The Copal Square Shutter of the Nikkorex F
The Nikkorex F camera of 1962 was a notable evolution in Nikon cameras for a few reasons but perhaps the most noteworthy is the introduction of the Copal Square shutter (also known as the Copal Square I) found inside of it. Focal plane shutter evolution had been moving along quite steadily in the middle of the 20th century driven by the rise of 35mm rangefinder and then SLR cameras. Leica had famously used a horizontally-travelling cloth shutter. Nikon implemented a titanium horizontally-traveling focal plane shutter in their Nikon S cameras and in their flagship SLR the Nikon F. But camera engineers for constantly looking for ways to improve these shutter mechanisms. Technicians at Konica designed the Hi-Synchro shutter over the course of the late 1950s. This new shutter designed featured vertically-traveling, multi-segmented blades instead of horizontally-traveling curtains. While complex and expensive to make, the new design of the Hi-Synchro shutter was used by Copal to design their Copal Square I shutter. The Copal Square I had all the benefits of the Hi-Synchro shutter but was far simpler in design and much less expensive to make. It provided for a robust, reliable and highly accurate shutter that among other things offered photographers more accurate top shutter speeds as well as faster flash sync speeds.
The Copal Square I would eventually be succeeded by the Copal Square S shutter of 1965. That version would be adopted by too many cameras to list here and is perhaps the most famous focal plane shutter you have never heard of. But the Copal Square I is significant for paving that path forward and the Nikkorex F was the first camera to showcase it.
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