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View Full Version : Lensboard and lens help please.



mudman
21-Feb-2008, 17:44
Hi all,
Sorry if this is a bit of a stupid question, but I'm new to using cameras that take lens boards. I recently purchased a 2x3 crown graphic (yes not an actual LF camera, but it does work like its big brother) and it came with one lens mounted on the camera (100mm f5.6 Schneider symmar) and a Rodenstock Ysaron 75mm with a prontor polaroid shutter mounted on a wrong size board. Grrr. I also have a wollensak oscillo-anastigmat 75mm f1.9 in an alphax shutter kicking around. My questions are
a. are either of these lenses usable or worth using on my camera?
b. where could I get a spanner wrench to remove the lenses to figure out what hole size I need?
c.will a horseman 2x3 board fit in a crown graphic?


Thank you very very much,
Eric

Andrew
21-Feb-2008, 18:29
I got my spanner wrench from SK Grimes... nice people to deal with and the wrenches are nothing if not sturdy, though there are cheaper and lighter alternatives out there
http://www.skgrimes.com/span/index.htm

sorry, but I can't help with the a/ or c/

Ernest Purdum
21-Feb-2008, 18:40
Your Symmar will be a very useful lens to get you started in large(r) format photography. The Ysaron is doubtful, but try it anyway, with a cardboard lensboard if you have to. The Oscillo lens is a specialized item, with little use in noimal photography.

You lucked out with the Symmar, most Crown Graphics for sale with lens have one which doesn't, unlike the Symmar, allow much if any use of movements.

mudman
21-Feb-2008, 22:16
If I made a board out of plywood or a thick veneer would that work? I have access to a full woodshop.

Nick_3536
21-Feb-2008, 22:57
If you have even a vague idea which end of the saw to hold you'll be fine. People have made lensboards with fairly basic hand tools. Not sure about veneer but thin plywood or even solid wood will work just fine. Go for it.

Dan Fromm
22-Feb-2008, 04:47
Mudman, you can make a board for temporary use out of piece of cardboard -- the stuff used for backing on "yellow pads" is about right -- or out of black foamcore. I've used both.

A wood board on a Pacemaker Graphic isn't the best idea except for very temporary use. Won't mate with the light trap in the front standard.

The 75 Ysaron is a macro lens for the Polaroid MP-3 system and is intended for use at magnifications above 1:1. It is not a wide angle lens and probably isn't worth bothering with. FWIW, I do a moderate amount of closeup work with my 2x3 Graphics and have found that lenses shorter than 100 mm are too short for use out and about. On a copy stand at magnfications > 1:1, yes; for flowers and such in the field, no.

The Wolly 'scope camera lens is a highly specialized lousy lens. If you want to play, play and be happy, but again it isn't a wide angle lens and won't cover 2x3 at infinity.

As Ernest wrote, y'r Symmar is a decent lens.

A Horseman board won't fit. You want 2x3 Pacemaker Graphic boards. www.mpex.com sells 'em, so does www.skgrimes.com. skgrimes can drill 'em as needed, and knows which size hole all of the various relatively standard shutters require. mpex doesn't, as far as I know, have a machine shop.

To learn more about your camera, visit www.graflex.org and read the FAQs.

mudman
22-Feb-2008, 15:03
well good to know, I'll probably hang onto the wolly and sell the 75 ysaron to recoup some of the cost of the graflex.