Build a shutter tester for Focal Plane shutters - Cheap, Easy & it Works

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Niglyn

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I feel dumb writing all of this, but people should laugh at my stupidity. Finally got where I was supposed to be a week ago. The problem is, I was thinking that if the circuit worked with only one sensor, it should work with two connected, i.e. without the middle one. Right? Wrong.

Turns out, the code is smarter than I, and observed that the curtain can't possibly operate correctly if it opens, then midway closes, and then opens again, hence the "Error" on the LCD.

Back to square one, connected all three lasers and sensors and hey presto, it works as intended. I had one of those 3am revelations and got to work today.

There are two morales to this story, never start working on a project after a double shift, and always follow instructions written by more knowledgeable.

All in all, I'd like to thank everyone for their help and patience!

Hi, glad you got it working :surprised:)

Many people may choose to build this, without much, or any experience of such projects, so posting build issues, questions & solutions helps others. Please do not fell dumb in any way.

I have tried to make it as straight-forward as I can to build, using off-the shelf modules. Although fully appreciate that if somebody has never tinkered with electronics, or flashing firmware to microcontroller, it will be a learning curve. There are some great people on here, who have helped & offered advise to builders of the tester & myself, enabling me to increase the accuracy and usability of the tester.
A poster here made their own sensors, which does make mounting them into a box easier, but requires soldering skills. The poster helpfully and kindly gave full details of his sensors, so peeps can copy his idea if they wish.

Feedback also helps me improve or update the tester. For example, you asked if the LCD will show all three sensor readings.
Well, now it does :surprised:)
Code will be posted on github shortly. Will add a note here when it goes up.
 

alinCiortea

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Niglyn, will this display work for the ESP project? (it's from the same seller as all other parts needed)

Regarding the now infamous subject of the laser width and how it influences the results.. I've just printed a mask with 0.5mm holes and I tested my recently CLAd pentax S1a (that I adjusted by "eye and ear" using a CRT monitor), using only one of the sensors (they were glued 30mm apart and my mask has the holes at 32mm).
For 1/500 without the mask I got
Shutter Speed Av Vul 10 nan 1/250
For 1/500 with the mask I got
Shutter Speed Av Vul 10 nan 1/476

That's quite the difference. My lasers project a beam that's approximately 4mm wide at the distance where the sensors are located.
This being said, I'd like to apologize for not trusting or understanding your design and code in my previous posts (and the post on LearnCameraRepair FB group).
:smile:
 
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Niglyn

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Niglyn, will this display work for the ESP project? (it's from the same seller as all other parts needed)

Regarding the now infamous subject of the laser width and how it influences the results.. I've just printed a mask with 0.5mm holes and I tested my recently CLAd pentax S1a (that I adjusted by "eye and ear" using a CRT monitor), using only one of the sensors (they were glued 30mm apart and my mask has the holes at 32mm).
For 1/500 without the mask I got
Shutter Speed Av Vul 10 nan 1/250
For 1/500 with the mask I got
Shutter Speed Av Vul 10 nan 1/476

That's quite the difference. My lasers project a beam that's approximately 4mm wide at the distance where the sensors are located.
This being said, I'd like to apologize for not trusting or understanding your design and code in my previous posts (and the post on LearnCameraRepair FB group).
:smile:

Hi alinCiortea,
That tft display will not work. It has the wrong driver chip. It must be the exact one specified on the parts list with the ILI9488 driver.


Click on the third product picture. This shows the orange coloured board & component U1 is not populated (the 5 to 3.3v regulator)


Using just one sensor, you will only get raw data from the tester, which is affected by sensor width. The higher the shutter speed, the higher the error will be. As you have found, a very narrow beam width is required for better accuracy.

Using two or now with increased accuracy, the esp32 three laser version, the code automatically calibrates for sensor width. So a mask of 1, 2mm or no mask should function perfectly.
No need to apologise for anything. I welcome feedback & discussion.

I'm thinking about making a different sensor version for cameras without opening back doors, like the zorki. A reflector would be inserted instead of film, to bounce light from. Not sure of the demand for this?
 

alinCiortea

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The demand would be lower but it will surely exist. I'd like to have such a tester in my toolkit even though I only buy cameras to fix them. Sometimes though, if I want later adjustments for example, it would be really nice not having to open them again.

