Just getting started with FUJINON SW 90mm f8

[ryanchai_85]

Hello all,

I have been involved in photography for about a decade now and have shot 35mm/6x6 and now Digital but I am missing film so much. I used to own a 4x5 in High School but I didn't have all the right stuff and got discouraged easily so I sold it. Dumb move!

I have bought a Calumet Cambo 4x5 and just finished paying for a used FUJINON SW 90mm f8. I asked the seller what size shutter that lens uses so I can get a recessed lens board.

I got the lens for 289.00 free shipping and it seems to be in mint condition, I hope this is a good deal.

What should do as now I have a lens but no board.

1. Find out the shutter size?
2. Then buy a used Calumet recessed lens board? Will any kind or brand lens board fit my camera or are the specifics?
3. I am not sure how to mount the lens to the board is that an easy process or should I take it to a pro?

4. Will the recessed lens board be enough or do I "have" to buy a bellows (they seem really expensive).

Thanks for your help as I get into this.

[Gem Singer]

Your Fuji lens is mounted in a copal 0 shutter.

If it's in nice condition, you got a good deal.

Go to www.KEH.com

Click on camera store. Click on large format. Click on lens boards. Click on view all.

You will see a long list of previously owned Cambo lens boards, both flat and recessed.

Select a Cambo recessed board with a 34-35 mm opening (that's Copal 0).

Come back here when you are ready to mount your lens, and we'll guide you through the procedure.

You probably won't need a bag bellows for a 90.

[rdenney]

With a recessed lens board, you'll be able to do without the bag bellows for now, unless you contemplate big moves. Even with the recessed board, a big shift will force the bellows to wrinkle. But I used a 90/5.6 Super Angulon on a recessed board on my Calumet/Cambo without any real problems. Watch ebay and this forum for bag bellows for a Cambo, and grab it when you see one at the right price. Until then, your recessed board and regular bellows will work fine. Just keep an eye on the bellows if you need to shift a lot.

The lens should have a #0 shutter--34mm. Fuji lenses use the #0 up to about 150mm, and they never came in a #00 shutter. Some of them might have come with Seiko shutters, but they will be the same. That's good, because Cambo recessed lens boards with a 25mm hole for a #00 shutter are scarce as hen's teeth, though I do have one.

Any lens board for a Cambo will fit your camera just fine. Some are marked "Calumet" and some "Cambo" or "Cambo SC", etc., but they will all work.

Mounting the lens is not difficult. Unscrew the rear cell from the shutter, remove the retaining ring, insert the shutter in the hole, install the retaining ring, tighten with a retaining ring spanner (an inexpensive tool that is worth owning just for this task), and reinstall the rear cell. Make sure you orient the shutter so that you can get a cable release screwed in. In fact, I would put the cable release on the shutter first, so you are sure to install it so that it won't interfere with the recess on the board.

If you don't get a retaining ring with the lens, these are readily available for #0 shutters from S.K. Grimes and other providers.

The Calumet/Cambo is a good, solid camera that you will enjoy.

Rick "who'll probably set his up for his wife to use" Denney

[ryanchai_85]

I just went to KEH and found a 34mm Copal 0 recessed board for 39.00. I bought it. I also found a bag bellows for my cambo online used for 75.00... I am thinking about picking that up as well just because of the price.

I will have the lens next week just in time for a trip to Lake Blanche Utah!

Would this ring spanner do the trick?
http://www.calumetphoto.com/item/TY0220/

Thanks again!

[Gem Singer]

Yes. that lens wrench is exactly what you wiil need to mount your lens.

Best of luck on your new adventure.

[ryanchai_85]

I just got the wrench. It looks like I am on my way I haven't been this excited about photography in... years!

R

[rdenney]

I just went to KEH and found a 34mm Copal 0 recessed board for 39.00. I bought it. I also found a bag bellows for my cambo online used for 75.00... I am thinking about picking that up as well just because of the price.

I've seen the bag bellows cheaper, but that is still quite a decent price, especially if it's a trustworthy seller. I bought my used from Calumet back before the free fall of view camera prices and paid a LOT more than that.

Rick "who paid a lot more for recessed boards back in the day, too" Denney

[Peter Collins]

I wish you fun and adventure with your 4x5! Best of luck!!

[Ernest Purdum]

Before mounting the lens, look and see if there is a tiny screw sticking out of the shutter on the back. If there is, there will have to be a hole or slot made for it on the lensboard, or iit will have to be removed.

I leave the screw in place and use needle files to make a tiny slot for it, but many people throw it away ahd have no resulting problems.

[David Karp]

If you have a model in the 45NX, 45N, SC type of Cambo/Calumet (with the 1" square rail) this will help. You will probably have to mount the rail either in front of both standards, or behind them. This might seem awkward, but it works fine. You will probably not be able to focus if the mounting block grabs the rail between the standards. This is because, even with the bag bellows and recessed lensboard, you will not be able to get the standards close enough together to get a sharp image on the GG.

You may notice that there is a lot of unused rail when working with a 90. You can purchase used rails that are approximately 12" long for use with wide angle lenses. They work quite well, and can often be used with lenses up to 210mm for general photography subjects. Another alternative is to find a piece of 1" square aluminum extrusion to act as your wide angle rail.

[rdenney]

If you have a model in the 45NX, 45N, SC type of Cambo/Calumet (with the 1" square rail) this will help. You will probably have to mount the rail either in front of both standards, or behind them. This might seem awkward, but it works fine. You will probably not be able to focus if the mounting block grabs the rail between the standards. This is because, even with the bag bellows and recessed lensboard, you will not be able to get the standards close enough together to get a sharp image on the GG.

You may notice that there is a lot of unused rail when working with a 90. You can purchase used rails that are approximately 12" long for use with wide angle lenses. They work quite well, and can often be used with lenses up to 210mm for general photography subjects. Another alternative is to find a piece of 1" square aluminum extrusion to act as your wide angle rail.

You can also find a spare regular rail (which is, I think, 22") and cut it down with a hacksaw. I did exactly that with an SC rail I bought off ebay for about $20.

You do not need to move the standard to one side of the tripod mount with a 90 on a 45NX. You definitely do with a 47, and even then it won't quite focus to infinity even with a recessed board and the rear standard reversed. I never tested the 65 on that camera--I went to a Sinar F when I decided I wanted to use lenses of that length. But I never moved the standards to one side of the tripod clamp when I used my 90, and it was never a problem. I also don't recall the rail being too long for that lens, but I'm sure I moved the tripod clamp towards one end of the rail, leaving the long end sticking out the back where it would bother only the photographer, not the image.

Rick "for whom the 90/5.6 SA was his second-most used lens on that camera" Denney