Originally Posted by
Tim Meisburger
I would use the lens that is on it to start. It is likely to be either 127mm or 135mm, which is a normal lens on 4x5 (about like a 50 on 35mm).
A lens board is a board on which the lens is mounted. Instead of mounting a lens directly to the camera, you mount it on a board and then mount the board on the camera. A Crown uses Graflex boards that are about 3 5/8" square and made of thin aluminum with a lip round the edge as a light trap. I've made then out of plywood without the lip and they work, but since you have to cut the wood as thin as the metal they are not too strong (I bevel the plywood to a sharp edge). You can buy lensboards on ebay but you need the right hole diameter for your lens, or the capacity to cut a new hole in thein sheet metal.
A crown can use any lens that will fit on a lensboard and is not too long or too short for the bellows, but some lenses will not fold up inside the camera. A big petzval, with a three inch diameter, will be too big to fit on the little Graflex lensboards. I am not sure, but I doubt a modern 90mm would fold up inside the camera, but old ones work fine. I have a modern Fuji 135mm that folds up fine in the camera.
Bellows extension is the limiting factor in length of lens you can use, with 240 probably the practical limit. For wide angle 90mm is probably the practical limit.
All in all you can do a lot with a Crown. I have two, and just modified (hacked) the old one for swings and tilts, so I could have a knockabout camera for hard trips in remote areas.
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