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View Full Version : Newer Sinar focusing screen frame fit a Norma?



Leonard Robertson
15-Jan-2014, 12:53
I've done a fair amount of searching and looking at pictures online, but can't really find an answer. Will the focusing screen frame (This seems to be what Sinar calls it. I'm referring to the frame that carries the ground glass and lifts up to insert the sheet film holder) from a Sinar F or P work on a Sinar Norma rear standard? Looking at an online Sinar catalog it seems there may be different frames for metering or non-metering backs, but can't be sure. The catalog also indicates frames with and without "lifting levers", although this may not be the focusing screen frame. At the moment, I'm looking for information for a 4X5 Norma, but knowing the answer for 5X7 and 8X10 Normas might be useful in the future. It seems likely this is a question which has been asked and answered many times before, but my search skills are not the best.

Len

speedfreak
22-Jan-2014, 23:10
I've been searching for the same thing. I've a Norma with a spring back and want to install an international back so I can use my roll film holder. I bought a metering back minus ground glass and carrier. This would allow for the use of the roll film holder, however it doesn't quite work. The sliding lock on my norma, and probably others, is rolled over on one corner to provide a place to push and pull the lock. It hits the extended top portion of the metering back when one goes to install it. The solution would be to cut off ~1/8" off the sliding lock or replace the lock with a more low profile example.
I'm not sure if the non-metering back will interfere or not, but I know damn well that I'm not going to take any sort of cutting device to my precious Norma :)
I'll check back in if I come up w/ a different solution.

Leonard Robertson
23-Jan-2014, 13:30
speedfreak - Thanks for posting the interesting information. It seems odd no one has had an answer to my original question. This morning I posted the question in a comment on a photo by a Flickr member in the UK. I know he has both a Sinar F and a Norma, so maybe he will have an answer.

You might consider an ad in the Classified section here on LF Forum offering to trade your metering back for a non-metering version. But the non one may not fit either. I've made adapter lens board slide locks from hobby shop strip brass stock. To make the angled slotted holes, you can drill several adjacent holes, then file out the excess brass. You might make a custom piece for your Norma as a interim measure until you find a Sinar back that fits.

Len

Drew Wiley
23-Jan-2014, 14:49
I snapped my F-series frame holder right onto my 4x5 Norma. Fits perfect. The locks that hold it on are different from the F and P cameras, but otherwise, everything
else is the same.

Drew Wiley
23-Jan-2014, 15:04
I should have qualified that. The entire back is indeed interchangeable. The rear part to that is Graflok standardized in each case, so obviously interchangeable too.

Leonard Robertson
25-Jan-2014, 16:09
Drew - Thanks for the additional information. Richard from the UK over on Flickr says his Sinar F back won't fit his Norma, although I don't know if he has a metering or non-metering back. I'm to the point of thinking (maybe) the non-metering newer backs will work on a Norma, but not metering ones.

Len

Drew Wiley
27-Jan-2014, 09:48
I can't answer that, since I don't own any metering backs. Everything was designed to be interchangeable. ... but at what point? My own Norma is one of the later
ones, and I'm not familiar with the earliest version. Rails, GG, backs, bellows, everything on mine interchanges with all the F and P components I own. I can even put
my 28" Horseman bellows on it if I want to. There are a few folks out there who specialize in Normas and know a lot more than I do. I'm just a user, not a collector
... but a delighted user! There is always a bit of confusion with Sinars since so many configurations were marketed over the years, and nowadays its common for
cameras to be made up from various used parts and mislabeled for sale. And my own factory literature (the Sinar Code) does not go as far back as the Norma series.