Now that my BOM is probably complete I'll order the parts and start thinking and designing the enclosures.
Thanks!
 
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Niglyn

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The demand would be lower but it will surely exist. I'd like to have such a tester in my toolkit even though I only buy cameras to fix them. Sometimes though, if I want later adjustments for example, it would be really nice not having to open them again.

Now that my BOM is probably complete I'll order the parts and start thinking and designing the enclosures.
Thanks!

Hi, also add a GY-302 BH1750 light sensor


and
a rotary encoder. get the one with the round base, as it has smoothing caps & pullups on it


I may or may not use them, but maybe worth adding to the order, as they are cheap.


This is the sensor for cameras without an opening back I was looking at.
Not sure if it will even work, but will give it a try in the coming days/weeks. Would require careful placement, but your 3d printer could make a holder for them, that fits right onto the lens mount.

 
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Niglyn

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Have just added new beta firmware for the ESP32.

LCD has been changed to show all three sensor readings.
If exposure is longer than one second, you may get a bit of gibberish, if the results are too big to fit on one line.

Reason for beta version is the sensor monitoring section has been optimised further.
All appears to function correctly, but one never knows until someone tries to break it :surprised:)
 

alinCiortea

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thank you!

one more question, just to make sure: when choosing the board type it doesn't matter whether it's microusb or usb-c, right? I have a lot more microusb cables around than usb-c
 
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Niglyn

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Hi,
I specified a particular board, to avoid any compatibility issues, as there are so many variations of the development board around.

However, it should not matter if the board has a different USB socket.
 
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Niglyn

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Latest ESP32 beta firmware is up on Github.

Now has a light meter. It shows Lux & EV. based on iso 100. Exposure chart is in the docs.
You will have to provide your own light source. Maybe a dimmable LED panel or constant video light.

LCD has been updated to show all three sensors.

Light meter is displayed on LCD, tft and pc screen.
 

alinCiortea

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I have a question related to shutter testing but totally unrelated to this specific tester...
How difficult would it be to make a LED panel flicker at a specific, adjustable, rate? I'm trying to make something conceptually similar to what Leica used to calibrate their shutters (the revolving drum).
I assume a refresh rate from 100 to 500 cycles per second should be ok. Using this while firing a horizontally running shutter should show vertical light stripes. The number of stripes should be dependent on the refresh rate, while the thickness of the stripes should be dependent on the gap between the curtains for a specific shutter speed.
 
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Niglyn

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Hi, The answer is easy. Very simple to do.
I assume if the Light was pulsing at 100 times per second, when viewed through a 1/100s shutter, one would see one stripe?
If the shutter was set to 1/50s one would see two stripes?
Output would be a series of pulses, which could be put into a mosfet, to switch a higher current.

What duty cycle would you want?
1/100s is 0.01 seconds or 10mS.
so a 50% duty cycle would be on for 5mS and off for 5mS
 

alinCiortea

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I'm inclined to believe that for a 100 pulses per second light, a shutter running at 1/50s would only show more stripes if the curtain travel time was actually very slow and the curtain slit very narrow. But logic plays tricks on me on these kind of problems.
Therefore being able to adjust the refresh rate I could accommodate for different kinds of shutters (or better said different combinations of CTT and slit sizes). It's probably easy to calculate things for someone knowledgeable. The slit size can be determined by somehow photographing the light stripe at a certain shutter speed (since there would be no rolling shutter effect). Knowing the slit size means that you could determine what CTT you'd need to get the shutter speed for that slit size. And that means you could calculate what refresh rate you'd need to show a certain number of light stripes for that selected speed.
Then you'd be able to adjust the curtains' tension until the right number of stripes is visible.

Does it make sense? Is my logic correct?

LE: Of course it would be so much easier to simply observe how a known good shutter behaves and then trying to replicate it with the one being adjusted.
 
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Niglyn

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The drum works on a stroboscopic effect, with the slot lining up with the camera at peak phase of the AC voltage in the lamp.
If the shutter is operating at a speed not in sync, it will appear to the camera that the slot is moving up or down, giving a bent line of light.

Cannot see how this could be accomplished electronically.

