Universal Lens Mount Question

[Paul Metcalf]

I sent a note to Kerry Thalmann (Mr. Lens), but figured I'd also ask the greater community of LF'ers. For those of you who are "lucky" enough to have a universal lens mount (or two, or three - you know who you are!), are the inside blades of your mount anything other than polished metal (e.g. painted black)? I'm wondering about flare (multi-bounce kind internal to camera), especially if one has a larger one of these devices (e.g. 4" opening) and is using 2" to 3" diameter barrel lens, which allows for a fair amount of visibility to the blades from the perspective of the film. Or is this "in the noise" as they say, especially if one is using turn-of-the-century (previous one) lenses? Thanks.

[william linne]

Two of mine are painted black, the other, larger one is silver. I've never had any problems with flare or anything like that and I shoot pretty large diameter brass lenses outside almost every day.

w.

[Uusilehto]

Mine also has blackened blades. The brass (at least I think it's brass) is starting to show at the edges but other than that, they're completely black.

Here's mine attached to a Sinar. Fantastic tool for backpacking. Boardless lenses are so much easier to put in a backpack.
http://www.kolumbus.fi/uusilehto/img/irisclamp.jpg

[Ole Tjugen]

... For those of you who are "lucky" enough to have a universal lens mount (or two, or three - you know who you are!), are the inside blades of your mount anything other than polished metal (e.g. painted black)? ...

Yes, I know...

All (4) of mine are black inside.

[Paul Metcalf]

Hmmm, well I asked the questions without thinking about what I would do based on the answers. My mount says "Germany" on it, no other info. 4" opening, and the only black is around the outside edge (and it's flaking). No indications of black anywhere else, including the blades. I wonder if I dare paint the inside and blades black? Ah, I know. I'll shoot some film with it and see if I notice anything obvious (wrt flare). Then decide. Brilliant! Thanks all.

[Jon Wilson]

Mine (2) are black.

One is setup with the universal flange in front of a wood box with a packard shutter which fits as a lensboard on my V8.

As to the other one, (not sure how this setup will work) I recently reversed the use of it so that it can be attached to the front of a barrel lens with a large packard shutter in front of it. Thus, as long as my barrel lens are on a lensboard I can use this universal mechanism with a packard shutter in front of the barrel as a "universal" shutter system. It appears to work....viewing it through the gg....couple of shots taken, but not yet deveoped....no vignetting with proper placement.

Has anyone tried this arrangement? Any thoughts or observations on this shutter alternative is appreciated. Jon

[scrichton]

man ... seriously want one of these but have yet to find one... the hassle it must save.

[Jon Wilson]

They are difficult to locate (located mine on ebay over a 3 year period), do save time and hassles, but they have a limitation with larger barrel lens as being too heavy and may strain the metal adjustable aperture. Thus....nothing is perfect....but yes, they are otherwise very handy to use.

[Ole Tjugen]

I've used one of mine (two of them were bought with cameras, which seems to be the cheaper way of aquiring them) with a 360mm f:5.6 Symmar, which is by no means a lightweight lens. But I wouldn't use the 640mm f:7.2 Aplanat without arranging some kind of extra support! They can hold a lot of centered weight, but old barrel lenses tend to have the mounting threads/flange all the way at the rear.

[Steve Clark]

The one that I`m using, was pirated from an old Saltzman enlarger. The blades on that one are made of steel. Originally the blades were blued, same type of bluing that is used on guns, I suspect. Anyway, in order to make the unit usable again, I had to bead blast it to clean it up, as it was pretty ugly. This left everything bright and shiny with no ill effects that I can see. Those blades lay against each other fairly tight, and I think that paint will cause you more trouble than you really want, with sticking and so forth.

[Paul Metcalf]

Those blades lay against each other fairly tight, and I think that paint will cause you more trouble than you really want, with sticking and so forth. Yeah, same thoughts. Blueing is an idea, there are liquid kits for guns, that would at least reduce most of the reflections. I think I'll shoot some film and see how it goes. I could also rig up some sort of flexible covering on the inside, sort of mini-dark cloth of sorts to mask the blades. As it turns out, this mount is big enough it covers the hole for the instaneous shutter probe on the packard shutter that fits my boards, so I have to insert the probe from the back anyhow (remove the board, insert probe, reattach board). I "repaired" this unit, paying only for shipping costs from a fine gentlemen at Midwest Photo.