Josh,
I was just talking about this with another member over PM so I’ll tell you what I told him.
I have a
Shen-Hao 6x17 back They are made in China so the manufacturing is not like the Swiss; you have to be very careful in mounting it to your Grafloc back. Once mounted it is light tight.
It is offset from the back of the camera making the film plane further back than it normally is. So you can vignette if you use a lens too short or too long. If you use a shorter lens (like a 90mm) use a recessed board. I have shot with as short a lens as 72mm, but it was very difficult. I mostly used a 90mm and 150mm.
The film back is two parts, a ground glass for viewing and the film back itself. Once you compose on the ground glass you have to remove it and then install the film back to make the exposure. It works but is a little clumsy and the whole setup is a little bulky.
They do not all fit the same on all cameras. On the Sinar you can only mount it horizontally, not vertically. To shoot vertical you cannot turn the back on the rear standard. You have to turn the entire camera on its side. On the Horseman L series it is the opposite, you can only mount the back vertically, not horizontally. This is simply due to the large size of the back running in to different external parts of the cameras because of its size.
With that in mind you can make some great images with it once you learn its quirks. The only reason I’m looking to sell it is I have upgraded to a 6x17 back from K.B. Canham, but that requires a 5x7 camera, it won’t work on 4x5. What camera were you looking to mount it on?
Hope this helps…
-Joshua
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