Lens Board Compatibility

[Badbroccoli]

Hey everyone! I don't know if this has been posted somewhere else first, but I am interested in using a 4x5 field camera and a studio camera. What I would like to know is if there are any cameras that utilize the same lens boards so I can swap out between the two cameras. I am looking to get a Toyo 45A and want to see if there are any studio (full movement) cameras that could work with it. If not, what have you all found that works between the two different cameras. Thanks for the help!

[Emmanuel BIGLER]

Hi !

Several large format cameras brands use a copy of the Linhof Technika board 96x99 mm and several others use square lens boards compatible with Sinar boards 140x140 mm.

Moreover there exist on the market various original or 3-rd party adapter boards e.g. allowing to mount a Linhof Technika board 96x99 mm on virtually any bigger board of any brand. And also other boards to be mounted on other LF camera brands.

The Linhof Technika board 96x99 mm can take up to lenses mounted on a #3 shutter.

[Per Madsen]

Toyo makes an adapter for Linhof Technica lensboards for both the Toyo A cameras (110 mm square) and for the Toyo 810 and the E/F/G/GX series cameras (158 mm square).

http://www.toyoview.co.jp/pdf/lb.pdf

[alan_b]

I use an adapter for Toyo field lens boards on my Sinars - found on ebay.

[Doremus Scudder]

Consensus (which I agree with):

Get an adapter for your studio camera, which has larger boards, that will take the smaller field-camera boards. Then you can mount all your lenses on smaller boards and simply keep the adapter in place on your studio camera. There are several systems and a lot of different size lensboards, but you should be able to find adapters for just about anything.

FWIW, all my field cameras take Technika-style boards, which I adapt to my Sinar monorail when needed (I don't really use the monorail much anymore though...)

Best,

Doremus

[Len Middleton]

Consensus (which I agree with):

Get an adapter for your studio camera, which has larger boards, that will take the smaller field-camera boards. Then you can mount all your lenses on smaller boards and simply keep the adapter in place on your studio camera. There are several systems and a lot of different size lensboards, but you should be able to find adapters for just about anything.

FWIW, all my field cameras take Technika-style boards, which I adapt to my Sinar monorail when needed (I don't really use the monorail much anymore though...)

Best,

Doremus

To add to Doremus' comment, in my case, any lens that will fit onto a Technika style board (unless already mounted on another board style I use) gets mounted onto one. That would be anything in a Copal / Compur size 3 shutter or smaller.

Bigger than that (typically large barrel lenses in my case), and they go onto a 6x6 board for my bigger cameras, and I use an adaptor board to mount my Technika style boards onto my large field cameras.

Hope that helps,

Len

[Oren Grad]

Adapters are readily available to allow you to use Toyo field camera boards on Toyo monorail cameras and on Sinar monorail cameras. Adapters from Toyo field camera boards to other monorail camera brands can also be found or (more expensively) custom made. So if you like the 45A as a field camera, there's no reason not to go for it and use its native lens boards. It's not necessary for everyone to use Technika boards for everything.

[Badbroccoli]

I like the idea of using an adapter. That would make things so much easier. Thank you all for the replies!