[LargeFormat] Ilex Shutter Servicing

[Clive Warren]

At 3:37 pm -0600 26/1/02, Michael Briggs wrote:
>On 26-Jan-02 Clive Warren wrote:
>  > As for that shutter, it would be amazing if Ilex were still around
snip
>
>difficult to navigate web site.  Even if they still make the shutters, they
>might make only the eletrically controlled models.   These show up frequently
>on ebay, almost always without the controller, and frequently sell for prices
>which seem high to me considering the lack of controller.  Melles Griot makes
>optics and equipment for research and custom engineerings.   I strongly doubt
>that they would repair an Ilex shutter at a reasonable price.   You are
>probably best off with an independent repair person.   In the US, SK 
>Grimes has
>a high reputation.   He has information and comments about the Ilex 
>shutters on
>his web site.

Thanks Michael, yep I would be amazed if you could still get the 
shutters repaired by the original manufacturers, whatever they now 
call themselves.

As for EBay, it always amazes me the prices that some items reach in 
the heat of the auction. Often the prices approach those of what you 
can still buy them for new! Anyway, let's not get into that one ;-)

If I lived in the US then Steve would probably have a lot of custom 
from me. I do call on his services from time to time, however the 
shipping charges on a heavy shutter from the UK often make it 
uneconomical - easier to pick up another shutter that is in better 
condition.

It's the engineer in me that leads me down the path of opening the 
things up and tinkering. I have repaired several shutters that are 
completely reliable and now have consistent speeds. Some things I 
can't do - the Ilex shutters have always taken longer and this 
particular shutter is irritating me as I cannot figure out what is 
causing the problem Will probably stick (groan) with it for a while 
:-)

How are you getting on with your document on the old Aero Ektars? I 
threw up some photos of one in an Alphax shutter recently on the f32 
Discussion Forum.

Cheers,
       Clive