Liberating front tilt on a Linhof Master Technika

[CarstenW]

I have just received a Linhof Master Technika in fantabulous condition, and am generally very happy with the camera, and the movements it offers. However, it seems that the front tilt does not approach the official 30 degrees, but is rather less than that, perhaps around 20 degrees, shown here.

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Examining the front standard, it seems that all that stops the camera from having more tilt is a little thin strip of metal which runs from the lens board frame to the standard itself, somewhat visible in the following shot. That screw is attached to a little sliding block, and the other end loops around a pin coming out from the standard itself. The length of this flat bit is what limits the tilt.

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I would prefer if there was no such limitation on the tilt, but I would manage myself how much to tilt the front, keeping in mind the flexibility of the bellows, of course. Does anyone have experience in performing such a modification, who could tell me how I might remove the little flat strip, the sliding block and so on?

[Bill_1856]

In 60 years of photograpy I've never needed even close to the 20 degrees which your camera has. Forget about it -- You are very lucky to have a Master Technika.

[CarstenW]

You may end up being right, but if I get close to the ground, which I do regularly in my current project, there is at least a possibility that I might be able to use more. I would still like to know the answer. If in 60 years I never needed it, I will put the block back ;)

[Joanna Carter]

I would agree with Bill. If you want close to ground shots, then you may only need 0.0006° of tilt. You'd be surprised what you can achieve with very, very little tilt.

[Peter Galea]

Is it possible to drop the bed, like you can on a Master 2000?

[CarstenW]

I can drop the bed, yes. To do the ground shot, I could then drop the bed a bit and then tilt, I suppose...

If I want to tilt to get the ground in focus, with the rear standard vertical, and I am close to the ground, then at least in theory even 45-60 degrees could be used, to get all three planes to intersect.

Really, removing the little block would be the easiest. If no one knows how to do this, I will probably leave it for now and see how I get along; I just thought it would be an easy modification, giving me a bit more flexibility.

[Peter K]

Really, removing the little block would be the easiest. If no one knows how to do this, I will probably leave it for now and see how I get along; I just thought it would be an easy modification, giving me a bit more flexibility.
Have you ever used the camera for picture taking or are all this only thoughts? The main idea from 1934 is the possibility to swing and tilt not only the lens but the rear frame also.

[photographs42]

I have a Tech IV which doesn't have forward tilt but the back has about 15 degree tilt either way. I'm pretty sure the Master has the same back movements.
Jerome

[Bob Salomon]

I have a Tech IV which doesn't have forward tilt but the back has about 15 degree tilt either way. I'm pretty sure the Master has the same back movements.
Jerome

No, you have a Technika III. All Technika IV and later have front and back tilt on the front standard. All III models do not have forward tilts on the front standard.

[photographs42]

No, you have a Technika III. All Technika IV and later have front and back tilt on the front standard. All III models do not have forward tilts on the front standard.

You’re right Bob…..well sort of. I do have a 1958 vintage 4x5 Super Tech IV but it has set in the closet since 2000 when I bought a 1954 5x7 Tech III that I have used since then. I forgot that the 4x5 had forward tilt.

My real point was that the rear movement could be added to the available front movement. I hope I got that right.
Jerome

[Brian Ellis]

I wouldn't touch the front forward tilt. First, as someone else said, it's very unlikely that you'll ever need more than 20 degrees. Second, if you mess things up you're likely to have an expensive repair job on your hands. There was a small problem with front tilt on my Master when I bought it and the cost for Marflex to fix it was something in the $300 range (paid for by the seller). And finally, at a bare minimum if you choose to proceed first call Martin at Marflex and discuss it with him to see what you're getting into. He's always been very free with his time in talking to me and he probably knows more about the cameras than anyone on earth.

[CarstenW]

Have you ever used the camera for picture taking or are all this only thoughts? The main idea from 1934 is the possibility to swing and tilt not only the lens but the rear frame also.

I have not used this camera yet, no, I am still missing two bits (on the way). However, if I am already close to the ground, tilting the back would make it hard to see the screen, especially the bottom corners.

Trigonometry would dictate that if I am focusing the 210mm at infinity, and the camera is 50cm above the ground, then I would need a front tilt of about 40 degrees (unless I made a mistake). At that height I could use the back too, but if I start to move the camera down, or focus closer, then I quickly run out of room. The extra 10 degrees could be helpful here.


I wouldn't touch the front forward tilt. First, as someone else said, it's very unlikely that you'll ever need more than 20 degrees. Second, if you mess things up you're likely to have an expensive repair job on your hands.

Well, if it is that hard to do, I won't attempt until I am damn sure that I want to do it. I was just wondering if anyone knew a simple way to do it, that's all. It is easy to imagine situations in which the extra tilt would be helpful, and I do sometimes get very close to the ground.

Something that no one has addressed is the discrepancy between the 30 degrees stated in the literature and the roughly 20 degrees my camera can do. Does anyone know why this is so?

[Jack Dahlgren]

I have not used this camera yet, no, I am still missing two bits (on the way). However, if I am already close to the ground, tilting the back would make it hard to see the screen, especially the bottom corners.

The trick to tilting the back is to keep it vertical while tilting it.

Tilt the back backwards while keeping it vertical means that the body of the camera is now tilting down. The angle between the front and rear standards is larger and your back is still vertical. What the body of the camera does in between the lens and the film plane is immaterial. It exists just to hold the lens and film in proper alignment.

[Jack Dahlgren]

I have not used this camera yet.

Trigonometry would dictate that if I am focusing the 210mm at infinity, and the camera is 50cm above the ground, then I would need a front tilt of about 40 degrees (unless I made a mistake). At that height I could use the back too, but if I start to move the camera down, or focus closer, then I quickly run out of room. The extra 10 degrees could be helpful here.


Remember that what you are getting by tilting is a different orientation of the plane of focus. If you tilt to the point that you have focus on flat plane which stretches from you to infinity then anything which sticks up from that plane won't be in focus. For example a human standing on that plane would have maybe up to their knees in focus, if the angle of view (about 28 degrees on the short side of the film) hadn't cut them off there already.

And don't forget that most lenses have little to no coverage at 30 degrees off axis and there is a minimum amount of fall without dropping the bed.
You will want to utilize rear tilt to deal with this unfortunate fact.

I think when you put a lens on and try it out, that you won't find 20 degrees to be as big a problem as you think. If it is, then you bought the wrong kind of camera.

[CarstenW]

It might be that I don't need it. When I decided on the camera, I did think I was dealing with 30 degrees though, as the specs say.

[Jack Dahlgren]

It might be that I don't need it. When I decided on the camera, I did think I was dealing with 30 degrees though, as the specs say.

Which specs? Did you find them for your model year? What does it say in the instruction manual for the camera? I'm no Linhof expert, but I do know that things can change from year to year.

I don't mean to be argumentative, just want to suggest you give it a try with a real lens and subject before you start performing any modification to an expensive camera and perhaps to ease your mind that even though you wanted 30 degrees, 20 might be plenty - especially combined with dropping the bed which adds even more tilt.

Have fun with it!

[Peter K]

It might be that I don't need it. When I decided on the camera, I did think I was dealing with 30 degrees though, as the specs say.
If your camera is like the camera shown here on page 6 (http://www.linhof.de/download_e/linhof_master_technika_08_e.pdf) the lens can be tilted +/ 30° measured as usual between the pivot point and the tilted lensboard.

However, if I am already close to the ground, tilting the back would make it hard to see the screen, especially the bottom corners.
In this case a right angle refelx attachement will help used together with a fresnel-lens shown on the same site as item 7.