P3D Re: Mechanical shutters

[Vincent Chan <v7chan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi John,
	Yes, my Realist also has a fair amount of variability (ie poor
repeatability), but only with in about +/- 1/3 of a stop.  Also, I've
noticed that the high speed was slow by about 1/2 stop, and the slow speeds
were fast.  This doesn't really concern me, as my light meter is set to
"modern" speeds, so I'm guessing in the best of times for the appropriate
shutter speed.  Typically, I try to shoot at about 1/50 or 1/100 sec,
because I'm usually handholding, and as I know this is where the Realist is
most accurate in terms of speed.  
	Do I bracket?  NO.  I miss the odd shot, maybe 1 per roll.  I think it
would be more of a concern if the two shutters are not giving identical
exposures.  But you would need two shutter testers to test that out.  OTOH,
I guess you could take pictures of your record player with a flashlight
sitting on the top.  Of course, this leads to the question:

Does the Realist have 1 or 2 separate timing mechanisms on the leaf shutters?

	The best mechanical shutters that I have are the Synchro-Compour's on my
50+ year old Rollei's.  They're usually dead on, and very repeatable.
Worst, are usually curtain shutters on SLR's.  (usually very off, and
not-repeatable) 

Vincent.

P.S. I have the Camulate shutter tester.


>I'm eager to learn how other list members, with far more 
>experience, deal with this problem. Do you
>
>1)  not worry about indicated vs. actual shutter speeds?
>2)  use a shutter tester and set accordingly?
>3)  learn the idiosyncracies of a camera by trial and error?
>4)  bracket and pick the best?
>5)  have some other method of ensuring best results?
>