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View Full Version : Non-Linhof Technika lens boards...?



David Swinnard
23-Jan-2007, 16:31
Specifically, the inexpensive recessed lens boards from China that appear on popular auction sites and elsewhere...

Have any of you had first-hand experience with these after market recessed lens boards? They are certainly attractive from a price perspective (just lost the bidding for a used original (for a IV/V) that went for over US$100, and was quoted a price of over CDN$370 for a new one.).

I would very much like to hear of others experience with these boards - from an operational perspectve.

Dave
(back in the Technika world again...)

Dave Aharonian
23-Jan-2007, 17:02
I have used the el cheapo Technika lensboards and they work just fine. In fact, I happen to have one right here (11mm recessed) if you're interested. Copal #0. And I'm in Burnaby too!

Dave

C. D. Keth
23-Jan-2007, 17:25
I have two right here, both flat boards. They both fit nice and snug and feel well-made.

Robert Ley
23-Jan-2007, 18:19
David,
I have two of the Shen-Hao lens boards (read Linhof) that I picked up from Badger Graphics. They work great and allow a normal cable release to be used. They have a socket on the board that connects to the lens with a bent wire affair. They are about 1/4 the price of a "genuine" Linhof receased board. It fits my Wista VX well as most Linhof style boards do.

David A. Goldfarb
23-Jan-2007, 18:29
On a Linhof the aftermarket boards work, but real Linhof boards fit perfectly. It probably doesn't matter to the photograph (well, possibly if you are using a cammed lens), but if you like things to have a nice fit and finish and to snap solidly into place, you'll prefer a second hand Linhof board to a new aftermarket board.

If you are not using the lensboards on a Technika, it doesn't matter.

claudiocambon
23-Jan-2007, 19:38
David,

Why does it matter to the camming of the lens?

If I sent my lens in mounted in a non-Technika board to Marflex for camming, shouldn't it be spot on?

Any advice would be great. Thanks!

Claudio

dslater
23-Jan-2007, 19:50
David S.,
I bought one of those recessed lens boards from china for my 65mm Super-Angulon. The lens board works just fine on my Linhof. However, you should be aware of a couple of things. First, fitting the lens in the board is somewhat fiddly. I spent quite a bit of time adjusting the little metal rod to get it to trip the shutter properly and reliably. Even so, I have a cable release that doesn't work with it because it doesn't push the rod far enough - the short 12" cable release that came with the board works fine. Second, on my linhof, the recessed cylinder is a tight fit inside the hole on my front standard. If the bottom clips were not there so I could put the board on straight, it would be fine. Since they are there and the board needs to be tilted into place, the cylinder binds and needs a bit of pressure to put it in and take it out - it's a little disconcerting, but seems to work fine once you get used to it. Finally, and this would probably be true of any recessed board, for my lens there isn't enough room inside the recessed cylinder to open the iris for focusing. Instead I have to put the shutter on T and use the cable release to open the shutter.

David A. Goldfarb
24-Jan-2007, 07:11
David,

Why does it matter to the camming of the lens?

If I sent my lens in mounted in a non-Technika board to Marflex for camming, shouldn't it be spot on?

Any advice would be great. Thanks!

Claudio

It should be spot on in general, but with wide lenses the tolerance seems to be very tight. With my 75mm, for instance, the rangefinder focus will be slightly off if one of the lens cells is slightly unscrewed, or if the standard isn't positioned carefully against the stops. When I use the 75mm with a cam, I usually check the rangefinder against the groundglass to be sure I've set it up right before shooting with the rangefinder alone.

There are three spots on the back of a Technika lensboard (two lines on the bottom and one spot on the top) that are machined so that the board is parallel to the film plane when the front standard is set parallel to the film plane, and I suspect these are just machined to a finer tolerance on a Linhof board. This would explain why they fit more precisely.

Patrik Roseen
24-Jan-2007, 07:21
David S.,
I bought one of those recessed lens boards from china for my 65mm Super-Angulon. The lens board works just fine on my Linhof. However, you should be aware of a couple of things. First, fitting the lens in the board is somewhat fiddly. I spent quite a bit of time adjusting the little metal rod to get it to trip the shutter properly and reliably. Even so, I have a cable release that doesn't work with it because it doesn't push the rod far enough - the short 12" cable release that came with the board works fine. Second, on my linhof, the recessed cylinder is a tight fit inside the hole on my front standard. If the bottom clips were not there so I could put the board on straight, it would be fine. Since they are there and the board needs to be tilted into place, the cylinder binds and needs a bit of pressure to put it in and take it out - it's a little disconcerting, but seems to work fine once you get used to it. Finally, and this would probably be true of any recessed board, for my lens there isn't enough room inside the recessed cylinder to open the iris for focusing. Instead I have to put the shutter on T and use the cable release to open the shutter.

