wide angle friendly field camera

[Bob Salomon]

"because of the difficulty of using leneses shorter than 75mm on them"

Lets see, you place a 35 to 65mm lens, on flat boards or on boards with a cone, into the front standard, place the front standard into the camera body (or not pull it out of the camera body, and then slide the focusing lever left to right while focusing on the GG. Of course you drop the bed all the way before focusing.

How is that difficult?

[CXC]

I think you will find many more cameras that can accommodate a 65 than a 58. Be real sure that those extra 7mm are very important to you before letting it be a deal-breaker.

I use my Walker with standard bellows from 80mm (very little movements) to 450mm. With the bag bellows from 65mm (my shortest) to 110; I assume it would reach as far as a 210 focussed on infinity, but I have not measured or tried it (email me if you are curious). I also assume you could squeeze a 75mm on with the standard bellows.

I'm with you all the way with back base tilt; that and front rise are my can't-do-without movements. One appealing choice is the Ebony bottom-of-the-line, RW45, at $1550.

Wisner makes a bellows that reaches from 47-305.

If you haven't purchased the 75mm yet, you may want to consider the SSXL 80mm as well. Compare the stats here on this site.

[Brian Ellis]

Bob Salomon said:

"Let's see, you place a 35 to 65mm lens on flat boards . . . . "

Really? I understood that to use any lens shorter than 75mm on all Technikas except the Master 2000 a wide angle focusing device was required. As I said in my original message, the 2000 could be used but that's a very expensive camera and since the original poster said he couldn't afford a Technikardan he certainly couldn't afford the considerably more expensive 2000. Surely you weren't misleading us into thinking the simple procedure you describe could be used with any Technika, when in reality it can be used only with the Master 2000 which costs about $4,000 new. You wouldn't do something as misleading as that would you?

"How is that difficult?"

I guess it isn't if as you say it's just a matter of sticking lenses as short as 35mm on a flat board and dropping the front bed. I must have been wrong in thinking that all Technikas except the 2000 required a wide angle focusing device to use lenses shorter than 75mm. So to me the difficulty came first in paying for a wide angle focusing device (about $1,500 or more new IIRC, not seen often used), then in having to lug it around and fiddle with it every time a lens shorter than 75mm was used. And I didn't know that lenses as short as 35mm could be used even with the wide angle focusing device.

But I apparently was wrong in all of this since you work for the U.S. distributor for Linhof and surely know more than I do about Linhof cameras. So please do tell us how 35 to 65mm lenses can be used on Technikas just by the simple procedure you describe (again assuming you weren't being oh-so-clever by failing to tell us that your procedure applies only to the Master 2000). As the owner of two Technikas I'd certainly like to know how this can be done and I'm sure there are many other Technika owners here who will be interested in your explanation.

[Bob Salomon]

Brian,

Today the Wide Angle Focusing attachment is no longer made. If one wants one for lenses from 55 to 65mm on a Technika IV through the Master technika Classic it really was difficult.

You mounted the attachent to the front standard that you placed inside the camera housing. Put the lens on a Technika 23 board so it could mount to the attachment and then focused the lens by turning the knob on the attachment. Like the 2000 example above you also drop the bed.

Today Linhof has another method.

Extreme wide angle lenses, shorter then 72mm, are mounted into a helicoid mount at the Linhof factory. The lens is mounted on the front standard, just like any other lens. The standard is placed in the body and the helicoid mount is rotated to focus. of course you still need to drop the bed.

In short focusing a Technika Iv or later with an extreme wide angle lens is no more or less complicated then any other camera. And you don't have to change to a WA bellows to use one of these lenses.

[Bob Salomon]

OK, I give, what is IIRC?

[David A. Goldfarb]

IIRC="if I remember correctly"

[Brian Ellis]

Bob Salomon said:

"Extreme wide angle lenses shorter than 72mm are mounted into a helicoid mount at the Linhof factory . . . In short focusing a Technika IV or later with an extreme wide angle lens is no more or less complicated than any other camera."

Thanks for the information, I didn't know that the wide angle focusing device had been discontinued. So if I understand you correctly, if I want to use a 72mm or shorter lens on a Technika IV, V, or Classic Master I ship the lens to the factory and they put the helicoid mount on it. I assume this can be done with any 72mm or shorter lens (i.e. that I don't have to purchase the lens new from the factory and that the procedure isn't limited to only certain specific lenses). If that's the case then I'd agree it's no more or less complicated to use wide angle lenses with a Tech IV, V, and Classic Master than with any other camera, except of course that with other cameras you don't have to ship lenses to the factory and, more importantly, pay for having a special mount put on a lens. Just out of curiosity, what's the cost of having the mount put on a lens?

[Bob Salomon]

Not quite. If you have the 72mm you put it on an 001015 or 001016 lensboard and use it like the 75 or 90mm.

If you have a shorter lens you would sell it and order a new lens in helicoid as tested and supplied by Linhof. Yes you buy the 65mm or shorter lens from Linhof.

There is no cost for putting the focus mount on a lens as you have to buy a lens with the focus mount as well as the control hardware to adjust the aperture on the lensboard.

[David A. Goldfarb]

Focusing mounts for Schneider lenses are priced at 165 UKP from Robert White.

SK Grimes has a custom focusing mount priced at $500 plus $75 for an engraved scale.

http://www.skgrimes.com/thisweek/1_5/index.htm

This raises the question--is it possible to use a 47mm Super-Angulon or Super-Angulon XL on a Technika with the Schneider focusing mount? Or the 45mm Apo-Grandagon with a Rodenstock helical, if they are still making them?

[Bob Salomon]

David,

The Linhof helicoid is unique to Linhof and includes controls to operate the shutter as well as to focus. The Schneider helicoid won't work. Rodenstock makes a complete range of helicoids for all of their lenses in 0 shutter. They also make a helical system for 39mm Leica thread mount lenses as well as for 32,5mm mount lenses and C mount lenses. They fit to a T mount or a C mount camera as well as to a lens board.