Clamshell shutter blades versus leaf style, which do you actually prefer to rebuild?

Grant Palmer · 2026-09-03T09:10:11.836306+00:00

I spent last Thursday rebuilding a dead Pentax K1000 shutter that had oil glued the blades together. My usual move is to soak everything in lighter fluid and hope for the best. That worked okay but it got me thinking. On the Minolta SRTs I do, that leaf style shutter with the separate curtains feels way more forgiving to get back in sync. The clamshell on the Pentax has maybe six parts but they ALL have to nest perfect or you get that half frame dark band. I got it right after three tries but man, the tension settings felt like guesswork. Meanwhile I watched a guy on YouTube do a Fujica with the rotary style and he made it look easy. Am I missing something? Is clamshell actually better once you learn the feel, or is leaf style the smarter build for a shop that sees lots of old 35mm? Curious if anyone here refuses one type or the other entirely.

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Clamshell shutter blades versus leaf style, which do you actually prefer to rebuild? | Camera Repairers - HW Forums