Screwing lens onto plate.

[Ben R]

I'm attaching my first lens to the plate, there is about a 1mm wiggle room left in the aperture when the lens is inserted, is it crucial that the lens be tightened when it's 'floating' in the centre or if it moves a little bit while tightening the flange will it be a problem?

[Ash]

I'm sure the experts will say "there shouldn't be that much wiggle room" and the pro's will say "keep it central". I say, whack it in and see what happens.

Good luck :)

[Ron Marshall]

All of my lensboards were bought used, and all have slightly different hole sizes. As long as the lens is held securely, and parallel to the lensboard, and there are no light leaks, a little play is fine. One mm off center is not a problem.

[Emmanuel BIGLER]

In principle the threaded ring should properly center the lens on the board
Check first that the lens thread does not touch the board hole. The thread is a is fine pitch (compared to the diameter) and should not be damaged.
If not, if the ring actually touches the hole and not the lend thread, and if the board hole is slightly bigger than the ring diameter, there should be no problem as long as the lens is tightly screwed.
Here is a short metric list of the actual hole diameter for various shutter sizes

all dimensions in mm
shutter size #: 00: 26.3 / 0: 34.8 / 1: 41.8 / Compur-2: 52.5 / 3s: 64.2 / 3: 65.3

[Ash]

ever thought of getting a thin washer? or simply run a line of tape or even string around the lens, maybe it will dampen it or kill the excess

[Jon Wilson]

You can also get an o-ring from the hardware store to give you a cushion.