Digital camera shutter velocity is a vital adjustment in pictures – together with the aperture, the shutter moderates the quantity of sunshine getting into the digicam. Older cameras (and a few newer ones) use mechanical shutters that creep out-of-spec over time, so [Dean Segovis] constructed a helpful shutter velocity tester.

With only a handful of fundamental parts, this challenge is a good one for learners to sink their enamel into. The tester is predicated round a photoresistor that measures gentle from one other supply (a flashlight) that travels by the digicam physique. When the shutter on the digicam is launched, the shutter velocity will be measured and displayed on the OLED display screen. An Arduino naturally handles all of the computational duties. The entire thing will be simply assembled on a breadboard in simply a few minutes.

The unique challenge by [hiroshootsfilm] is over on Venture Hub, nevertheless [Dean] takes a deeper dive with some code troubleshooting, in addition to making an attempt out a wide range of outdated movie cameras with the breadboard tester. His testing revealed that the photoresistor was higher in a position to detect shutter velocity when the digicam lens was eliminated, which is a scorching tip for anybody else that wishes to do that.

Whereas it’s not shocking that these older cameras are having bother with their mechanical shutters, this little tester could be a useful instrument when it comes time to begin tweaking shutter mechanisms. The complete video is after the break and extra particulars are scribbled down right here, however ensure that to take a look at the follow-up video the place [Dean] prints a neat enclosure for the electronics.

If this challenge has introduced out the shutterbug in you, ensure that to take a look at this mind transplant for a Polaroid 100-series Packfilm digicam that we coated method again in 2011.