lensboards with offset holes?

[Leigh]

It is not stupid considering the overall design.

Jac, you missed the point...

It's the overall design that's stupid, requiring an offset lensboard.

- Leigh

[Jac@stafford.net]

Jac, you missed the point...

It's the overall design that's stupid, requiring an offset lensboard.

- Leigh

I guess that points to another good reason I'm not a view camera designer.
But I still appreciate my Super Technika.
Thanks for the correction, Leigh.

[Jim Andrada]

What's stupid about the overall design? In order to get longer extension they added an additional track section which made the total height of the two tracks higher and they offset the lensboard opening to accommodate this without making the whole camera bigger. All things considered I think the design of the camera system is pretty good.

If I were going to carp about something it would be the two tabs you have to press simultaneously to extend the uppr=er track section.

[Doremus Scudder]

Havoc,

Are you sure that the offset board is not correct for your Wista? I own three Wista 4x5 cameras and the Technika-style offset board is the correct one for all three in order to optically center the lens on the film when the camera is in "zero" position. If you're lucky, Bob Salomon will chime in here with the definitive answer; he was the Wista rep for many years and knows their products inside and out.

Best,

Doremus

[Jim Jones]

That does not work with a properly designed front standard. Those have bevels on the two lower corners to match the lensboard, preventing alternate installation orientation.

- Leigh

The once standard lens board of the properly designed front standard on my Graphic View II can be oriented in four ways. It is also easy to fabricate or improvise. It may be Linhof that erred in their "improvement."

[Leigh]

The once standard lens board of the properly designed front standard on my Graphic View II can be oriented in four ways. It is also easy to fabricate or improvise. It may be Linhof that erred in their "improvement."

Hi Jim,

My comment was specifically about the Linhof Technika lensboard with the bevels on the lower corners.
I thought that was the subject of this thread. I should have been more specific.

- Leigh

[Jim Jones]

I've offset lenses on the old 4" square lens boards to increase versatility on press cameras. Whatever gets the job done is the way to go.

[Havoc]

Havoc,

Are you sure that the offset board is not correct for your Wista? I own three Wista 4x5 cameras and the Technika-style offset board is the correct one for all three in order to optically center the lens on the film when the camera is in "zero" position. If you're lucky, Bob Salomon will chime in here with the definitive answer; he was the Wista rep for many years and knows their products inside and out.

Best,

Doremus

I checked and from what I see and as far as I can measure, a board with a center hole places the lens at the center of the film. I have my 125mm mounted on a center hole board and it comes nicely at the center of the back frame and the GG sits at the center of the detachable rotating back which is square.

But it can be that the offset hole is standard. Because when I checked this, the front standard was all the way down and the camera was set up all square. So with a centered hole you cannot dial in any down shift, only up. In order to have down shift with a centered lensboard, you need to drop the bed. So yes, probably the offset lensboard is standard so you can have at least the offset as down shift without dropping the bed.

[GG12]

That makes sense, finally. I’ve disliked offset lens boards forever, preferring my coffee straight up. But this idea of providing built-in drop (otherwise not readily available) does make some sense, even if it requires brain cells to remember it.

[Doremus Scudder]

I checked and from what I see and as far as I can measure, a board with a center hole places the lens at the center of the film. I have my 125mm mounted on a center hole board and it comes nicely at the center of the back frame and the GG sits at the center of the detachable rotating back which is square.

But it can be that the offset hole is standard. Because when I checked this, the front standard was all the way down and the camera was set up all square. So with a centered hole you cannot dial in any down shift, only up. In order to have down shift with a centered lensboard, you need to drop the bed. So yes, probably the offset lensboard is standard so you can have at least the offset as down shift without dropping the bed.

There should be reference marks (dots or something) on the front standard to show where "zero" position is (if not detents; I'm not familiar with your particular model). This should place the front standard somewhere in the middle of the rise/fall range. With the front standard "all the way down," you are almost certainly not in "zero" position and have no possibility for front fall. I'll bet that the offset hole is what centers the lens on the film when you really get the front in zero position.

That said, I have a couple of lenses mounted on boards with centered holes just so I can get a bit more front rise from them; I use fall only very rarely.

Best,

Doremus