French help needed - Gitzo studio shutter

[Ian Grant]

Gitzo made a lot of shutters post WWII, mostly for smaller cameras. The Deckel (Compur/Compound) factory had bee severely damaged in Dresden, while Gauthier (Prontor/Ibsor) had escaped more lightly. Both companies were owned by the Zeiss Foundation, but shutter production was low and Compurs went to Rollei, Prontor, Vario, etc to Zeiss Ikon and other German manufacturers.

Here in the UK with severe Import restrictions Ross Ensign introduced the Epsilon, used also by Kodak & Wray. AGI and Kershaw made their own simple shutter.

In France Gitzo filled the same gap producing sone quite nice looking shutters post WWII.

However I can't find any information about the Gitzo studio shutters, and I have one with flash sync, which fits lens with a max diameter of 85mm, there's two on eBay 71mm fit. That's the first time I've come across any online.



My Gitzo is the large front mounting leaf shutter above. Since taking this photo (2017) I have removed rust off the shutter blades and been using it. Mine is painted grey, the two listed on eBay by an antique dealer are black. I would have said Hammerite, but that was only introduced in 1962, but there's a similar looking paint finish on earlier post WWII equipment, DE Vere enlargers an cameras, Johnsons enlargers, etc.

So I'm hoping someone can help me with info on these studio shutters, I'd guess they were made in the 1950s/60s.

Ian

 

[Joanna Carter]

Try searching on Google for "gitzo obturateur studio".

 

[Ian Grant]

Just what I needed thanks Joanna. it appears my shutter is the largest they made. Translation is not perfect.



Ian

 

[Petrochemist]

Gitzo made a lot of shutters post WWII, mostly for smaller cameras. The Deckel (Compur/Compound) factory had bee severely damaged in Dresden, while Gauthier (Prontor/Ibsor) had escaped more lightly. Both companies were owned by the Zeiss Foundation, but shutter production was low and Compurs went to Rollei, Prontor, Vario, etc to Zeiss Ikon and other German manufacturers.

Here in the UK with severe Import restrictions Ross Ensign introduced the Epsilon, used also by Kodak & Wray. AGI and Kershaw made their own simple shutter.

In France Gitzo filled the same gap producing sone quite nice looking shutters post WWII.

However I can't find any information about the Gitzo studio shutters, and I have one with flash sync, which fits lens with a max diameter of 85mm, there's two on eBay 71mm fit. That's the first time I've come across any online.

View attachment 4704

My Gitzo is the large front mounting leaf shutter above. Since taking this photo (2017) I have removed rust off the shutter blades and been using it. Mine is painted grey, the two listed on eBay by an antique dealer are black. I would have said Hammerite, but that was only introduced in 1962, but there's a similar looking paint finish on earlier post WWII equipment, DE Vere enlargers an cameras, Johnsons enlargers, etc.

So I'm hoping someone can help me with info on these studio shutters, I'd guess they were made in the 1950s/60s.

Ian

Hi Ian
The black crackle paint used on later VPK's can look like hammerite in some shots. For the VPK the finish dates dates from 1919.