nikkor 150mm and Horseman 45 field camera focus?

[gaetano catelli]

i recently bought a new Horseman 45 field camera and a used nikkor-w 150mm lens. i brought the lens into Panorama Camera Center in manhattan for standard CLA.

my problem is that when trying to focus on a subject, say, 10 feet away, i can't find a point at which there is sharp focus on the focusing screen. i can find a point that is, more or less, the least out of focus. but, that point is still substantially out of focus.

is this normal? if not, what do i do?

[gaetano catelli]

i taped a newspaper page on a wall, and i find that i can focus satisfactorily on the large font typeface. however, this weekend i was having a heck of a time trying to focus on my (human) subject's eyes. basically i couldn't do it. i have never felt this to be a problem with my Speed Graphic Pacemaker 45, so i am still concerned.

[steve simmons]

There are all kinds of possibilities

do youhave a loupe?

are you sure the lens is mounted correctly in the lens board

are both the film plane and lens board parallel to each other?

Is the groundglass correctly seated in the back of the camera?

You might take the camera and lens into the photo place and ask them to set it up and focus on something for you tomake sure everything is correctly in place

steve simmons
www.viewcamera.com

[steve simmons]

Van's comment may be right on. I suggest you go back to the store where you bought the equipment and ask them to focus and show you if it can be done. If not then there is a problem with the equipment and they should take it back and make it right.

steve simmons

[Michael S. Briggs]

As far as I know, Nikon uses the brass shim washer only on their SW series of lenses. Their instructions have an insert with a a warning only for this series. Van's 90 mm lens would be an SW; gaetano has a Nikkor-W and so his lens probably never had a shim washer.

gaetano, why is it with your newspaper test that you can only focus on the large font? Were the smaller fonts never in focus? Do you have a loupe?

[gaetano catelli]

thanks to all for your prompt and relevant responses.

i took the lens back to Panorama Camera Center. the owner, Fima, confirmed that the lens does not focus, adding that he had never seen this before in a lens (just my luck!).

though i bought it on ebay, the seller happened to have his studio not far from mine. after he did his own inspection, he agreed that it doesn't focus sharply. i agreed to take a 150mm Rodenstock APO Sironar-N in its stead. since he will not be getting it until Monday, and i will be doing a shoot on Sunday, he has lent me his own Schneider APO-Symmar 135mm/5.6 to use until then.