Can I use my old Schneider lenses for a Nagaoka Seisakusho 4x5?

[fotojohanna]

Hello! I'm going to buy a field camera for shooting most portraits on my trips. And I am thinking of getting a Nagaoka Seisakusho 4x5. Today I have a Sinar 4x5 and 5 different Schneider lenses that are mounted on lens boards that are 14x14 cm. It seems like the lens board for the Nagaoka Seisakusho are smaller? BUT if I get a smaller lens board is it just to mount the lenses on the new lens board?

/Johanna

[jp]

Welcome.
If your lenses are the DB kind, they pretty much need to be used with the Sinar system as they lack the shutter.
If your lenses are stock Schneider with shutters, you can remount them in lensboards that are drilled for the shutter on your lens.

[locutus]

So, it depends.

On Sinar you have 2 options for a shutter mechanism, either Sinars own shutter which is on the front standard and shared with all lenses (DB system), lenses mounted for this system look like:

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The other mounting is that each lens has its own shutter, which looks like:

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Note the shutter speed and aperture selection on the lens barrel.

If you have lenses with their own shutters you can remount them on Linhof type boards, those will fit the Nagaoka.

For the Sinar you could then get a Sinar-board to Linhof-board adapter so you could use the lenses on both cameras.

Hope it helps :-)

[fotojohanna]

Thank you! And thank you for your answer! Ok I see! I bought this camera used a couple of years ago so it is a mix of lenses both with extra shutter and probably the DB one you are mentioning. Hm. I have to go thru them all tomorrow then and sort it out. Thank you again for your answer!

[fotojohanna]

Thank you for answering @locutus and thanks for the pics! I guess the 90 mm and my 180 mm lenses are none DB system. So That's good news then :) But maybe the 180 are to "tele photo lens" for the Nagaoka Seisakusho?

Anyway this is how my 90 mm looks like:
163761

[locutus]

Yup! thats a lens on shutter, so you could remount it on a Linhof board (very easy to do).

a 180mm is a normal on 5x4 and the Nagoaka should have the bellows extension to focus it.

For the 90 you might have problems though, but i have no idea what the minimum bellows extension of that camera is. You can always just try and get a tape measurer.

[Bob Salomon]

Yup! thats a lens on shutter, so you could remount it on a Linhof board (very easy to do).

a 180mm is a normal on 5x4 and the Nagoaka should have the bellows extension to focus it.

For the 90 you might have problems though, but i have no idea what the minimum bellows extension of that camera is. You can always just try and get a tape measurer.

Technically a 180 is a normal lens for a 57 camera. 135 and 150 are the common normal lenses for a 45 camera.

[Pere Casals]

Hello! I'm going to buy a field camera for shooting most portraits on my trips. And I am thinking of getting a Nagaoka Seisakusho 4x5. Today I have a Sinar 4x5 and 5 different Schneider lenses that are mounted on lens boards that are 14x14 cm. It seems like the lens board for the Nagaoka Seisakusho are smaller? BUT if I get a smaller lens board is it just to mount the lenses on the new lens board?

/Johanna

Hello Johanna,

This is a common problem... having several cameras with different lens board design.

For convenience you should mount the lenses in the smaller lens board type and make an adapter that allows to mount the smaller lens board to the other camera.

You may take an spare Sinar board and modify it to mount on it a Nagaoka Seisakusho board. So just attach a DIY Nagaoka Seisakusho receptacle on a Sinar board, and solved !!!


In my case have Sinar and CAMBO, so I made a 3D printed adapter I place in the CAMBO to allow mounting Sinar lens boards:

163762

163763

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(Note still not finished... lacking some metal parts to secure the Sinar board in the CAMBO adapter)

So I mount Sinar on CAMBO, while you have to mount Nagaoka on Sinar...

I made a 3D Printer part because I use SolidWorks often and it was straight for me, but IMHO some wood parts bolted on a Sinar board would allow you to mount the Nagaoka Seisakusho board on a Sinar board, just check that there is no light leak, and no alignment is lost.

Best Regards.

[Pere Casals]

Technically a 180 is a normal lens for a 57 camera. 135 and 150 are the common normal lenses for a 45 camera.

Hello Bob,

I guess that there is bit different criterion for LF compared with 35mm film, as 135mm LF has same angle of view than 36/32/38mm with 35mm, depending if we consider diagonal, V or H. This is a bit wide... but...

...but this is for a distant subject... and as we provide bellows extension for a near subject we have a more normal than wide view with the 135mm lens... I've just realized that!!!

Until know I also was thinking that normal for 45 was longuer than 150mm...

Regards

[hporter]

Johanna,

It has been a while since I have used my Nagaoka, but your question spurred my curiosity.

My Nagaoka compresses to roughly 2-3/4".

163766

For giggles, I put my 90mm Super Angulon on my camera and it focuses at infinity with no issues. I also tried an old Wollensak 65mm that I use on my 2x3 Graflex cameras; but it is too short to focus at infinity.

My camera is a bit beat up, but still works fine. It is almost silly how light and portable these cameras are.

