 PC-socket, greatly magnified | |||
| General specifications | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Hot pluggable | Yes | ||
| Audio signal | None | ||
| Video signal | None | ||
| Pins | 2 | ||
AProntor-Compur connection (also known as aPC connector,PC terminal, orPC socket) is a standard 3.5 mm (1⁄8 in) electrical connector (as defined inISO 519[1]) used in photography tosynchronize theshutter to theflash.[2]
"Prontor" has its origins in the Italian word "pronto", meaningready (and was aleaf shutter made byAlfred Gauthier [de]).[3] "Compur" is derived from the word "compound" (the "Compound [de]" was a long-lived series of leaf shutters made byFriedrich Deckel).
The term is derived frombrands of widely marketed photographic leaf shutters manufactured from the early 1950s by two distinct, but now defunct German companies.Gauthier [de] (which made theProntor-S andProntor SV models, amongst others) andDeckel (theSynchro-Compur model, successor to theCompound model).
Both companies' brands,Prontor (from 1953) andCompur (from 1951), shared a common 1/8"-inch coaxial connector for shutter–flash synchronization. This convergence of design is not as coincidental as it might first appear, as theZeiss organisation held a significant shareholding in both of these companies prior to the introduction of the shared connector.[4] By the 1950s, Gauthier were manufacturing up to 10,000Prontor shutters daily.
The Gauthier company's essence lives on asProntor GmbH [de], which is a wholly owned subsidiary ofVTC Industrieholding GmbH [de].[5] The Deckel company went bankrupt in 1994.[citation needed]
