I like to have the aperture/shutter speeds visible from both sides and I like to have the shutter release pointing towards the right. Fortunately all of my shutters allow such an orientation. I too wondered the same thing you did, but after working with several lenses in several different orientations, this way made the most sense. I am glad to see that others have gravitated towards similar solutions.
To answer the original question:
Recessed lensboards often make it difficult to operate the setting / cocking controls. I have a 90mm and a 75mm in recessed boards and use the end of the cable release to do the settings for aperture and shutter speed. I can cock the shutter with the tip of a finger.
I have a couple of cameras on which my Technika-style boards can be reversed. With boards with an off-center hole, this give me a bit more front rise and comes in very handy when needed. If I were designing a camera, I would provide for a lensboard that could be mounted in any orientation. It would have an off-center hole so that one could get a bit more shift as well.
I like my cable-release socket on the upper left (when looking at the front of the lens). That way, I can get a nice curve in the cable and press in the opposite direction as the plunger in the shutter socket. I believe this eliminates possible shake better. But, I push the cable release with my thumb from the bottom. If I held the release in my fist and pushed down with my thumb, I would want the opposite orientation.
I try to mount the lens so that the shutter speed/aperture scales face up and down on the shutters that have both top and bottom scales. I'm often under the camera a bit and being able to look up at the scales is helpful. For those lenses that don't have two sets of scales, I usually leave them at the top, and then use a dentist's mirror to read the scale if the camera is too high. Older shutters (Supramatics mostly for me, but I think Ilex, et al. are similar) have the scales on the front instead of on the barrel and are much easier to deal with.
Best,
Doremus
Just to prove what a newbie to my 4x5 camera I am, I discovered this afternoon that my Toyo lens boards can be inserted in any one of the 4 orientations. I didn't think they could because my bag bellows can only be inserted in 2 and I wrongly assumed that the lens panels were the same. Oh well, another thing learnt.
Bookmarks