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TIL that a lot of old camera shutters used actual silk threads for the curtains
Honestly, I was fixing up a 1950s Kodak Retina IIc last week and the shutter was dragging. I figured it was just old grease, but when I got the front plate off, I saw the curtain material looked weird. Did some digging in an old repair manual I have, and it straight up said they used silk for its strength and light weight. I found a tiny tear near the edge, which explains the light leak on my test shots. It's wild to think they used fabric like that in a precision machine. I guess it worked for decades, but now finding a match for that specific weave is a whole other problem. Has anyone here ever had to source or replace a silk shutter curtain before?
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evan54311h ago
So your buddy sent a camera to Germany for a new silk shirt? That's some next level tailoring.
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scott.olivia14h ago
Wow, that's a crazy detail. My buddy had a similar nightmare with an old Leica. The curtain was basically dust. He tried everything, even some weird specialty fabric from a model airplane shop. It was the wrong weight and the shutter speeds were all over the place. He ended up sending it to this old guy in Germany who still hand-makes the replacements. Cost a fortune and took months.
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