Greetings I am a new member and a question about Sinaron Digital 1: 4.5 55 mm lens

[milos.n]

Hi to everybody,
I'm photographer and a artist who lives in Munich Germany . For my personal work I use Tachihara 4x5 and Pentax 67.

I have a question about the Sinaron Digital 1: 4.5 55 mm lens. I bought the lens to use with my Tachihara 4x5 camera. The lens is mounted on a flat plate with a central hole. I had to buy the board and mount it on the lens. Below I took a few quick pictures so you can see the job that i did. When I put the lens on the camera, I get a completely blurred image on the focusing screen.This should be the first series of digital lenses that they made and to my knowledge, can also be used for analog photography? My question is whether the camera and the lens are compatible at all? If yes what could be wrong?


And if anybody want too see my work this is the link from my website: http://www.milosnenkovic.com

Thank you so much for help and best regards

Milos

[lassethomas]

I don't wish to be the bringer of bad news, but my guess is that that lens is not 100% compatible with your camera.

1. It has an image circle around 125mm, so it won't cover the whole 4x5 format.
2. The focal length is 55mm, with a similar flange distance, which is the needed distance from the lens board to the film to reach infinity focus. I don't know the specs of the Tachiara but my guess is you can't get that close to the film with the front standard. A recessed lensboard might help, but then there is still number one, that it won't cover the full 4x5 format.

/Lasse

[Oren Grad]

The image circle specification of 125mm is for f/8-11. It's possible that, like the 55 Apo-Grandagon, it would just cover 4x5 at f/22. But the flange-to-film distance problem is fundamental. I think the recess that would be needed to fit it to a Tachihara is likely to be impractical or entirely infeasible.

[Dan Fromm]

If the lens is a rebadged 55/4.5 Apo-Grandagon -- I believe it is -- the flange-focal distance is, according to Rodenstock, 67.6 mm.

According to http://www.subclub.org/toko/4x5table.htm, your Tachihara's minimum extension is 65 mm.

OP, have you tried moving the standard as far into the box as it will go?

[diversey]

Not sure about your lens compatibility and coverage, but it may need a recessed lens board. I can use a Schneider 47mm/f5.6 XL with a recessed lens board on my Tachihara 4x5 view camera that is the same as yours.

[Oren Grad]

According to http://www.subclub.org/toko/4x5table.htm, your Tachihara's minimum extension is 65 mm.

Thanks for the correction, Dan - confirmed this spec for the "Fielstand 45" in one of my Nippon Camera Annuals. Should have checked there first - my bad for recalling wrongly that the Tachihara had a substantially longer minimum draw.

Checking my Rodenstock literature, the FFD spec for the 55 Digital indeed matches that of the 55 Apo-Grandagon.

[milos.n]

Thank you for your prompt response,
I also talked to people from Rodenstock and they told me that with the recessed board minimum 20 mm, it should work without the possibility of tilt and swing.

I tried moving the standard as far into the box as it will go and the macro picture would be sharp (10-15 cm from the lens) but that's all.

Maybe I should first try to bay recessed board, and see what happens. If that don't help I'll sell the lens :(

[lassethomas]

20mm recess is very much. The shutter will sit very deep in the board and it will be hard to see and change settings.
I've had a Schneider 47mm XL mounted in a 15mm board and it was impractical in the long run. Big risk of nudging the front standard while fidgeting with the aperture and cocking the shutter, especially with a filter holder.

/Lasse

[Bob Salomon]

20mm recess is very much. The shutter will sit very deep in the board and it will be hard to see and change settings.
I've had a Schneider 47mm XL mounted in a 15mm board and it was impractical in the long run. Big risk of nudging the front standard while fidgeting with the aperture and cocking the shutter, especially with a filter holder.

/Lasse

I don’t think that they told him to use a 20mm recessed board. I think that with a recessed board the lens has to be within 20mm of the image plane.

[lassethomas]

I don’t think that they told him to use a 20mm recessed board. I think that with a recessed board the lens has to be within 20mm of the image plane.

Yes, that makes hopefully more sense.

[Dan Fromm]

This https://www.largeformatphotography.info/tachihara.html article says that the 4x5 Tachi's minimum extension is 75 mm. OP, please measure your camera to check. If correct, you'll need a board recessed at least ~ 8 mm.