"Het Zwarte Monster" aka INKA Monorail, anybody knows more about it ?

[Cor]

Hi,

I recently obtained a new camera, the acquiring was less than smooth, I think it was my worst transaction ever, but all is well now (probably only interesting for dutch people: via Marktplaats: verkoper "Kees"(C Sassen) uit Goirle: zou het niet doen, voor meer info: stuur me een PM).

Ok what is it: it's huge, clunky, not pretty and HEAVY: fully equipped its 12 kg ! (And I thought that my Toyo Field 810M was heavy). Anyway it's clearly restricted to studio work, for which I bought it. It replaces a Calumet c400. I always wanted a nicely geared machine, and Sinar out of my league (that might change, seeing the recent prices) I ended up with this beast. It's actually fully compatible with Sinar stuff (belows, lens board, back etc.).

It's actually made in my own country, in a small city were also Cambo is made: Kampen, The Netherlands. INKA stands for INstruments factory KAmpen. I can not find any further information on this camera. So if there is any info on this camera, please share.

I'll start with a question (everything else seems quite straightforward): on the "raise"bar there are 2 marks, both with their indents/null positions: one inscribed in white, and one in green, they are 9 mm apart: I do not understand the function of it: hope that below image will clarify:



And now some of the whole thing:






Next post 2 more..

Best,

Cor

[Cor]

And 2 more|:

Fully equipped: (still need to acquire a second Sinar bellows).



And one of the back:



With leads me to the question: how can one clean a Sinar ground glass without damaging the (painted?) lines ?


Thanks,

Cor

[drew.saunders]

I'll start with a question (everything else seems quite straightforward): on the "raise"bar there are 2 marks, both with their indents/null positions: one inscribed in white, and one in green, they are 9 mm apart: I do not understand the function of it: hope that below image will clarify:

It looks like it takes Technika lens boards, either natively or by an adaptor. Tachihara (and others?) use the Technika lens boards with the hole dead center. Linhof, Ebony and others have the hole a little lower than center, so you could have two different "0" positions for front rise/fall, depending on how your board was drilled. My Tachihara had a "0" and an "L" on the front rise guide so you could zero the rise/fall correctly depending on where your hole was in your lensboard. 9mm sounds about right for the difference, but I've sold the Tachi, so I can't measure.

[Cor]

Hi Drew,

Excellent suggestion !

The Inka camera takes Sinar boards, but I got a nice Sinar to Technika adapter board on loan from a good friend. I'll measure the center of the hole tonight to see if it has an offset or not. And find out if I need the white or green mark as zero position.

Thanks & best,

Cor

[Sevo]

With leads me to the question: how can one clean a Sinar ground glass without damaging the (painted?) lines ?

The lines on mine have even survived popping it into the ultrasonic bath, so I suppose gentle washing with a mild detergent will be safe. YMMV though - you don't know what it has been through, heat or solvents might already have loosened the bond between the glass and lines...