My camera has arrived!

[Michael Romanowicz]

I have recieved my 4x5 Sinar Norma. It's my first L/F camera, and it's a beautiful piece of equipment!

I notice that the locking levers for the course focusing require a bit of force to lock down. The base tilt knobs seem to need some force too. When I tighten the front tilt knob, I have to hold the front standard, or it will flop forward. The fine focus knobs are very smooth, and the other locking levers seem ok. As it's my first L/F camera, and I've never handled a Norma, I don't have anything to compare it to. Generally, the camera appears to be in very nice condition.

Should I apply a little oil to the difficult spots? Will they need to be serviced?

I'm still waiting on some film holders, so I haven't had a chance to actually use it yet.

[Walter Calahan]

Congratulations.

Hold off on the oil till someone with your camera speaks up about the difficult spots. Usually a little wax works great instead. Oil usually attachs dirt.

Perhaps the lock downs need a little adjustment, or perhaps you're giving it too much force since you're not use to the camera yet. Again, let's wait till someone who has more experience speaks up.

Have fun. May many beautiful pictures come your way.

[Walter Calahan]

Attracts dirt. Sorry for the typo.

[Frank Petronio]

If you disassemble the focusing mechanisms (metric hex) you can clean out the metal shavings and adjust the tightening. With a lot of these cameras, especially from schools and rental departments, ham-handed photographers started over tightening the levers. Properly adjusted, nothing on a Norma needs more than a single finger's pressure to lock and hold position. Luckily for you, the Norma is adjustable to compensate for wear. Most other cameras just get sloppy or require even harder tightening.

Bob Watkins at Precision Camera Works in Chicago used to work for Sinar (and Arca-Swiss too) so he knows how to adjust and align these cameras perfectly. You can adjust the detents to have everything zeroed too. Worth the time and money IMHO.

http://www.precisioncameraworks.com/

(I no longer work on his website in case it looks different)