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Good luck with your search for your new camera.

Harold

[hporter]

Johanna,

I found this brochure online somewhere, it has some of the specifications for the camera. You might find it useful.

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[Peter Collins]

Welcome, Johanna!

You might look for Linhof Technika "clones" lens boards made in China. I needed some and recently purchased 4 lens boards for $50USD (with shipping included!) from a member of this forum. The lens boards I got have 'Shen Hao' on the film side. The finish on the boards from China is very good. They fit my Chamonix 45N-2 perfectly (Chamonix 45 cameras use Linhof boards, clones, etc.).

[cowanw]

There is a useful chart in Wiki. but it does not copy paste here very orderly.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normal_lens

[Pere Casals]

Hello Bill,

Anyway in LF the normal lens definition is a bit elastic because "unit focusing". "Normal" for landscape is a shorter focal than for portrait.

For portrait you give bellows extension to get focus, so the subject projection gets larger, and the negative takes a narrower angle of view for near subjects.

It also happens with some MF cameras like RB67, but not with Pentax 67.

I discovered that yesterday...

Regards

[Pere Casals]

Hello! I'm going to buy a field camera for shooting most portraits on my trips. And I am thinking of getting a Nagaoka Seisakusho 4x5. Today I have a Sinar 4x5 and 5 different Schneider lenses that are mounted on lens boards that are 14x14 cm. It seems like the lens board for the Nagaoka Seisakusho are smaller? BUT if I get a smaller lens board is it just to mount the lenses on the new lens board?

/Johanna

If Nagaoka is compatible with Linhof boards then this is a solution to mount lenses in both cameras.

163775

[fotojohanna]

Technically a 180 is a normal lens for a 57 camera. 135 and 150 are the common normal lenses for a 45 camera.

Thanks for answers Bob! Oh I thought 150 was "normal" on these cameras swell. So thanks for letting me know that :)

[fotojohanna]

Thats awesome @hporter! Thank you!!

[fotojohanna]

Johanna,

It has been a while since I have used my Nagaoka, but your question spurred my curiosity.

My Nagaoka compresses to roughly 2-3/4".

163766

For giggles, I put my 90mm Super Angulon on my camera and it focuses at infinity with no issues. I also tried an old Wollensak 65mm that I use on my 2x3 Graflex cameras; but it is too short to focus at infinity.

My camera is a bit beat up, but still works fine. It is almost silly how light and portable these cameras are.

163767
163768
163769

Good luck with your search for your new camera.

Harold

Thanks you for your answer! Thant s good to know! So it seems like I can use both my 90 and 180 mm lenses then :) So now I just have to get the camera and then look for lens board ;)

[fotojohanna]

If Nagaoka is compatible with Linhof boards then this is a solution to mount lenses in both cameras.

163775

Thank you @Pere Casals! I will definitely look that up!

[hporter]

Johanna,

You are very welcome.

Not to dissuade you on your camera choice, but have you considered one of the new Intrepid cameras?
https://intrepidcamera.co.uk

I assume that you are drawn to the Nagaoka for it's small size and weight. The Intrepid cameras seem to be small and lightweight too. The reason I mention this is that the bellows on these old Japanese cameras were not very robust. Mine, though still light tight, seem to be getting rather fragile. So please be careful to have any potential seller truthfully tell you the condition of the bellows.

Looking at my camera again today, I thought that the Intrepid as a brand new camera probably does not cost much more than a set of replacement bellows for the Nagaoka would. And at that price point I wouldn't be afraid to throw it in a pack and go outdoors.

Harold

[fotojohanna]

Johanna,

You are very welcome.

Not to dissuade you on your camera choice, but have you considered one of the new Intrepid cameras?
https://intrepidcamera.co.uk

I assume that you are drawn to the Nagaoka for it's small size and weight. The Intrepid cameras seem to be small and lightweight too. The reason I mention this is that the bellows on these old Japanese cameras were not very robust. Mine, though still light tight, seem to be getting rather fragile. So please be careful to have any potential seller truthfully tell you the condition of the bellows.

Looking at my camera again today, I thought that the Intrepid as a brand new camera probably does not cost much more than a set of replacement bellows for the Nagaoka would. And at that price point I wouldn't be afraid to throw it in a pack and go outdoors.

Harold


Harold!
I am speechless. OH MY DEAR GOD! I absolutley LOVE that camera on your link! I am so looking up that one! I just want a camera that works and don't break so you have a poont in buying vintage camera.
Thank tou so much for all answers, link and great tips! Thank you!

[hporter]

Johanna,

Yes, I am very interested in it too.

It is not finely finished, and doesn't have all the movements of some other field cameras. But it has enough movements for what I would use it for and it looks to be a fairly practical camera for toting around with you. And I really think I need a view camera with dark blue bellows!

I hope they come out with the 8x10 version soon, as that would clinch the deal for me. I saw on the web that they developed a 4x5 reducing back for their 8x10 prototype camera. That would be useful for about 95% of what I would use a view camera for. And if they made the front standard large enough to fit a packard shutter inside the bellows - I would be in heaven.

Harold