6 5/8 x 6 1/8 lens board Kodak No 2 HELP

[Douglas]

Just received my new "old" Eastman No 2 (5x7).

The lens board holder does not appear to be as expected. There is a DIY lens board, but no hardware to secure the top . Bottom does fit behind the large brass plate.

The large brass plate has a lip (if that is the correct term). It is 6 5/8 inches wide. I assume this is for mounting something, but what ?
There are two screws at the top of the lens board holder.

The green felt does not have any holes where I would expect the hardware for securing the standard size lens board to be attached. I have not looked under the felt for hidden screw holes.

Does this appear to original equipment ?
What is the large brass plate for ?
Does it take a 6 5/8 x 6 1/8 lens board ? (that is the size from the lip to the two screws at the top)
Was some sort of external / internal shutter added ?
Green felt on the lens board holder ???


DIY lens board 4 7/16 square. I guess that is the "normal" lens board for a No 2 ???
Brass plate has a hole that goes through to the inside of the bellows.

I would like to keep the camera as original as possible, but I would also like to be able to mount my lenses.
Don't want to remove the green felt in fear of damaging the underlying wood finish.

What do you think ?

Douglas

ps my first time with attached photos , hope they upload
pps otherwise the camera is in good working order. miner bellows issues

[Douglas]

95147 update , as I suspected the adhesive is water soluble. With Q-tips , tissue , very little water , I slowly and carefully removed the felt from the top of the lens board holder. There were three screw holes and a brass pin , that was cut off even with the surface of the wood. The scratches were already there. So there must have been a hardware plate to secure the top of the lens board. The location of the holes correspond to photos of the Eastman View No 2 front standard.
Hope the updated photo is visible.

[Oren Grad]

IIRC the standard lensboard for a 5x7 Eastman No 2 is 4 1/2" square. Somebody has remodeled the front standard of your camera to enable it to accept much larger boards. You can get a good look at the original front standard hardware here:

http://www.piercevaubel.com/cam/ekc/2.htm

[Douglas]

Thanks Oren.
Those are better images then I have. And yes the screw holes do match.

[Douglas]

95211 Update : New lens board , without the hardware to secure the top of the standard 4 1/2 square lens board , I opted for a lens board that fit the modified front standard.
I actually like the look of the LARGE lens board.
All of the green felt has been removed.
Now onto the bellows repair , a temporary solution. Will need to replace the bellows.
Bellows building , that's one skill , that I can do reasonably well.

Douglas

[John Koehrer]

Keep in mind the felt was used as a light baffle, without it you MAY have light leaks(or not).