Hi, I've been talking to someone about purchasing a lens, and it's pretty much a done deal, but I just noticed at the last second, that it didn't look quite right. (I'd read as much as I could about the lens before making an offer).

It seems to have only one of it's contact points for a flash, not normally a big deal, but then I also noticed, in reviews of this lens, that it's almost always pictured with a "flash supermatic" shutter.

I'd like to make certain I know the differences between these two lens/shutters before I finalise the sale. Was there a difference in age/build quality? Is it going to be impossible to ever use a flash with this combo? Is there a significant difference in resale value?

Any advice you guys could offer would be greatly appreciated, as I'd not like to keep the potential seller waiting long.

I think this is not the contact for the flash but the trigger of the shutter.

Ektar Lens Date Code .
Is the second post of the flash connector broken off or has it been removed? As long as there is a provision for a second post then one could be obtained from another shutter with a Bi-Post flash sync connector reguardless of make.
Supermatic ???????????
Flash Supermatic=type M and type F flash bulbs synced.
Flash Supermatic X=type M, type F flash bulbs, and Electronic flash synced.
Electronic flash can be used on F setting of Flash Supermatic. Flash delay on Supermatic can be modified to work on Electronic flash by bypassing the delay resistor inside the shutter. All Supermatic shutters are the same except for the flash sync.

Ok, so, lets' see if I'm up to speed......what I'm looking at, is a 1947 lens,(from camerosity date code) in a 1942 shutter (from etched in date on rear) without flash sync?

Ok, so, is there an aftermarket product that could allow me to use a studio flash setup with this lens or should I pass on the lens, and look for one with a flash sync shutter?

The photos weren't set up to show the protrusion, and my vision isn't what it once was, but it seems to me possible that somebody had X synchronization added to a shutter that originally had not been made to work with flash. That was a fairly common practice in the 1950s. The only way to tell is to look at the shutter closely and see whether that thing is a PC terminal.

There are several ways to synchronize a set-and-release shutter "externally," and there has been a good deal of discussion about it on this board.

Please post a picture that clearly, repeat clearly shows the post that protrudes between the shutter speed 400 and aperture 7.7, edge on so we can see into it. A side view from the front or rear is of no use to determine its purpose. The shutter release socket is flush to the shutter case next to the cocking lever at the 400 on the speed dial position.

Both my Flash Supermatics Bi-Post connectots are between shutter speed T and aperture f45 along the case edge.

Hard for me to tell from the photos, but there's an outside chance that flash terminal may be what's called an ASA bayonet. Kodak seemed especially fond of using these things, and paramount.com still offers them. I'm familiar with the ASA bayonet because I owned a Kodak Pony 135 and a Kodak flash which had this set-up. If the terminal's center post is spring-loaded and there are two little protrusions on opposite sides of the larger-diameter thingy there at the base (next to the shutter body), then you've got an ASA bayonet.

It might very well be an ASA bayonet terminal. If it is, though, I think it has a PC adapter attached to it (I had one of those on a Kodak Synchro-Rapid 800 shutter, back in the day).

However, if flash sync was added to the shutter as an aftermarket modification, it is more likely to be a conventional PC connector -- if, that is, it is a flash synchronization terminal at all. I can't imagine what else it might be, but equipment of that vintage that has passed through many hands can hold many surprises.

I like it, t.r.! (the PC adapter, that is). Never saw such a thing, but there's always something to be learned in this line of work.

So let's ask the OP: what did this turn out to be? Can you tell?

I looked at my 203 Ektar last night and the #2 shutter is very similar. Although mine has the bi-post also, it has a PC plug in the same place as the one shown here that we need to see end on. The only difference I can see between these shutters and a couple with 127mm EKtars mounted that I have worked on is that the face plates for the 203 Ektars say only #2 Supermatic, whereas the plates on the 127's said Supermatic X. I also note the lack of the self timer mechanism, which is also used as the flash bulb delay on the Flash Supermatic.

Alrighty, so I purchased this lens, it turns out that it was a mongrel lens in a wartime non-flash shutter.

But I got a pretty good deal on so that's OK.