riateresa

[riateresa]

Hi I am new to large format photography I have used medium format for many years and am lucky enough to have my own darkroom. I recently couldn't resist a sinar P monorail camera at an auction and would like to try in out but I am not sure it is complete, so if I tell you what I have maybe someone can tell me what else I need. It has bellows, rear glass veiwing screen with grid, a lens board that has a shutter attached with aperture settings and a cable release, shutter works fine but the problem is behind the lens board is a lens with no markings that screws in does this mean that I have half a lens do I need to buy a front half or a new whole one or is this how it is, I get a an image that I can focus on the screen so can I just insert a darkslide and use what I have got , sorry if this seems basic .

[Ralph Barker]

You could have the back half of a "convertible" lens, or an older "barrel" lens that did not originally have a shutter. I'd suggest taking a clear digital snap of the lens to post here, so the lens experts might be able to tell what it it.

[Bjorn Nilsson]

If you post some pictures of what you got, we can help you better. (B.t.w. this post could fit better in "Cameras and accessories..." or whatever it's called. Try a better title too. You'll get the hang of this forum eventually.)

If the camera itself is in good order, you've got yourself a precision tool in the same ranks as e.g. Hasselblads or Leicas. It's somewhat less portable though...
From your description it sounds like you got yourself half a lens. You are very unlikely to find a front element. Instead try to find another lens. (Which we can help you with too, when we know a little bit more.)

Oh yeah, Welcome to the forum!

//Björn

[Vaughn]

Focus on something is the far distance (infinity) and then measure the distance between the glass viewing screen (ground glass or "GG") to the lens board. This will give you the approximate focal length of the lens. Then look at the aperture settings on the shutter. Are there two sets of aperture settings?

Multiple aperture settings indicate that it was set up for a convertable lens, and the set marked for the focal length you found above is the one you would use to determine your exposure.

If it only has one set of aperture settings, then 1) you only have half of a lens or 2) it is a process lens that was adapted to the shutter (but probably not as it normally would have a name/focal length written on it). In either of these two cases, there is no guarentee that the aperture settings are correct, with the odds that they are not.

But you can expose some film and see if how the lens works and see how close the aperture settings are.

Vaughn

[riateresa]

Thank you for the advice I shall try your suggestions and let you know how I got on, Ria.