Badger generic Linhof-type boards

[K H Tan]

Hi there

I have just received three generic Linhof-Wista type boards from Badger Graphic (might they be the Shen Hao ones?) and I notice that both the front and back of the boards are painted with the same marginally low-sheen (but still fairly shiny) black paint.

Has anyone experienced any problems with the shininess of the underside of these boards causing unwanted internal reflections? I understand that there are quite a few ShenHao users in this forum.

It seems a lot of work to have to sand down and then respray the boards (ok, I am a lazy bastard; no, make that a lazy bastard who cannot find that ultra flat black Krylon in his part of town).

Appreciate some comments.

Regards to all

[Dave Moeller]

I have two of these boards and have had no problems due to the finish of the boards. Although the paint itself has a bit of sheen to it, the surface of the boards is far from smooth and I think the paint is "flat enough" for the given surface.

[Steve McKinney]

I recently purchased one of these from Badger. I haven't had any problems with the sheen of the paint however I wasn't particularly impressed with the quality. The hole was a bit of a hack job. It works fine, of course.

I wonder if the cheap Nikon boards from Midwest Photo Exchange mightn't be a better deal?

Regards,

Steve

[K H Tan]

Damn Steve, wish I knew about the Nikon boards earlier! ;-)

I think the holes on mine are alright, but the soldering for the light seal 'lip' was rather crappy and there are more than a few unwarranted bumps and nubs on the surface of the metal. Plus, on one of the boards, the crinkled paint finish just peeled off in one large section! So much for "made by a major manufacturer".

My fear is that because I am using these boards with very short lenses (58, 65, 90), the probability of internal reflection would be much than with say a 150mm.

Hmm, might go check out MPEX for the Nikon ones afterall. Dang!

[K H Tan]

Crikey, the Nikon ones at MPEX are only $5 more than the $30 Badger generic ones!

Hmm, too late I guess. I don't think I'll be spending another $105 on three more boards......... :-(

[CXC]

I also have a few of them. Yes, they are somewhat cheesy, but I have never had any problem with them.

[Steve McKinney]

I have a few Nikon boards and they're nice. Mine aren't from MPEX but if the MPEX Nikon boards are the same, they'd certainly be worth the extra $5 over the Badger boards. I just thought I'd give the Badger ones a shot to see how they stack up. Not so well, it turns out, but they work fine so no big deal.

Steve

[John Latta]

I have experieced light leak problems with these boards on my Wista DXII. I noticed the problem after several sheets of film were ruined. The shots were made at a bright snowy location. I had used the boards before in other locations without any problems. Not sure of the cause at first, I read up on light leaks in the large format archives and followed the advice to use a flashlight. Whereupon I discovered that these boards will allow some light to indirectly enter my camera through their small bottom center hole. The sunlight reflected off the snow must have entered the camera. So now I have taped the suspect holes over with electricians tape for a cheap fix.

After reading this thread, I rechecked my tape job and see it is something that will need to be checked before each use from now on as the tape was coming loose on a couple of them.

What is the quality of the Nikon boards?

Thanks for bringing this up,

[Ben Hopson]

I have and regularly use five of the generic boards and have never had a problem.