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alec4444
27-Mar-2007, 19:01
When I first got my 11x14 Wisner, I knew for sure it wasn't going to be my last LF camera. The plan all along was to have the 11x14 with an 8x10 reducing back, and a 5x7 camera with a 4x5 reducing back. The other part of the plan was to stick to a single camera manufacturer; in my case Wisner. Same lensboards, same movements, etc....seemed like an easy way to retain familiarity with the camera plus share some parts.

Then I look at the various cameras out there, and think, "Wow, that Korona 5x7 looks nice." or "Gee, that Tachihara would probably do fine." But eventually my mind comes back to the lensboard incompatibilities, what a PITA it would be to have to keep swapping lenses, the concept of groping around for a control that doesn't exist on that camera, etc.

Is this really a problem? Do you use cameras from multiple manufacturers, and how is it working out? For those that use multiple cameras from the same manufacturer, are you happy with your choice?

Thanks!
--A

David A. Goldfarb
27-Mar-2007, 19:06
I try to keep them all on the same lensboards--Sinar or Linhof for the most part. It's not that hard to adapt lensboards.

Jason Greenberg Motamedi
27-Mar-2007, 19:20
Like David, with a few exceptions, I use one sort of lensboard (Canham) and a series of adapters for each camera. This has worked quite well, other than a few special (and usually large) lenses which really only go with one camera.

I know each of my cameras pretty well and have gotten used to their idiosyncrasies. Sure, I wish all my cameras were as well designed as my Canham, or as tough as my Technika, or as usable as my Deardorff, or as cheap as my Burke and James...

Ted Harris
27-Mar-2007, 19:25
Same, all have either front standards that handle Technika/Wista boards or adaptors for same. Even the studio rail camera is fited with an adaptor for the smaller boards.

David Karp
27-Mar-2007, 20:05
Just to add a little to what the others said. Some camere manufacturers make adapter lensboards for certain types of lensboards. Probably, the most common readily available boards adapt to Technika type boards. If the camera manufacturer does not make a board, you can contact firms like S.K. Grimes or Richard Ritter and ask them to make a lensboard adapter for your camera.

It works great. I have a Cambo 45SF that always has a Cambo to Technika type lensboard adapter on it. My field camera is a Walker that uses Technika type boards.

Oren Grad
27-Mar-2007, 20:15
I think I have almost as many adapter lens boards as Ole Tjugen has lenses. ;) I should probably write a book, "The Joy of Lensboard Adapters".

You've been musing about 7x17, haven't you? You might want to check - if I remember correctly, your Wisner boards may be a direct fit to the Korona in that size.

alec4444
27-Mar-2007, 20:15
Thanks guys. So the recurring theme here is the lensboard adapter. I'd imagine then, that this means you adapt to the smaller of the lensboards, right? So the Wisner takes 5 1/4" boards, and if I got a camera that takes a 4" board then I would add an adapter to the Wisner to accept a smaller board.

...And per Jason that can mess up the ability to use some lenses. But I guess that's not a typical problem. Have to say, I'm still on the fence with this.

--A

LOL, Oren, I have been musing about 7x17. But for this question I was specifically musing about my choice for a 5x7 camera. The Wisner 5x7s don't seem to be abundant, and at 10 pounds I'm wondering just how much "lighter" this is going to be.... On the other hand,it'll definitely support all my 11x14 lenses, with the 40" bellows and the 5 1/4" lensboards.

Oren Grad
27-Mar-2007, 20:24
I think 10 pounds is for the Technical Field, I'm pretty sure the Traditional is a couple of pounds lighter. Then again, I can't recall the last time I saw a used 5x7 Traditional for sale... :( ...though I've seen plenty of Technicals over the years. They often sit for a while, because few people want a 5x7 that weighs that much.

Oren Grad
27-Mar-2007, 20:41
...though I've seen plenty of Technicals over the years. They often sit for a while, because few people want a 5x7 that weighs that much.

On second thought, maybe it's just the same one being resold over and over again... :p

David Karp
27-Mar-2007, 21:02
I'd imagine then, that this means you adapt to the smaller of the lensboards, right? So the Wisner takes 5 1/4" boards, and if I got a camera that takes a 4" board then I would add an adapter to the Wisner to accept a smaller board.

