Bright screen for Technikardan 45S

[AlexLF]

I take landscapes and architecture/interiors photos with Linhof Technikardan 45S. I don't have any problem composing an image with 135 lens. But it becomes almost "blind photography" when I use 75 and 55 lenses. So I looked at bright screens. B&H has Beattie intenscreens in stock and also there's Linhof fresnel ground glass. But is one of these going to help? And which one is better?

Thank you.

[Bob Salomon]

The Linhof fresnel will make a big difference. And, if your camera is more then 10 years old, the latest Linhof ground glass will also help.

[IanG]

Every one has their favourites. I have a Beattie screen on one of my 10x8's and it's excellent, I can easily focus an f16 Ross Protar in average room lighting.

I use a Crown Graphic hand-held and even with a good plain screen it's almost impossible to focus with wider lenses, even a 90mm f6.8 Angulon. But when I fitted a fresnel to the rear of the screen the difference was a gain in over 2 stops in brightness. Now I can easily focus my 90mm Angulon and a 75mm f8 Super Angulon, even indoors.

About 18 months ago I compared the screens I had and measured the brightness Ifound over 3 stops difference between the integral one piece screen/fresnel of my Wista and the plain screen in my Crown Graphic, the screen in my Cambo was just over 2 stops brighter, this it's a screen with added fresnel.

If you don't mind paying the far higher rice for a Beattie or Maxwell screen then these are the best option, but adding a fresnel to your current screen isn't far behind and significantly cheaper.

Ian

[RPNugent]

I have both and there is no major difference to my eye between them.

The Beattie has had some comments about hot weather or cold weather extreme peformance issues, but I haven't had any problems.

[Arne Croell]

The Beattie has had some comments about hot weather or cold weather extreme peformance issues, but I haven't had any problems.

Thats not the Beattie, thats the Bosscreen.

[VictoriaPerelet]

There's something "special" about TK, or maybe cameras with small lens boards overall, I see quite a lot of posts from people with cameras with small lens boards asking same questions. Most of the times I use Sinar (F2 & P2) with Sinar GG & Fresnel& Bino Viewer. I have absolutely no problems focusing 72mm + Center filter+ample shifts in dim environments using Sinar binocular viewer, biggest advantage I presume is variable mirror angle adjustment.

With TK45S, I used stock GG, stock Fresnel, some kind of fancy plastic Fresnel/GG combo, Linhof Monocular viewer - just nowhere close. I ended up having Sinar GG+Fresnel+dark velcro'ed "bellows" between Mono viewer & camera to be able to swing whole Mono viewer assembly to cover image, but that's unpretty.

Attaching sliding digital back assembly on TK does simplify composing/focusing but ruins a the whole idea of field/lightweight setup.

Lenses 120mm+ no problem.

PS. Sinar used to have Linhof adapter plate for bino viewer, if anybody has drawings or molds - please post.

[RPNugent]

Arne
You are right it was teh Bosscreen with the wax issue. My mistake. Getting older and more forgetful I guess.

[AlexLF]

The Linhof fresnel will make a big difference. And, if your camera is more then 10 years old, the latest Linhof ground glass will also help.

It's 7 years old now... Time flies!

[AlexLF]

Thank you all. So, the Beattie would be my choice. And I will also look at Linhof 45 Focus/Metering Bellows.

[IanG]

Only a rough montage of two shots I took while trying a fresnel on my Crown Graphic, the right side is with the fresnel, the srceen was on I bought from Steve Hopf.

As Bob Salomon says adding a fresnel should make a big diference to overall screen brightness.

Ian

[Brian Ellis]

I don't think there's anything peculiar to the Technikardan in terms of brightness, ease of focus, etc. when it comes to viewing screens, at least there wasn't to the Technikardan I used to own. There's been a huge number of threads here about viewing screens in general, you might want to take a look at some of them if you haven't already.

FWIW, I switched from the viewing screen that came with my Technikardan (a Linhof plain ground glass screen, much older than 10 years now) to a BosScreen and the improvement was huge. I never had the wax issue others have mentioned with it. I also had a Beattie screen on my Master Technika and didn't care for it, I replaced it with a Maxwell which I thought was a significant improvement. I've owed other kinds of screens on other cameras, e.g. the OE Fresnels on Tachiharas, Ebonys, Chamonix, and Shen Hao. I thought the Maxwell screen was the best of the bunch, followed by the BosScreen. However, it's my understanding that BosScreens are no longer made. I never used a Linhof Fresnel.

[percepts]

I have a TK45S and used a bosscreen for a while. It was undoubtedly a lot brighter. But brightness isn't everything. It is the ability to focus accurately and I found the bosscreen difficult to assess focus. The original Linhof GG screen seems to snap in or out of focus much more easily. The grain in a GG does this. Remove the grain as in bosscreen and whilst it is lighter you really must use a loupe to see when it is focussed.
A fresnel on the other hand, is designed to focus light to a point which is not on the GG. So while it will make the whole screen look brighter from a distance it can make focussing with a loupe tricky because on a TK it sits on the viewing side of of GG. It really comes into its own with the reflex viewer where it focusses the whole GG into the eyepiece of the viewer which has 2x magnification. And with the original Linhof GG things just seem to snap in or out of focus. I rarely use a loupe for fine focus with this setup.

[Bob Salomon]

I have a TK45S and used a bosscreen for a while. It was undoubtedly a lot brighter. But brightness isn't everything. It is the ability to focus accurately and I found the bosscreen difficult to assess focus. The original Linhof GG screen seems to snap in or out of focus much more easily. The grain in a GG does this. Remove the grain as in bosscreen and whilst it is lighter you really must use a loupe to see when it is focussed.
A fresnel on the other hand, is designed to focus light to a point which is not on the GG. So while it will make the whole screen look brighter from a distance it can make focussing with a loupe tricky because on a TK it sits on the viewing side of of GG. It really comes into its own with the reflex viewer where it focusses the whole GG into the eyepiece of the viewer which has 2x magnification. And with the original Linhof GG things just seem to snap in or out of focus. I rarely use a loupe for fine focus with this setup.

The instructions for use with both the Linhof Right Angle Viewer and the Linhof Focus/Metering bellows both require a fresnel.

Focusing with a good fresnel is very easy with a good loupe as you focus the eyepiece of the loupe on the grain of the ground glass. Not just place the loupe on the fresnel. Once you have focused the loupe on the grain of the gg things will still snap in and out of focus.

The Linhof gg and fresnel will make focusing easier with wide and extreme wide angles. Frequently with wide and extreme wides with enhanced brightness screens it becomes tricky to focus these lenses, even with a good focusing loupe.