Disambiguation:
- 1. Prontor is the new name of the shutter maker Gauthier.
- 2. Prontor is a leaf shutter with a great range of speeds, introduced in 1935 by Gauthier.
The Prontor is a long-lived series of leaf shutters made by the German company Gauthier based in Calmbach.
The Prontor II exists with the following speed ranges:
- T, B, 175, 100, 50, 25, 10, 5, 2, 1, not synchronized
- 200, 100, 50, 25, 10, 5, 2, 1, B, T, synchronized
The Prontor-S is flash synchronized.
The Prontor-SV has dual M/X synchronization and exists with 1, 2, 5, 10, 25, 50, 100, 250, B speed range (alternatively 1/300 instead of 1/250).
The Prontor-SVS has a common mechanism for the M/X synchronization and the self-timer (usage: first select the wanted speed, then cock the shutter and then optionally engage the self-timer by moving the V/X/M lever to V). Exists with 1/300 and 1/500 top speeds.
The Prontor 125 is an everset shutter, named after its maximum speed 1/125 sec. .
The Prontor 250 is an everset shutter, named after its maximum speed 1/250 sec. .
The Prontor 300 is also named after its max. speed, but needs cocking.
The Prontor 300 LK, Prontor 500 LK and Prontor 1000 LK are meter-coupled Prontors.
The Prontor-SLK is a fast flash synchronized meter-coupled shutter.
The Prontor-Mat-S was a shutter for early cameras with automatic exposure setting control.
The Prontor-Press is a so-called "press shutter". That means that it is an everset flash synchronized large format leaf shutter. It has five shutter leaves and an additional five-leaf aperture iris. Its speed range is 1 sec. to 1/125 sec. and includes T and B modes. Speeds can easily be set stepwise by means of the speed setting ring around its front. It has a screw mount in either the front and the back since it's a shutter for lens kits with separate barrels for front and rear elements. The shutter's release lever can alternately be operated with a common remote cable.
The Prontor Press Electronic is an electronically controlled shutter, the Prontor magnetic another electrically-driven one.
The Prontor Professional is a large format shutter with speeds from 1 to 1/125 sec. plus B. It has an additional cable release thread for an aperture release, a lever to switch from stepless to stepwise aperture setting, and facilities to connect its aperture levers to a mechanical aperture remote control on the camera back.
Bibliography[]
- Kamera no mekanizumu sono I: "Hai! Chīzu" Shunkan o torae-tsuzukeru shattā-ten (カメラのメカニズム・そのⅠ・「ハイ！チーズ」瞬間をとらえ続けるシャッター展, Camera mechanism, part 1 "Cheese!" Exhibition of instant taking shutters). Tokyo: JCII Camera Museum, 2002. (Exhibition catalogue, no ISBN number)
Links[]
- Repair notes for the Klio, Prontor-S and Prontor II, Prontor SVS at Daniel Mitchell's camera site
- disassembly of Prontor-S at APUG [1]
- Prontor-S servicing at Roland and Caroline's website
- Prontor Professional shutters at S.K. Grimes