Yes. I did not think to point you in this direction: http://www.largeformatphotography.info/lenses-primer/

Scroll down a bit and you will find a photo of my Cambo 45SF with a 210mm Caltar on a Technika type board mounted to a Cambo-Technika adapter board.

That demonstrates it quite clearly.

Jim Galli
27-Mar-2007, 21:46
I have Deardorff, Kodak (2 sixes lens boards 5X7 and 8X10), Korona, Wisner, and Folmer & Schwing (2 size lens boards 12X20 and 7X17). Nothing fits nothing. It's a REAL PITA. I don't have any trouble switching from camera to camera but the lens board debacle is driving me crazy. Some lenses get assigned to some cameras for life. Like the 12" Cooke Aviar. It's for the Kodak 2D 8X10. But then the ULF lenses have to work on both 5 1/4" Wisner and 6" Deardorff with occasional trips to 12X20 Folmer or 8X20 Korona. It's a disaster really.

David A. Goldfarb
28-Mar-2007, 05:54
Usually the solution is a lensboard adapter, but sometimes it makes sense to adapt the camera. With my wooden American Optical 11x14" camera, I took a Dremel with a router attachment to the front standard and converted it to Sinar, which is slightly larger than the original size. I'll probably do the same to the Korona 7x17" camera when I get around to replacing the bellows.

Keeping the small lenses on small lensboards reduces bulk in the pack in addition to increasing flexibility.

Ole Tjugen
28-Mar-2007, 06:12
I think I have almost as many adapter lens boards as Ole Tjugen has lenses. ;) I should probably write a book, "The Joy of Lensboard Adapters"...

The odd thing about that is my lack of lensboard adapters! I have ONE single lensboard adapter, and that's between a type I don't use (small speed graphic) and one I don't need ("regular" speed graphic).

Instead I sit down with my lens spanner and move lenses from Carbon infinity boards to Gandolfi 5x7" boards depending on which camera I'm taking out that day. Or I tahe them out of the boards altogether, if I'm taking out one of the other cameras, all of which have universal lens mounts. I may have to put one of those on the CI too - those lens boards are far too expensive!

Since none of my cameras use any kind of "standard" lens board, adapters are not such a good idea. since the Gandolfi boards are the smallest it could make sense to adapt everything else to them, but that would be too much custom work (I'd rather spend the money on another lens).

John Bowen
28-Mar-2007, 06:13
Yes, lensboard adapters are the answer. My first LF field camera was a Zone VI (made in VT). My second was a Wisner 8x10. The Wisner 4x5 and Zone VI 4x5 use the same lensboards :-) so, I was able to obtain a Wisner adapter to use the Zone VI 4x5 boards on the Wisner 8x10. My next purchase was a Zone VI 8x10 and I had Richard Ritter make me an adapter to use the Zone VI 4x5 boards on the Zone VI 8x10 camera. My latest purchase is a Ritter 7x17 camera and once again I had Richard make me an adapter board so I could use my Zone VI 4x5 lensboards on the 7x17. All of my lenses are on Zone VI/Wisner 4"x4" boards. This makes travel less bulky, saves $$ and frustration. The boards will handle copal 3 shutters without any problems. I don't have any shutters larger than a copal 3 so YMMV.

I think god created Richard Ritter so we would be able to have solutions to these and other LF compatability problems...

Richard can be found at www.lg4mat.net

alec4444
28-Mar-2007, 06:26
Instead I sit down with my lens spanner and move lenses from Carbon infinity boards to Gandolfi 5x7" boards depending on which camera I'm taking out that day.

Hmmm, yes, come to think of it I don't usually "grab a large format camera on the way out the door" so to speak. So maybe this isn't as big a deal as I'm making it. So sure, if I got a Wisner 5x7 (LOL, Oren, the very same one that's being passed around) plus that Wisner 7x17 that Kerik is (was?) offloading on APUG I guess that would be convenient but not really necessary.

Furthermore, it sounds like nobody has gone out of their way to get the same make of camera to solve this problem or for other convenience factors....

--A

Oren Grad
28-Mar-2007, 07:34
Furthermore, it sounds like nobody has gone out of their way to get the same make of camera to solve this problem or for other convenience factors....