 

alinCiortea

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well, my logic was that the light pulses of the LED panel would be visible through the shutter opening (the slit) in the manner of a perfectly vertical light stripe (since the entire area of the film gate is illuminated at once). If the LED pulses more than once during the travel of the shutter, multiple vertical stripes would be visible in quick succession and the brain would record them as being present all at once (through the persistence of the images in our brains).
The number of stripes would be dependent on LED refresh rate and curtain travel time (and of course the size of the curtain slit - there will be no stripe for sync speeds and probably only one giant stripe for 1/60 in the case of Barnack style shutters).

But it's all an exercise of my imagination and I could be totally wrong on the outcome.
 

ic-racer

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Before I had a FP shutter tester a cheap-and-dirty method to see the curtain gap would be to perfectly set the flash synch to just when the first curtain reaches the frame edge (possible on my Rolleis but may not be possible on all cameras) then you can see (via the flash) where the second curtain is for each of the faster speeds. Second curtain should cover 1/2 the frame at 1/60; 3/4 the frame at 1/125, etc.

Also, have you seen this? It is available on the internet. Maybe that is where you got your idea.

The Way to Modern Shutter Speed Measurement Methods: A Historical Overview
Gyula Simon 1,*, Gergely Vakulya 1 and Márk Rátosi 2

Screen Shot 2024-01-20 at 6.04.37 PM.png
 
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alinCiortea

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Interesting study, but (for academical purposes) way too complicated.

My goal is to make the simplest way of visually assess the functionality of a horizontally traveling shutter. My idea is derived from the original method used by Leitz.
 
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Niglyn

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Latest code & documentation is over on github.

I have now ordered the documents, so it is easier to read them in the correct sequence.

Have also added a minimal design drawing, removing all of the optional parts, making it easier for first time builders to follow and make their first device.

Happy for any feedback, ideas or issues on what to change or add, or ideas for new devices.

My next project is a B&W development timer. Program in dev, stop, fix time & also initial & secondary agitation times.
Press a button & then the display countdowns to each step, giving 10 second advance warning.

As an added bonus, for twiddlers like me, it also drives a stepper motor, so can agitate automatically
Will run on same hardware as the shutter tester (with some limitation) or on another ESP32 board, which has battery backup.




Minimal Shutter Tester design.

simple.jpg


 
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Niglyn

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I have build a little strobing array of LEDs which when photographed (by a digital camera) or looked at though the film gate of a film camera, will show a number of LED rows.

The strobe speed can be set to standard camera shutter speeds, so when viewed, two rows of LEDs should be seen.

If three or more rows are seen, then the shutter is slow.

20240305_101516.jpg


It is an updated version of what is seen on post 429.

Only uses a few cheap parts & is easy to build. I have started a new thread for this.


 

randongsanzi

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您好,我参考了您最新版本的ESP32固件。该图像表明传感器正在向引脚 34、39 和 36 应用高/低电平。但是,经过我的测试,我向引脚 25、33 和 32 应用高/低电平,并且 LCD 仅显示遮挡/可见性。设置好后,松开相机快门会显示“错误”。能帮我分析一下原因吗
 

randongsanzi

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I would like to add that one of the sensors was burnt out during the wiring process, and I did not connect the faulty sensor to the circuit. Will this cause LCD errors?
 
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Niglyn

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Oops.
If the sensor is shorting, then the tester will think it is being continuously triggered.

If the faulty sensor is removed, with a good sensor in position 1, then the tester should work ok in single senor mode.
 
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Niglyn

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好的谢谢。我刚看到最新的电路图,传感器的输出端接的是25、33、32,我以为是你的程序引脚写错了,哈哈

Oops, sorry. I moved the senor input pins on the latest version, to make the hardware compatible with the Developing timer.
I forgot to update the photos , to show the different wiring. I'm doing it now :surprised:)

Please let us know how you get on & post some photos of your tester.

If you find any other issues with the documents or build, please let me know.

How expensive are the parts to purchase in China? For me in the UK, buying from Aliexpess, they are very cheap, even with the postage.
It used to be a long wait for shipping, but now Aliexpress offer 7 or 12 day shipping.
 

randongsanzi

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没关系,谢谢你的辛苦。我的接线已经连接好,目前正在建造外壳。另外,在中国购买这些零件也很方便,而且都是免邮费的。我算了一下,所有的零件要70人民币,也就是7.6英镑。有时,在购买商品时,卖家甚至可能会多发几件。例如,我买了三套激光器/接收器,但卖家给我发了五套,In China, express delivery usually only takes three to four days
 
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