Be careful with your Chamonix lens board locking tabs

[Maretzo]

I have just received the Chamonix-45 "the Shadow", after 9 months of waiting. Finally the postman gave birth to a baby Sinar. Nice caméra, fast set up et a pleasure to work with.

I first thought I had a problem with a thicker board, but in fact it is an Ilex shutter that is too large and too close to the board, touching the frame. I will adjust with a thin ring between the board and the shutter, and it should do the job.

I have tried all the board I have (shenhao, linhof, NSE,...) , they all fit without the lens, and I have another problem with a Nikkon 5.6/240 that would not enter. Finally, after rotating the lens, placing some commands at the side and not at the bottom, it works.

Try the boards without the lens, they might all fit.

We are having a stunning weather in Switzerland and it is the autumn, The "baby Sinar" arrived right on time. Thanks Hugo.

[George Hofmann]

Anyone have luck with any of the ebay sellers lens boards fitting right? I need to order a whole mess of boards and the seller "jinfinance" has great prices, but I hate to order 6 boards and find that they don't work!

I ordered 2 boards (2 different transactions) from this guy. I only got one. The one I got was way too fat to fit my Chamonix 4x5. I had to file the bottom to make it work. Still trying to get the second board from jinfinance.

I got another board from Badger Graphics and it fit perfectly.

george

[Jeffrey Sipress]

I'm amazed that no one here owns and uses dial calipers to actually measure the thickness of the boards they either love or complain about. Being a machinist, I have dozens of them. Everyone should own a pair (referred to as a pair even though it is a single precision measuring instrument). My own shop made boards are fabricated from 3/32" (.093") thick black Delrin plate. They fit perfectly in my Ebony (two different models) and in my Canham 4x5 with Technica adapter. Apparently, .093 is too thick for the Chamonix.

[Mike Tuomey]

Excellent suggestion, Jeffrey.

Fwiw, the two Wista boards I bought from Mpex at Jim's suggestion fit my Chamonix nice and snug, and the clips rotate fully downward in a tight, convincing way.

[Mike Herring]

The boards from Jim at Midwest are fine. Nikon boards and other boards from Toyo may also work.
Switzerland must be absolutely beautiful.....I would love to go there one day!
Looking forward to my trip to Utah at the end of October.
Enjoy!
Mike

[Daniel Strasshofer]

Hi, I received a bunch of lensboards from jinfinance last week. All lensboards are to thick for my Chamonix!

[Jeffrey Sipress]

Gitchyer file out!

[Jim Ewins]

I lost a lens while carrying the camera mounted on a tripod over my shoulder. The latch worked itself loose. If I must do a shoulder carry a piece of gaffers tape works to hold the latch.

[Jeffrey Sipress]

Like many landscapers and others here, I walk around a lot with my camera on the tripod. I'm thinking of attaching a drawstring type loop (like on a stuffbag) to the camera or tripod and putting the loop over the lens and tightening it as I install the lens board. I already tether my camera to the tripod, so I can use the shoulder-rest as I hike.

[Daniel_Buck]

Like many landscapers and others here, I walk around a lot with my camera on the tripod. I'm thinking of attaching a drawstring type loop (like on a stuffbag) to the camera or tripod and putting the loop over the lens and tightening it as I install the lens board. I already tether my camera to the tripod, so I can use the shoulder-rest as I hike.

I usually carry my camera with the lens facing up, if I've got it over my shoulder, regardless of what camera it is, there's only a small piece of metal holding the lensboard in, usually with only two screws (that might work loose?) I've just got the habit of carrying the camera with the lens facing up, that removes alot of the worry.

I have noticed however, that the thumb tabs on the 8x10 Chamonix I just received are stiffer than the thumb tabs on my 4x5 Chamonix. Is this true for all 8x10's? or just mine? Either way, I like the tabs having more resistance :-)