Strangely enough, in eleven years of tinkering with LF I don't think it has once occurred to me that I would want or need to have the same overall camera design in all different formats. As it happens, I've managed to mess with enough different formats that it would have ended up as a hopeless idea anyway, but it's never bothered me. The variety of design concepts and construction styles is part of the fun.

I did, for a while, have a notion that I would keep my lensboard arrangments focused on Technika for small cameras and Sinar/Horseman for large. But the exceptions kept pilling up, and eventually I gave up on the idea even as something to aspire to.

But I think Ole's right: if you're using barrel lenses, the ultimate adapter is surely one of those adjustable iris thingies.

David A. Goldfarb
28-Mar-2007, 07:44
Another issue is there cameras of a single brand that use different lensboards.

My Linhof Tech V 23b uses smaller lensboards than the 4x5" Tech V, and the 4x5" uses the 2x3 boards on the wideangle attachment.

Korona made different lensboards for various cameras, so I figure that if I don't convert the 7x17" to Sinar, I'll be making my own Korona type 43 boards for it.

The Graflex boards for my 5x7" Press Graflex seem to be different from other Graflex lensboards, so those I've made myself out of masonite (they don't need to be pretty, since they're recessed inside the camera for the most part).

Ole Tjugen
28-Mar-2007, 07:53
But I think Ole's right: if you're using barrel lenses, the ultimate adapter is surely one of those adjustable iris thingies.

Shutters too - one lensboard takes anything from a Compur 00 to a Compound 5, including all the strange and short-lived sizes. :)

Nick_3536
28-Mar-2007, 10:26
I've got an old Cambo monorail. The back of the big [and I mean BIG] lensboard is mounted a 3" or is it bigger packard shutter. I've got some strong magnets. It's easy to hold a barrel lens to the front with just those magnets. The hardest part is getting the magnets off -)

Michael Daily
28-Mar-2007, 13:49
... snip...

Is this really a problem? Do you use cameras from multiple manufacturers, and how is it working out? For those that use multiple cameras from the same manufacturer, are you happy with your choice?

Thanks!
--A

I use cameras by Deardorff--8x10 OS, 8x10 new, 5x7 OS; Busch 4x5; Leica IIIa, M2.
There is no problem switching as I chose them for what they can do and how they work. The others I have sold or given away.
Michael

vann webb
29-Mar-2007, 15:18
My real problem seems to be my addiction to buying cameras in general, rather than swapping out componentry between the different systems....but I just can't help myself. Maybe I should be in camera buyer's rehab.

Paul Ewins
29-Mar-2007, 23:22
I've just finished building yet another set of adapters, this time for the Kodak 1A. So now I have Kodak 9" -> Cambo SC, Kodak 9" -> 6", Cambo SC ->4", 4" -> Post War Graphic, Graflex SLR -> Post War Graphic and Post War Graphic -> Pentax K mount. To add to that the 9" boards have adapters on the back so that I can swap my 7.5" Packard shutter from one to the next as required.

In reality most lenses will be either mounted on Cambo or Speed Graphic boards. Only the 20"/5.6 aero and 16"/4.5 Ilex are too big for the Cambo boards and any thing that doesn't cover 8x10 generally fits on a Graphic board. The Graphic -> K mount adapter is so that my smallest lenses (90/6.8, 105/6.8 and 150 G Claron) can be used on my homebuilt 6x14 panoramic which doesn't have enough room for a Graphic standard.

MIke Sherck
30-Mar-2007, 06:25
That's a big reason why I went with a Wehman 8x10: less than 9 lbs. and I intend to use it for both 8x10 and 4x5 (not much heavier than the Calumet cc-400 I've been using for 4x5.) I can carry one camera and shoot both formats, one set of lenses, etc. Probably won't do much shorter than 150mm for 4x5 but then I'm not a wide-angle kind of guy anyway.

Mike

alec4444
30-Mar-2007, 08:29
My real problem seems to be my addiction to buying cameras in general, rather than swapping out componentry between the different systems....but I just can't help myself. Maybe I should be in camera buyer's rehab.

Tell me about it. Almost snagged another Wisner 11x14 that is for sale over on APUG....with the idea of swapping it out for my 30lb. tech field monster. Have to "use the force" and focus....the need is for a 5x7. :p

--A