P3D shutter testers

[Rod Sage <rsage@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Dr. T wrote:
>Thanks John Goodman for the Realist shutter data...  I am going to
>get one of these shutter testers and start taking data on Realist
>which I can sometime incorporate into my Realist book.

I highly recommend a shutter tester to anyone dabbling in photography. I
purchased one just about a month ago from Micro-Tools. I had just
twinned a pair of Argus C3's (thanks to Michael Watters fine hacking
book) and was having a hard time timing the shutters, so thought that
now was the time to buy a shutter timer. As it turns out, the fastest
speed I can get out of the Argus stereo is about 1/125  instead of the
supposed dial speed of 1/300. I'm sure most of the discrepancy is due to
the spring pulling about twice the mass. Slower shutter speeds are very
erratic and I am considering putting in a slightly stiffer spring. I
wonder who can test my spring and find me a stiffer one? As of now I
have shot two rolls of print film with great results. It is nice getting
next day prints. I have picked up a pair of 35mm and 100mm Sandmars to
compliment the 50mm standard lenses.

Anyway I have tested several other cameras. My Realist 2.8 with Ektars
which was just "Zakked" has a top speed of 1/145 instead of 1/200.
Slower speeds are closer to correct. My Nikon FM2 which should have a
top speed of 1/4000 is closer to 1/2500.
RDS