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Thread: Why is the Chamonix lens board hole off center?

  1. #21
    RedGreenBlue's Avatar
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    Re: Why is the Chamonix lens board hole off center?

    Doremus,

    I like your clever design idea for getting extra movement. But to answer your question, the Technika style boards can't be reverse mounted on the Chamonix. There are reasonably priced boards from China on the auction site. That's where I got my center hole boards and I'm very happy with the quality.

    Scott

    Quote Originally Posted by Doremus Scudder View Post
    The real question here is: Do the Chamonix cameras require a lensboard with an offset hole in order for the lens to be centered on the film? If so, that explains why they have lensboards with offset holes as default. If not, then it would appear to be a design flaw. No one seems to have looked at their Chamonix camera and determined where center should be yet...

    As an aside, I've always thought that the ideal camera design would incorporate a square lensboard that had a mounting hole intentionally offset from center. It would be able to be mounted in all four orientations so that the offset could add a little extra distance to the rise, fall and shifts in both directions. Centering would be accomplished by shifting a bit in the opposite direction of the offset. I modified my Woodman camera a bit to allow mounting Technika boards upside-down to get extra rise; it was a real help at times. Can the Technika boards be mounted upside-down on the Chamonix cameras?

    Best,

    Doremus

  2. #22

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    Re: Why is the Chamonix lens board hole off center?

    Quote Originally Posted by RedGreenBlue View Post
    Doremus,

    I like your clever design idea for getting extra movement. But to answer your question, the Technika style boards can't be reverse mounted on the Chamonix. There are reasonably priced boards from China on the auction site. That's where I got my center hole boards and I'm very happy with the quality.

    Scott
    That's kind of what I thought. Now back to the crucial issue: Does a lensboard with an offset hole center the lens on a Chamonix camera or not?

    Best,

    Doremus

  3. #23

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    Re: Why is the Chamonix lens board hole off center?

    I think saying a lens board is "Technika board" would imply that it could be used on a Technika, ie offset - and if some other company decided to use "Technika" boards I'd suspect that the'd be offset too.

    Anyhow, I made adapters for my other cameras so I can use lenses mounted in a Technika board which I also use on my Technika and I've never had any problem raising the front standard on any camera enough to compensate. YMMV

  4. #24

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    Re: Why is the Chamonix lens board hole off center?

    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Andrada View Post
    I think saying a lens board is "Technika board" would imply that it could be used on a Technika, ie offset - and if some other company decided to use "Technika" boards I'd suspect that the'd be offset too.
    I hate to break the news, but there are plenty of Linhof-type boards that are sold with "centered" holes (however one defines that). And the ones that are off-set are off-set by different amounts. I found this out the hard way, years ago. Fortunately for me, it only was a couple of boards.

    Not only should Linhof-type lens board users check to see if their boards are offset, they should check to see by how much their boards are off set, AND if their camera(s) need an offset -- AND by how much.

    My cameras need a 10mm offset, but I have two lenses -- a Mamiya 37mm and a Fujinon 600mm that will only fit on my cameras with a centered board. Fortunately, I can adjust the front standard enough to compensate.

    Sure, on some lenses, it won't make a big difference, but the closer you are to the optical axis of the lens, the better your results will be -- and give you a greater movement range.

  5. #25
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    Re: Why is the Chamonix lens board hole off center?

    Quote Originally Posted by Doremus Scudder View Post
    That's kind of what I thought. Now back to the crucial issue: Does a lensboard with an offset hole center the lens on a Chamonix camera or not?

    Best,

    Doremus
    Right, back to the issue.

    When I received my 45H-1 I checked this with a center hole board that I had that was drilled for a No. 1 Copal. Using a square and calipers I came up with approximately a 1.5mm difference measuring from the top and bottom hole edges to the inside top and bottom edges of the back - with the ground glass removed. The lens board hole was centered in the circular light baffle. It seemed to me that with setup and measuring error and any slight discrepancy in the ground glass position, a center hold board would center the image. So I ordered more center hole boards.

    I like Kumar's suggestion of using a pinhole in cardboard but I'd already taken a different approach. It may be that other models are different in this area.

    Scott

  6. #26

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    Re: Why is the Chamonix lens board hole off center?

    On each vertical metal front standard on my 4x5 Chamonix, there are 2 very small drilled indentation holes 2mm apart. One shiny metal inside and the other colored red inside. Using OEM Chamonix lens boards, one of the pair of dots aligns up with the inset round piece of wood towards the bottom of the wooden front frame. But my offset Linfof style boards are all offset by 4mm and not 2mm.

    Reason for the second dot, anyone?

    FYI: I believe my Linhof style boards not to be OEM. They have the Linhof logo in the upper right but not the word "TECHNIKA" to the left of the logo. Though the logo does match the quality of the Linhof logo on my Linhof Heavy Duty Tripod... I could be wrong.
    Last edited by Greg; 17-Jul-2017 at 17:01. Reason: additional info added

  7. #27
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    Re: Why is the Chamonix lens board hole off center?

    There are "Technika" lens boards from a Chinese source that even have the "West Germany" feature correctly placed in the top right hand corner of the back of the panel.

    The front looks identical to a real one in the auction site image.

    I don't own an example of the Chinese version but it amused me to see it.

    I suspect it is less funny in Munich.

  8. #28

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    Re: Why is the Chamonix lens board hole off center?

    Makes me think that some energetic graduate student needs to put together a list of cameras, and models, and lens boards that are compatible.

  9. #29
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    Re: Why is the Chamonix lens board hole off center?

    Quote Originally Posted by Doremus Scudder View Post
    Now back to the crucial issue: Does a lensboard with an offset hole center the lens on a Chamonix camera or not?
    I figured someone had already mentioned this by page 3, but I guess not.

    The Chamonix 45n1 I have is designed for the offset hole. If you have a center hole and crush the bellows down to minimum extension for ultrawide lenses, you'll discover this very quickly. It's impossible to drop the lens into the "correct" position with extreme bellows compression.

    I found this out after being perplexed for awhile about my cut-off corners when using a 47mm XL. I had a bunch of center-cut boards from my first field camera that used those instead. It's actually good that it's made to be offset IMO so that I can interchange with my Technikas. On the other hand, if you happen to love your 90mm and use extreme rise all the time for architecture, you might want to put that one on a center board if you are binding up. Of course newer models have "universal bellows" so maybe that's not a problem.

    Speaking of which, I assume the newer Chamonix cameras are the same? I'd be interested to know. I've thought about upgrading but my older one is nice and light and works fine.
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  10. #30

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    Re: Why is the Chamonix lens board hole off center?

    Quote Originally Posted by Corran View Post
    The Chamonix 45n1 I have is designed for the offset hole. If you have a center hole and crush the bellows down to minimum extension for ultrawide lenses, you'll discover this very quickly. It's impossible to drop the lens into the "correct" position with extreme bellows compression.
    That's exactly how I discovered the need for an off-set board for my cameras. The "problem" is that camera A might need a 5mm offset while camera B needs a 15mm offset. That's where the graduate student comes in.

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