Leaf shutter
A leaf shutter is a shutter made of a series of overlapping metal blades arranged in a circular pattern, usually positioned near the iris within a lens. The blades are attached to a rotating ring by pins at their ends, and are opened and closed by turning this ring. Various spring and clockwork mechanisms in the shutter are used to control the delay between opening and closing the blades, and hence the exposure time.
The biggest advantage of a leaf shutter is its ability to be synched with a flash at any speed. This is because unlike a focal plane shutter, a leaf shutter fully opens even at its highest shutter speed.
Common types of leaf shutters are the Compur, used on many makes of cameras, and those made by Copal.
Leaf shutters are sometimes referred to as "between-lens" shutters. This is because there are usually placed between the lens elements. However, some leaf shutters are placed behind the rear lens element, and can be called "behind the lens" shutters.
Pros
- Leaf shutters can flash sync at any available shutter speed.
- They are generally much quieter than focal plane shutters.
Cons
- Leaf shutters are typically not capable of shutter speeds as high as modern focal plane shutters; usually the highest speed possible with a leaf shutter is 1/500th of a second.
- To make interchangeable lens systems, you must either integrate the leaf shutter into the lens, which makes it more expensive (for example, the Hasselblad 500), or place the shutter in the camera body behind the lens, which limits the range of focal lengths and the maximum aperture (for example, the Paxette).
