Converting a 4x5 view camera to a......

[GPS]

Each standard accepts the back on one side and the lensboard on the other side. The Standards can swing 360° but that would not be any use when the standard is used alone, hand held.

Essentially what I described would make the discontinued Linhof Technar with the addition of rise/shift/tilt.

Exactly. So if you use just 1 standard you have no swing at all (even if you used 2 standards how could you have 360° of swing?). If you use just 1 standard how will you get the Schneider helicoid focus mount correctly focused to the infinity? A home made spacer? But then it doesn't just simply fit to the Linhof Kardan board as you suggest.

[GPS]

[QUOTE=Bob Salomon - HP Marketing;232466...
Paul, Rodestock helicoids, off the shelf, are the correct length for the focal length lens they are designed for and have the proper focusing and DOF scales for the lens that they are made for. These are not universal helicoids. They are specific to the focal length. Therefore they always focus accurately.
...
.[/QUOTE]
They are the "correct length" in connection to which standard holding a film back?

[Bob Salomon]

They are the "correct length" in connection to which standard holding a film back?

They are the proper length to focus to infinity when the helicoid is at the infinity setting.

With longer lenses you may need a tube to get the correct flange focal length distance at infinity. Those distances are published by Rodenstock and Schneider so they are easy to figure out if you need an extension. You should not need a recessed board but they are also available for the Kardan.

[GPS]

They are the proper length to focus to infinity when the helicoid is at the infinity setting.
With longer lenses you may need a tube to get the correct flange focal length distance at infinity. Those distances are published by Rodenstock and Schneider so they are easy to figure out if you need an extension. ...

Wait a moment again. The helicoid mount, set at infinity, must be in the right flange focal distance from the film plane. As you don't put the mount right on the film it must have a board to go on. The board changes the flange focal distance. With all lenses you must know the distance - only together with the board (or a spacer) you can get the proper infinity setting. If Rodenstock publishes the distance, that's good. So can Fotoman helicoid mount be correctly set at infinity with the correct board thickness. In both cases you need to make the board - spacer so that it's thickness is correct. In both cases you have to add the spacer's dimension to the helicoid dimension. In both cases the helicoid will then correctly focus at infinity, etc.

[Bob Salomon]

Of course it needs a board. I mentioned that a long time ago in this thread.

[Henry Carter]

If it is so simple to do this from (mostly) existing Linhof parts, then why has Linhof not revived the Technar?

As this thread demonstrates, there is clearly ongoing interest in hand-holdable wide angle 4X5 cameras. Have you ever seen the feeding frenzy that occurs when a used Technar appears on the auction site?

Perhaps Bob could point this thread out to Linhof, as I am sure that there is some interest in Munich regarding the future of the Technar. Did Linhof not make a prototype of a new Technar prior to the last Photokina?

[Bob Salomon]

If it is so simple to do this from (mostly) existing Linhof parts, then why has Linhof not revived the Technar?

As this thread demonstrates, there is clearly ongoing interest in hand-holdable wide angle 4X5 cameras. Have you ever seen the feeding frenzy that occurs when a used Technar appears on the auction site?

Perhaps Bob could point this thread out to Linhof, as I am sure that there is some interest in Munich regarding the future of the Technar. Did Linhof not make a prototype of a new Technar prior to the last Photokina?

Because no one bought the Technar when it was available. That is why it went out of production.

But it would be fairly easy to cobble one together from a Kardan. In fact, one Kardan would give you 2 standards so you would be on the way to making 2 Technar type cameras.

[GPS]

Of course it needs a board. I mentioned that a long time ago in this thread.

Because it needs a board of a certain (and only of this!) thickness in order to focus exactly to infinity it doesn't present any advantage in comparison to the Fotoman helicoid mount. The Fotoman can also be focused at the infinity and have the correct scale with the correct board thickness. I mentioned that ago in this thread.

[Gordon Moat]

It would help if there was something to see of what Bob Salomon is describing. A look at the Linhof website led me to this image:

http://www.linhof.de/english/images/...system-500.jpg

Seems that the larger Kardan boards and the standards look the same size. Are these some of the parts being discussed?

Ciao!

Gordon Moat
A G Studio

[GPS]

What is necessary to know is for what board the Rodenstock or Schneider focusing mounts are calculated. If it is not the Kardan standard then to put them to use demands as much work as making the camera from Fotoman parts.