horseman VH-R question

[drdrew]

i know its a medium format camera, but not sure where else to turn!. i bought a vh-r. i have the 90mm lens and cam and 180mm lens and cam, and i printed out the instruction manual and read it.

recently i bought the 65mm lens and cam but it came with no lensboard. my question is on the VH-R is the lensboard with the 65mm lens supposed to be recessed to work with the infinity stops and RF???

there is mention in the manual that the old style lensboard is 5mm shallower....but it doesn't say if the new style lensboard is recessed at all or not?


thanks anyone who might know!

[Jeff Keller]

The stops on the VH-R appear to be held in place by a pair of small screws. You could probably adjust them if necessary.

I believe my lens is a newer one (Super Horseman 1:7/65mm 152 Tokyo Kogaku) and has a recessed lens board (black).

Some of other lenses I have such as the 9cm also have a recessed lens board but definitely not as deep as the black one on the 65mm. I'll try to dig up some of my Horseman literature.

Jeff Keller

[ic-racer]

The 75mm and 65mm lens came in two different lensboards. The older gray lensboard was flat. The newer lensboard in wrinkle black is recessed. When using the rangefinder, both boards should work fine (when set at the appropriate infinity stop) If you own both the 65mm and 75mm realize that they share the same infinity stop (without room for another infinity stop so close). Therefore, you need to have both mounted the same type of lens board so they have the same flange-focal distance. If you don't use the rangefinder, none of that matters and the recessed board makes using view-camera movements a little easier.

[drdrew]

i am using the camera solely as a handheld 6x9 rangefinder. if i want to use ground glass and movements and tripods i go to the 4x5. so i cant seem to find a recessed board but i ordered a flat board....so i should probably then have to reset my infinity stops? was trying to figure what i would focus on for an infinity stop....a full moon maybe?

[John Koehrer]

infinity (photographically) is considered to be 500X the focal length of the lens.
To get infinity with a 65, you need to get the optical center to 65mm from the film plane. That's why the recessed board is needed. Of course if you can compress the bellows far enough(<65mm) it will work with a flat board.

[ic-racer]

i am using the camera solely as a handheld 6x9 rangefinder. if i want to use ground glass and movements and tripods i go to the 4x5. so i cant seem to find a recessed board but i ordered a flat board....so i should probably then have to reset my infinity stops? was trying to figure what i would focus on for an infinity stop....a full moon maybe?

If you have the ground glass, then setting the infinity stop is not that difficult. Also, with the short lenses like the 65mm you need to make sure the swing center detent is set correctly, otherwise one side of the image will be out of focus.

[Tin Can]

This all seems correct according to my Horseman catalog.
This catalog shows the VH-R but also says it is discontinued.

There are some diff 65 to 75 inf stop.

The 75mm and 65mm lens came in two different lensboards. The older gray lensboard was flat. The newer lensboard in wrinkle black is recessed. When using the rangefinder, both boards should work fine (when set at the appropriate infinity stop) If you own both the 65mm and 75mm realize that they share the same infinity stop (without room for another infinity stop so close). Therefore, you need to have both mounted the same type of lens board so they have the same flange-focal distance. If you don't use the rangefinder, none of that matters and the recessed board makes using view-camera movements a little easier.

[Jan Becket]

Both the VH-R and the 985 cameras Iʻve owned came with the stops and cam set for a 65 Super mounted in a flat lensboard, which I suspect is the standard configuration. Maybe a recessed board would allow for greater movements, just because the detents would need to be set further from the camera body.

By the way, the camera also works nicely with a 47 SA, if you want really wide angle shots. Thatʻs the lens I use most often when I shoot 6X9 on the 985.

[drdrew]

wow i hope you are right jan i was able to find a flat board waiting for it to arrive now and would be nice if infinity was already set. as i said above i dont plan to use movements. i have my 4x5 for that...just want to have a rf 6x9 kit....ill update after i get the board.

[drdrew]

update: my flat board came from china. lens mounted. problem.......the camera will not close with the lens installed on the flat board. time to search for a recessed one. should be like finding hen's teeth.....