Korona 11x14 back is wiggly. Has anybody repaired this and how did you do it?

[barryjyoung]

Howdy folks:

I have a Korona 11x14 that has a back that is very wiggly toward and way from the lens. The standard seems small in the bed grooves. My plan is to silver solder some brass strip to the bottom of the standard brackets that ride in the grooves of the bed rails to make them thicker and therefore less sloppy. I do not understand why they are so loose. There is absolutely no reason that I can see why the grooves were made so wide. Also, has anyone repaired the gear sectors for the back tilt on these cameras? I can make new ones, but I don't wanna. Perhaps I will buy a broken 8x10 and swap them out. Anybody ever fix these?

Thanks a bunch.

Barry Young
Young Camera Company

[Keith Pitman]

This product was made to deal with Korona wobble: http://filmholders.com/wskit.html

[Greg]

Over the years have owned and used several LF and ULF vintage view cameras. Non-rigidness in many of them was a real problem. Redesigning and remaking the brass fittings usually solved the problems. It's amazing what one can fabricate using simple manual tools and a whole lot of patience. I would be the first one to admit that my fabrications were not perfect, but they did work which to me was all that mattered to me. In the 1980s and 1990s made several alterations to two 11x14 Improved Empire State view cameras that made them much more stable cameras.

[William Whitaker]

It's amazing what one can fabricate using simple manual tools and a whole lot of patience.

...especially the latter!

[Tin Can]

This Korona is also missing the 2 bottom stabilisers which can be barely seen here (https://www.pacificrimcamera.com/rl/00248/00248.pdf) on page 28.

My Konona came with them, they make the front AND back extensions rigid from underneath and can be hand made by any whittler.

They slide into place

Mine is packed away


EDIT



Expand the picture and read this

"The 60xSY; and larger sizes are furnished with detachable bed brace;;
which support and give great rigidity to the bed when the camera is full~1"
extended. F

[karl french]

I recently had an 8x20 Korona. It wasn't the tracks on the focus rail as opposed to how loose the screws holding the front standard in place were. Once I locked the standard in place with focus lock it was pretty stable. The wind stabilizer also really helps to stabilize the whole camera, but I don't think Alan is making those currently. I think in the end, if you're going to keep the camera you have to keep in mind how light the camera is compared to how wobbly it is. I loved the fact that the 8x20 Korona only weighed 13 pounds, but didn't love how wobbly it was. Found an 8x20 reduction back for my Canham 12x20, but I'm still not shooting as much 8x20 as I did when I had the Korona.

[barryjyoung]

Thank you Keith. I had one of those which I made on a Gundlach camera. It was more inconvenient to use than it looks. I think I still have a dent in my forehead.

Barry Young
Young Camera Company

[barryjyoung]

Hi Greg:

That definitely is my plan. I have a complete wood shop and machine shop, so I can definitely handle these brackets. I appreciate the response very much.

Barry Young
Young Camera Company

[barryjyoung]

Hey Tin Can:
I cannot see the stabilizers, but will look through the images I have saved of similar Korona's and Gundlach Manhattan's to see if I can find them. Thanks for the heads up.

Barry Young
Young Camera Company

[barryjyoung]

Hello Karl:
When I restored the camera I removed every screw and plugged all the holes with a mixture of epoxy and sawdust before refinishing. Each hole was then re-spotted with a Vix bit to center the hole in the thru hole of the hardware. That tightened up any loose screws very nicely. Yes, as you have said, the camera is amazingly light weight. I bet you love that Canham. They are way out of my price range.
Thanks for your response.

Barry Young
Young Camera Company