75mm on a Super Speed Graphic?

Hello,
I am brand new to all this LF stuff and am restoring an old graflex super speed graphic to working order. I have yet to expose my first sheet. I bought a 210mm grandagon and await the lensboard in the mail. I feel like a kid on christmas eve.

Anyways, I want to get a wide lens but I've searched these forums and read that a 90mm is the widest that can be used on a super speed graphic. Other posts allude to the usability of a 75mm lens by dropping the focusing bed and raising the lens in the front mount. Is this really possible and does this method restrict the lens' usability to any major degree??

I am quite the super wide freak and already have dreams about the schneider 47mm (do these things really have no barrel distortion??). I feel the 90mm just won't be wide enough (similar to a 28mm on 35mm?) and i'm pushing for a 75mm if it'll work. I'll probably focus on landscapes with the LF camera but i'm crazy enough to try shooting stuff like lightning, caves, birds in flight and breaching whales (yes, even with a super wide lens)!!

Because i'm a nutcase like that, I will want a fast lens (for night focusing and wide aperture use). Do any of these perform well wide open? I was leaning towards the 75mm f/4.5 nikkor as it is faster and cheaper than its german counterparts. I also shoot nikon slr's and love their glass. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance!

Cheers,

Chris

I don't think that a 75mm will work very well. A 90mm is ok on a Super but the bellows is quite compressed and restricts movement. I seem to recall someone using a 75mm with a recessed lensboard but I don't have personal experience with a lens that short on a Super.

Hi Chris & welcome!

The 100mm Kodak Wide Field Ektar might be an easier fit for the Speed Graphic.

Good luck!

The Super is a different animal, but on a standard Speed Graphic I have used a 65mm Super Angulon by dropping the bed (to get it out of the image area). The lens is on the inner focusing rails so no problems there. Might be a little soft wide open. Anyone tried that?

I have a Komura 75mm that I use successfully on my Super Graphic, and due to the design of the lens, it does not have to be put on the "inner" rail, rather it focuses just fine on the "focusing" part of the camera rails and the bed does not have to be dropped for horizontal shots.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Gene McCluney

I have a Komura 75mm that I use successfully on my Super Graphic, and due to the design of the lens, it does not have to be put on the "inner" rail, rather it focuses just fine on the "focusing" part of the camera rails and the bed does not have to be dropped for horizontal shots.

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Gene,

That lens sounds perfect. I want one!

EDIT: With a bit of research, I found out that the Komura is a retrofocus design. It's flange to film distance at infinity is 100mm. That explains a lot on the Super Speed Graphic. It also confirms what I said earlier about the Kodak Wide Field Ektar working well on the Super Speed Graphic. Or my 1953 Pacemaker Speed Graphic. :D