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Prosch Triplex Shutter, 1880s (the beauty of early camera shutters)

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Early Camera Shutters5 of 9Aluminum Camera Shutter, 1894. (the beauty of early camera shutters #6)Prosch Stereo Triplex Shutter, 1880s (the beauty of early camera shutters #2)
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    Posted 10 years ago

    rniederman
    (343 items)

    There was a time when camera shutters, something we take for granted today, were outside of the camera body. Some were practically works of art.

    The earliest were wood but mechanical metal shutters started appearing in the 1850s. By the 1880s, some makers were crafting beautiful shutters made primarily of brass. These brass shutters revolutionized instantaneous picture taking (sub-second exposures), were very versatile and, in my opinion, gave cameras lots of personality.

    Cyrus Prosch created some of the most beautiful shutters and are coveted by collectors. The example shown here is a Triplex model. All of Prosch’s shutters are machine etched, polished and lacquered.

    Shutter speed is adjusted by moving the copper wire to one of three different positions. The position closest to the lens creates the highest tension and fastest shutter speed.

    Prosch shutters are quite scarce yet many of my cameras have different sizes and models.

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    Comments

    1. walksoftly walksoftly, 10 years ago
      A mechanized work of art, love it!
    2. TubeAmp TubeAmp, 10 years ago
      I would just love to be able to hear the sounds it makes.

      T A
    3. rniederman rniederman, 10 years ago
      Thanks vetraio50 and aghcollect!

      Thanks, TA! And the shutter makes a very cool metallic 'chunk' sound when fired.
    4. SEAN68 SEAN68, 10 years ago
      STUNNING!!!
    5. kerry10456 kerry10456, 10 years ago
      Love all your "Focus" and dedication to your collection....To sum up in one word... Fantastic
    6. rniederman rniederman, 10 years ago
      Thanks Gracay2004, Eric, David, Bootson, ho2cultcha, toolate2, tom61375, Radegunder, trunkman, blunderbuss2, Michael!
    7. rniederman rniederman, 10 years ago
      Thanks pops52, Bigsarge, leighannrn, sugargirl, and sanhardin!

      Kerry ... thanks for the compliment.

      Phil ... now that you brought it up, a fancy shutter could be thought of as a camera's "hood-ornament".
    8. rniederman rniederman, 10 years ago
      Thanks AntigueToys, farmlady, crswerner, Designer, egreeley1976, Ben, and Chevelleman69!
    9. rniederman rniederman, 10 years ago
      Thanks fortapache, kerry10456, Phil, Sean, f64imager, and snowman3!
    10. rniederman rniederman, 9 years ago
      Thanks, musikchoo and kyratango!
    11. rniederman rniederman, 9 years ago
      Thanks, Kydur!
    12. rniederman rniederman, 8 years ago
      Overdo thanks!
      SpiritBear
      Nicefice
    13. ImAThrowback, 3 years ago
      I wanted to respond to TubeAmp by saying that the sound is pretty much just a "clunk" sound, but then I noticed you (rniederman) already said that... beating me to it by 6 years! Not mentioned - and that I think is especially fun - is that there is an iris openings wheel built into the back of it. You can just barely see the top edge of it in the photos above.
    14. rniederman rniederman, 3 years ago
      Thanks ho2cultcha, and thanks for the comment ImAThrowback!

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