What is the best orientation to mount your lenses?

[Ed Bray]

Another question, as tiltle really.

I have a 90mm f8 Super Angulon and a 47mm f5.6 Super Angulon XL, both in Copal shutters and both seem to require mounting in recessed lens panels (might just be able to get away with the 90mm in a flat lens panel) to enable infinity focussing on my Toyo C monorail. As the Toyo recessed panels are 40-45mm deep, it is not easy to get to or even see the lens controls well.

Is there a recognised way to mount the lenses within the lens panel?

[IanG]

Copals are usually fitted with the T setting at the top (12 o'clock), this is because some cameras use shutter release linkages. You may want to get angled cable release adapters, Silverprint sell the Kaiser ones.

ian

[Ed Bray]

Thanks Ian, I've ordered a couple of the Kaiser angled releases from RK Photographic, not only were they a little cheaper than Silverprint the postage was considerably cheaper.

[vinny]

I mount them so the shutter is outside the camera:)
Mine are all mounted with the cable release socket on bottom, facing the same side as the dark slide opening since that's where I stand when the magic is happening.

[IBICO]

I have the shuttercable almost down so the shutter release cable come out to the right side of the camera. The open/close on the top for closing the aperture blades when taking pictures. Then it is easy access when I stand behind the camera and know where everything is on all my lenses.

A bit unsharp, but balancing on monopod at 1/5 and 200mm is not that easy to get sharp even with mirror up.

72927

[Ed Bray]

thanks for the answers Gents.

[Harley Goldman]

I like mine mounted so I can read the aperture and shutter speed from either SIDE. I find the top/bottom orientation makes me contort into all kinds of positions to see the settings.

[TheDeardorffGuy]

For me as long as the cable release socket is down is all that matters. I've not broke the threads off since I started doing this. I have a 58 grandagon in a recessed mount. I extended the Iris arm and put a arm on the speed rinr that point to numbers on the frame of the recessed board. I also added a cable pull to cock it. It is perhaps the worse of all lenses to have on a recessed mount.

[Ed Bray]

Thanks again Gents.


I like mine mounted so I can read the aperture and shutter speed from either SIDE. I find the top/bottom orientation makes me contort into all kinds of positions to see the settings.

This seems to be the easiest solution from the different answers, unless you are using a camera with shutter linkage.

[Mark Stahlke]

I like mine mounted so I can read the aperture and shutter speed from either SIDE. I find the top/bottom orientation makes me contort into all kinds of positions to see the settings.
Hmmm... I like the way you think. I may have to give all my lenses a 90 degree twist.

[E. von Hoegh]

Hmmm... I like the way you think. I may have to give all my lenses a 90 degree twist.

With cameras like a Deardorff V8, you have four orientations for the lensboard.

[Kimberly Anderson]

I like to have the aperture/shutter speeds visible from both sides and I like to have the shutter release pointing towards the right. Fortunately all of my shutters allow such an orientation. I too wondered the same thing you did, but after working with several lenses in several different orientations, this way made the most sense. I am glad to see that others have gravitated towards similar solutions.

[Doremus Scudder]

To answer the original question:

Recessed lensboards often make it difficult to operate the setting / cocking controls. I have a 90mm and a 75mm in recessed boards and use the end of the cable release to do the settings for aperture and shutter speed. I can cock the shutter with the tip of a finger.

I have a couple of cameras on which my Technika-style boards can be reversed. With boards with an off-center hole, this give me a bit more front rise and comes in very handy when needed. If I were designing a camera, I would provide for a lensboard that could be mounted in any orientation. It would have an off-center hole so that one could get a bit more shift as well.

I like my cable-release socket on the upper left (when looking at the front of the lens). That way, I can get a nice curve in the cable and press in the opposite direction as the plunger in the shutter socket. I believe this eliminates possible shake better. But, I push the cable release with my thumb from the bottom. If I held the release in my fist and pushed down with my thumb, I would want the opposite orientation.

I try to mount the lens so that the shutter speed/aperture scales face up and down on the shutters that have both top and bottom scales. I'm often under the camera a bit and being able to look up at the scales is helpful. For those lenses that don't have two sets of scales, I usually leave them at the top, and then use a dentist's mirror to read the scale if the camera is too high. Older shutters (Supramatics mostly for me, but I think Ilex, et al. are similar) have the scales on the front instead of on the barrel and are much easier to deal with.

Best,

Doremus

[Ed Bray]

Just to prove what a newbie to my 4x5 camera I am, I discovered this afternoon that my Toyo lens boards can be inserted in any one of the 4 orientations. I didn't think they could because my bag bellows can only be inserted in 2 and I wrongly assumed that the lens panels were the same. Oh well, another thing learnt.