fishbulb
30-Jan-2015, 18:19
Well, I broke my Sinar F front standard. Due to the design of these, they can easily be broken if over tightened, or even just during regular use due to the 30 year old plastic and the thinness of the weak area.
128756 128757
So, after reviewing the Sinar F service manual I devised a plan to buy an extra Sinar F rear standard and convert it to work as a front standard. There are several ways of doing this, including just putting the extra rear standard on the front and connecting the bellows. Easy to do, no tools needed, but all the knobs are on the wrong side. So I decided to use the original front frame, and connect it to the monorail clamp of the extra rear standard.
When my eBay rear standard arrived, however, there was a surprise. I didn't notice it in the photos, but this rear standard was slightly different than my old one. Sinar must have changed the design mid way through it's life. Indeed, the service manual confirms this. So ideally, try to find a rear standard the same as your old one.
As shown below there are subtle differences. More Phillips screws, black instead of aluminum screws and sides, and most importantly the gear scale is on the opposite side of the rail clamp! Oh well, live and learn. One big advantage of the first generation F standard is that it has about 1.5cm more right shift on the rear standard (4.5cm vs 2.5cm) because the first generation F lacks the umbrella attachment hole (for a compendium shade or whatever accessory you'd put here). Note that these are both F standards, not F1 or F2 standards.
128758 128759
128756 128757
So, after reviewing the Sinar F service manual I devised a plan to buy an extra Sinar F rear standard and convert it to work as a front standard. There are several ways of doing this, including just putting the extra rear standard on the front and connecting the bellows. Easy to do, no tools needed, but all the knobs are on the wrong side. So I decided to use the original front frame, and connect it to the monorail clamp of the extra rear standard.
When my eBay rear standard arrived, however, there was a surprise. I didn't notice it in the photos, but this rear standard was slightly different than my old one. Sinar must have changed the design mid way through it's life. Indeed, the service manual confirms this. So ideally, try to find a rear standard the same as your old one.
As shown below there are subtle differences. More Phillips screws, black instead of aluminum screws and sides, and most importantly the gear scale is on the opposite side of the rail clamp! Oh well, live and learn. One big advantage of the first generation F standard is that it has about 1.5cm more right shift on the rear standard (4.5cm vs 2.5cm) because the first generation F lacks the umbrella attachment hole (for a compendium shade or whatever accessory you'd put here). Note that these are both F standards, not F1 or F2 standards.
128758 128759