Measurement of lens shutter's switching time in full frame cameras

As an photoelectric remote sensing device, the full frame camera is widely used in aviation photography, which can get an image in one exposure time but has the disadvantage of image smearing caused by platform motion during exposing. A mechanical lens shutter is implemented in camera's system to control the exposure time precisely. In this paper, the designing principle of a lens shutter based on rotary solenoid was analyzed and a measurement method for the shutter's switching time was proposed. A laboratory set of shutter and a testing unit based on photo detector was set up, and the shutter's opening duration, closing duration and switching delay time were measured. The experimental data was analyzed and the result indicated that error of switching time is acceptable and this kind of mechanical lens shutter is with good stability. This shutter has small volume, light weight, simple structure and low power consumption, and is very suitable for airborne full frame camera.