I have the same experience as dslater regarding the recessed lensboard and the 'little metal rod' which trips the shutter. I use it for my super-angulon 8/75mm lens, and it did take a while to adjust the bending so that the rod did not stick in the lower position after tripping the shutter, hence having to pull it back manually. It's also a matter of finding the correct relative position for the shutter for the rod to work.
The board fits well and looks professionally done.

GPS
24-Jan-2007, 08:30
Patrik, was it on the 75mm SA that you took the nice sun dog picture on SpaceWeather.com? Just curious...

Patrik Roseen
24-Jan-2007, 09:10
Patrik, was it on the 75mm SA that you took the nice sun dog picture on SpaceWeather.com? Just curious...

GPS, I am not aware of posting anything on SpaceWeather.com. You are probably thinking of someone else? Cheers, Patrik

GPS
24-Jan-2007, 10:19
Patrik Rosén, a photographer from Stockholm. I was aware of the difference in spelling but thought it could be you. Never mind, good pictures anyway. Cheers.

Bjorn Nilsson
24-Jan-2007, 10:31
GPS,
the name of the photographer is Peter Rosén. And I agree with you about them being good pictures.

Cheerio
Björn

sparq
24-Mar-2007, 16:47
Hello Gentlemen,

Is 11mm recession sufficient for a 6.8/90 Grandagon N on Technika IV?
Would anyone have a spare #0 (off-center) recessed board to sell? :)

Thanks,
Petr

Alan Davenport
24-Mar-2007, 19:00
I've bought a couple of the inexpensive boards from Adorama; I assume they are the ones you are referring to? As for the boards I bought, I found them to be top quality in every respect.

I have no quarrel with people who are willing to pay 3 or 4 times the price to get something with a particular logo on it, as long as they don't require me to pay that price for the same item minus the logo...

sparq
16-Apr-2007, 15:00
I recently bought a $40-ish recessed board from a Chinese seller on eBay. It was too big and could not be mounted on my camera. 10 minutes spent with a fine file fixed it; but I had expected better.

Bill_1856
16-Apr-2007, 18:31
I've had several non-Linhof boards over the last several years, and while they all have been the same size (height, weight, and cutouts) some of them have been thinner than real Linhof boards. They all have worked properly on my Technika (which spring loads the clip holding the boards), but not on my Nagaoka which depends on the proper thickness to hold the board firmly so it doesn't rattle around (a couple of folded pieces of cardboard to shim the boards fixes the problem).

Gordon Moat
16-Apr-2007, 18:34
I recently got a flat lensboard from one of the EBAY sellers in Shanghai. Similar to the experience sparq had, I needed to file the edges to get it to mount. I think one issue might have been too much paint, though once I filed the edges the fit was snug. Worst aspect was actually the long time between ordering and getting the lensboard.

Ciao!

Gordon Moat
A G Studio (http://www.allgstudio.com)

sparq
17-Apr-2007, 16:20
Dear Gentlemen,
how deep must be the board recession in order to achieve good stability of the front standard w/ 90mm lens when the bed is dropped? I can't drop the bed and focus the Fujinon 8/90 to infinity with the 11mm deep board. I've never had the original Linhof recessed board in my hands and one can't tell well from the pictures on the net. Thank you.

David A. Goldfarb
17-Apr-2007, 17:51
Dear Gentlemen,
how deep must be the board recession in order to achieve good stability of the front standard w/ 90mm lens when the bed is dropped? I can't drop the bed and focus the Fujinon 8/90 to infinity with the 11mm deep board. I've never had the original Linhof recessed board in my hands and one can't tell well from the pictures on the net. Thank you.

You might need to push the rail in to the retracted position. Have you tried that? You're starting with the lens tilted back to the vertical position, I assume.

Do you actually need to drop the bed with that lens? You don't with the 90/8 Super-Angulon, but you do with the 90/6.8 Angulon for verticals, so it varies from lens to lens.