About a year ago I bought a 5x7 camera. It came with the lensboard but no way to attach it. I cut a couple strips of brass and screwed them to the existing holes in the standard. Since then I bought another lens and made a lensboard for it. Is there some way to make a quick release instead of unscrewing two little srews when you change lensboards? A turnbuckle just doesn't look good on the front of a camera.
Hi Jim,
You need to construct a sliding lensboard retainer.
Take a look at the picture of the front standard on the 5X7 Tachihara on the Midwest Photo Exchange website (www.mpex.com). Perhaps it will help to give you a clearer image of what a sliding lensboard retainer looks like.
Sinar makes a lensboard retainer that fits onto the side of their cameras via a slot that runs down the length of their front standard. You might want to take a peek at one of those items (www.SinarBron.com) and see if you can adapt it to your camera.
I have one on my Sinar and it works perfectly.
Cheers
Life in the fast lane!
You can try looking at the Bender kit. it has a sliding retainer too and you can buy the parts separately, although it may be cheaper to build your own out of some metal scraps.
An alternative is to get an old graphic camera and unscrew the retainers from the front standard.
I once bought an old Calumet 6x6 to 4x4 reduction/recessed board at a camera show. I was able to remove all the retaining hardware and convert a much lighter Deardorff board to a flat reduction board. All I needed to do was cut down the length of the mounting screws. Works great, still!
For an easier DIY project, try "spinners" (kind of like screen door clips) instead of a "slider". Early Deardorffs (and many other cameras) used this type of lensboard retainer. I've done a couple lensboard adapters this way, and they work very well.
Tracy,
I think that the fastener you are calling a "spinner" is the type of fastener that Jim calls a "turnbuckle". He doesn't feel that they look good on the front of a camera. However, good looking spinner can be constructed very easily, similar to the one that Arca Swiss uses.
Eugene, you must be right, I was sleepy when I originally read his post, and missed that. Sliders it is!
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