A leaf shutter is another kind of camera shutter mechanism that is different from the focal plane and rotary shutter. Leaf shutters are of two types. One is made of diaphragm like blades and the other is made up of pivoting metal leaves.

In a simple leaf construction, the shutter prevents the film from getting exposed and is exposed only when the shutter is released for the specified amount of time. The Diaphragm leaf shutters are usually placed in between the lens or behind the lens (see the picture on left); hence another mechanism needs to be employed to prevent the film from getting exposed in between the exposures.

Simple leaf shutters usually have a single leaf that pivots, in order to allow the light to enter when the shutter is triggered. Some leaf shutters also have two pivoting leaves with curved edges, thereby creating a sort of circular opening. Simple leaf shutters have great precision and were initially used in disposable cameras. These days some of the most expensive and high precision cameras also use a leaf shutter mechanism, as it offers a much higher speed than focal plane shutters. Moreover, leaf shutters are known to achieve speeds of up to 1/40,000. Leaf shutters also have another advantage over focal plane shutters; namely, they work perfectly in sync with electronic flash guns, like the professional Pentax AF-540. Unlike focal plane shutters where you have to restrict yourself to the sync speed to use flash, the leaf shutter mechanism allows you to use a flash even at speeds as fast as 1/ 224,000th of a second. For these very reasons leaf shutter cameras are extensively used for studio photography and high speed motion photography.