Should focal-plane shutters be left uncocked, too?

[oswegophoto]

Just got my first camera with a leaf shutter (Yashica Electro 35), and read that the shutter

should never be left cocked for any period of non-use, which made me wonder. Does

anyone know if the logic of preserving the springs, etc. applies to focal-plane shutters,

also? Now, I know there's not much I can do about this with a camera that has a built-in

drive (e.g., my N90s), but what about my FM2N and my F3? Certainly cocking leaves the

shutter and its mechanism in a different state, but does it make any actual difference,

functionally, which way it's left? I suspect not, since Nikon doesn't say so in the manuals I

have, but thought I'd ask and see if there was anyone out there who knew. Not that I'll

suspend activities until I know, mind you, but I want these 20 & 25-year-old cameras to

make it to 50, if they'll still make film for 'em. Thanks in advance.

[steve_levine]

Leaving any mechanical device under "tension", is usually not a good idea. Most 35mm SLR instruction books, do warn against storing cameras with their shutters cocked for long periods.

[craig_h1]

I always leave the shutter's uncocked on any camera as habit. This way there is less tension.

 

Craig

[BrianS1664879711]

Hasselblad recommends leaving shutters and body cocked. This seems to defy logic and the popular opinion. Perhaps it is because that system needs to have body & shutter cocked to remove and replace parts. Perhaps it is because the stress on springs and shutter parts really isn't detrimental. Perhaps it is because Hasselblad thinks anyone that can afford a Hasselblad can afford to repair it when it breaks. I'm not exactly sure. I've read enough from metalurgists that indicate that prolonged static stress on well-made springs really isn't a problem. But we all know that springs occasionally break!

 

Personally speaking, I don't worry too much about it... but when I store a camera or mechanical clock/watch for a prolonged period, I don't leave the mechanism under tension.

[michael erlich]

I have also always stored cameras with shutters fired or uncocked. But with my newer Nikon SLRs such as the F100 or DSLRs, leaving the shutter uncocked is impossible.

[oswegophoto]

Thanks for the responses, guys. If my NAS gets so out of control that I have cameras I'm

actually storing unused, I'll know what to do. I think I may just leave 'em uncocked

between sessions anyhow. ;-)

[alex_lofquist]

I have always left my cameras' shutters (both Leicas and Nikons) cocked. I want to be ready whenever I see a picture.

[richard_oleson]

I usually have time to cock a camera that's in storage on a shelf before i have to use it; there's not that much cool stuff going on in my work room. So I leave them uncocked on the shelf, and I cock them immediately after each shot when I'm actually using them.

 

:)=

[zave_shapiro]

There is little difference between cocked and uncocked. This isn't a watch being wound up fully and allowed to run down. This is a spring that has to do the same job the same way tens of thousands of times. Cocked it might be at 60% tension, uncocked at 45%. The spring is under tension its whole life, and has to operate in the most predictable and stable part of its range.

[oswegophoto]

Zave, thanks! That makes a lot of sense, and seems to lay the question to rest.