Mounting a Horseman Foldeing Viewer to an Ebony SVTE

[michael Allen]

Has anyone out there had Ebony or any other company mount one of these viewers to there camera?

I was hopeing to not have to send my camera all the way to Ebony in Japan from Chicago. I contacted the folks at S.K. Grimes and the thought they could do it but they needed to see both peices of equiptment. I'm also toying with the option of taking it to Calumet here in Chicago.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[Danny Burk]

Michael - my Horseman viewer was modified by Ebony to fit my SV45U2 at the time I bought both units. There is a portion of the viewer that's been scraped away to allow it to fit snugly onto the camera back. I haven't seen an unmodified viewer, so I can't tell if other changes may have been made.

Regards, Danny www.dannyburk.com

[michael Allen]

Hi Danny,

I was hoping you'd be monitering the forum.

Has the rear standard of your SV been modified at all? If not I think I'll give Calumet a try to keep my down time to a minimum.

[Larry Burk]

Hi Michael

I also have an Ebony SV45U that was modified for a Horseman viewer. The mounting plate for the viewer needs to have two recesses milled into it to allow the Ebony slide lock to clamp it. I sent my plate to Japan for this but any machine shop can do it. I will provide a sketch and dimensions of recesses to you as best I can measure with dial calipers if you need them. Also the top of the Ebony standard needs to be drilled to mount the Horseman knob and shoe assembly to hold the bail wire of the viewer, this is very importent as the viewer will pull the gg away from the camera otherwise. I did this myself to avoid sending my camera to Japan but it is a very delicate operation. I used a small drill press so as to drill the two holes perfectly round and perpendicular to the standard. I followed Hiromi's directions and used a 1.75mm (.070) drill and a drill stop to prevent drilling thru the top of the standard. Ebony provided me with the correct screws, they were a black and a "metal " type of thread, not a wood screw, which Hiromi said was necessaary for ebony wood. The screw only measured about 1.95mm (.077) over the thread diameter so an accurate hole size is very importent. The metal screws then thread into the ebony wood with a very good fit and what appears to be a rolled type thread. The location of the bail holder is not critiacal but it should be mounted so as to still give use of the leveling mirror assembly. Again I will tell you where I drilled mine if you like. I believe Ebony will send you the correct screws if you email to hiromi@ebonycamera.com, Ian Wilson will probably reply. I use mine to compose and rough focus, I then use a 6x-7x loupe for finish focus as I can't see the screen well enough with the Horseman magnifier.

I do not know if the same procedure is used with mahogany as that wood is less dense and softer.