{{Short description|Electrical connector used in photography}} {{Infobox connector | name = | type = | image = frameless|upright=0.5 | logo = | caption = PC-socket, greatly magnified | designer = | design_date = | manufacturer = | production_date = | superseded = | superseded_by = | superseded_by_date = | weight = | length = | diameter = | hotplug = Yes | daisy_chain = | external = | electrical = | earth = | maximum_voltage = | maximum_current = | audio_signal = None | video_signal = None | data_signal = | data_bit_width = | data_bandwidth = | data_devices = | data_style = | cable = | high_freq = | physical_connector = | num_pins = 2 | pinout_col1_name = | pinout_col2_name = | pinout_image = | pinout_caption = | pinout_image2 = | pinout_caption2 = | pin1 = | pin1_name = | pin2 = | pin2_name = | pin_custom1_name = | pin_name_custom1 = | pin_custom1 = | pin_custom2_name = | pin_name_custom2 = | pin_custom2 = | pinout_notes = }}

A '''Prontor-Compur''' connection (also known as a '''PC connector''', '''PC terminal''', or '''PC socket''') is a standard {{convert|3.5|mm|in|frac=8|abbr=on}} electrical connector (as defined in '''ISO 519'''<ref name="ISO_519">[http://www.iso.org/iso/iso_catalogue/catalogue_ics/catalogue_detail_ics.htm?csnumber=4581 ISO 519:1974], [http://www.iso.org/iso/iso_catalogue/catalogue_tc/catalogue_detail.htm?csnumber=4582 ISO 519:1992] (1992-11-25). ''Photography &ndash; Hand-held cameras &ndash; Flash-connector dimensions''. Geneva: International Organization for Standardization.</ref>) used in photography to synchronize the shutter to the flash.<ref>{{cite book | title = Manual of Photography: Photographic and Digital Imaging | first1=Norman | last1=Axford | isbn = 0-240-51574-9 | publisher = Focal Press | year = 2000 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=u4rXBqSmjPAC&pg=RA2-PA234|display-authors=etal}}</ref>

==Etymology== thumb|A leaf shutter

"''Prontor''" has its origins in the Italian word "pronto", meaning ''ready'' (and was a leaf shutter made by {{Interlanguage link|Alfred Gauthier Calmbach|de|3=Alfred Gauthier Calmbach|lt=Alfred Gauthier}}).<ref>History of the Prontor company. http://www.prontor.de/go/unternehmen-firmengeschichte/english.html {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140606222422/http://www.prontor.de/go/unternehmen-firmengeschichte/english.html |date=2014-06-06 }}</ref> "''Compur''" is derived from the word "compound" (the "''{{Interlanguage link|Compound (shutter)|de|3=Compound-Verschluss|lt=Compound}}''" was a long-lived series of leaf shutters made by Friedrich Deckel).

==History== The term is derived from brands of widely marketed photographic leaf shutters manufactured from the early 1950s by two distinct, but now defunct German companies. {{Interlanguage link|Alfred Gauthier Calmbach|de|3=Alfred Gauthier Calmbach|lt=Gauthier}} (which made the ''Prontor-S'' and ''Prontor SV'' models, amongst others) and Deckel (the ''Synchro-Compur'' model, successor to the ''Compound'' model).

Both companies' brands, ''Prontor'' (from 1953) and ''Compur'' (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 the Zeiss organisation held a significant shareholding in both of these companies prior to the introduction of the shared connector.<ref>History of flash photography. http://www.photomemorabilia.co.uk/Ilford/Flash_History.html</ref> By the 1950s, Gauthier were manufacturing up to 10,000 ''Prontor'' shutters daily.

The Gauthier company's essence lives on as {{Interlanguage link|Prontor GmbH|de}}, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of {{Interlanguage link|VTC Industrieholding GmbH|de|3=VTC Industrieholding}}.<ref>{{cite web|title=Timeline of Prontor company|url=http://www.prontor.de/go/unternehmen-firmengeschichte/english.html|access-date=2014-06-03|archive-date=2014-06-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140606222422/http://www.prontor.de/go/unternehmen-firmengeschichte/english.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> The Deckel company went bankrupt in 1994.{{Citation needed|date=July 2020}}

==References== {{Reflist}}

{{ISO standards}}

Category:Electrical connectors Category:Photography equipment