one manufacturer, I think King Sol, made a
solenoid that screwed into the cable release socket. I've
seen ads for them in old magazines but never saw one in the
flesh. Ilex built shutters with a direct access socket for
this kind of solenoid. It looks like an extra cable release
socket, and will indeed take a cable release, but it acts
somewhat differently.
BTW, it was common practice for press photographers to
leave the flash gun case on the camera all the time and use
the solenoid as a sort of body release. Much more convenient
than trying to reach around the camera.


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Richard Knoppow
Los Angeles
WB6KBL