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View Full Version : Problem restoring Kodak Master View 4x5



cyberjunkie
11-Oct-2010, 19:34
I purchased a Kodak Master View Camera 4x5 (same as first-generation Calumet) as part of a stock. Today i have finally started to restore it, it would be a cheap, rugged and very light camera, that could be permanently stored in the back of my car, with no fear of theft or damage.
The rotating back and the two clamps of the front and back standard were stuck, but a little of penetrating spray lubricant allowed to restore full functionality.
The only thing that is giving problems is the rise/fall mechanism of the front standard.
With no lensboard installed the front standard stays in place, but when i fitted an original lensboard equipped with an iris clamp, even with a lens of moderate weight, there was no way to prevent the standard from falling to its minimum height.
The aluminium knob that sets rise/fall is missing, but i can't see any sign of damage, probably it got loose and went missing.
I think it would be quite easy to find a replacement knob that's very close to the original. More difficult would be to give some "brake" to the movement, so that it would keep the set position even under the weight of an heavy lens.
I tried all the screws, but all of them were perfectly tight. Before trying to inject some thick grease, i am asking for help from those more experienced with these cameras.
Any suggestion?

have fun

CJ

dsphotog
11-Oct-2010, 19:43
Duct tape?

Jim C.
11-Oct-2010, 20:04
http://www.largeformatphotography.info/kodak/masterview.html

bottom of the page has info that might help you.

sully75
11-Oct-2010, 20:36
Not sure exactly what is happening but my guess is some sort of washer on the screw would work good. Maybe brass, or with teeth on it if you are having a real problem

lenser
11-Oct-2010, 20:46
If yours operates like the Calumet 400 series, then you may or may not have a problem. The knob that elevates the lens board part of the standard on the Calumet is a rack and pinion gear with the knob serving as both the drive and the lock. It locks by pulling it out from the body and releases for movements by pushing it in. Might be that yours is just stuck in the unlocked position....if they do work the same way.

Also, if they are the same, Calumet repairs in Chicago (Jose at 1-800-Calumet) may still have many of the parts. I bought several items from him to work on my wide angle version only a couple of years ago including a new bellows. Lensboards, both flat and recessed, show up all the time on eBay.

cyberjunkie
12-Oct-2010, 21:31
The knob that elevates the lens board part of the standard on the Calumet is a rack and pinion gear with the knob serving as both the drive and the lock. It locks by pulling it out from the body and releases for movements by pushing it in. Might be that yours is just stuck in the unlocked position....if they do work the same way.


Thanks very much!
As said, with regards to other movements/parts, the camera was very stiff, almost locked, for lack of use.
I didn't try hard enough to pull the rise/fall shaft, also because i figured out that the most likely way was by pushing it, and not pulling! :confused:

Unfortunately the electronic parts shop i visited had only plastic knobs, i bought one that's almost identical to the original part, but it's too weak! I even had to get a plastic reduction ring, because the shaft is 4mm and the knob 6mm.
As soon as i tried to fix it in place the fixing screw got damaged, so i had to resort to an universal glue:(
As soon as the glue dries, i'll try if it's strong enough: lenses can be heavy, and the locking (as i have learnt) is done by pulling the knob, so it must be solid.
If the glue fails to firmly secure the knob, i'll remove it and clean the shaft, waiting for a suitable aluminium part (better if it comes with a brass bushing).

I think i'll wait some time before selling the camera, it's so small and light that it would be a nice solution for casual outdoor shooting, and solid enough to be used for some lens testing i want to do very soon;)
My only complains are that a recessed lensboard (that i don't have) is needed even for non-extreme wide-angles, and that the camera is not fit for the use of long focals (sadly i have the version with the short monorail!).
On the other hand i am fortunate enough to have an iris-shaped lens clamp, mounted on an original lensboard, that could be very useful for testing lenses in shutter still waiting for a flange, and also for a few recently acquired barrel lenses (i see no way to fit a Packard on this camera, but i have a Silens and a Thornton Pickard that could be adapted, one in front of the lenses and the other behind).

Any advice, or any observation about the shortcomings of the camera, is welcomed.
I had no time to go a little more in-depth, but i guess that any tripod suitable for medium format would be more than enough for this view camera, even a medium-sized ball head should do! :)


have fun

CJ

lenser
12-Oct-2010, 23:33
CJ,

I'm betting that this part (the metal knob and gearing) is available from Jose as I mentioned in the earlier response.

If you truly have the short rail version (as I do with about a ten inch rail), the bellows is extremely flexible although not as good as a bag bellows, and should give you a lot of movements for a 90mm even on a flat lens board. Shorter lenses would want the recessed board.

As to longer lenses....all is far from lost. Get another recessed board, turn it around and you have a top hat board to extend the lens out from the bellows and give you far more "draw". (You might have to modify it slightly by removing the light trap profile from the [former] back of the board, but you will not suffer any light leaks even with the board reversed. There is plenty of overlap to keep light out.)

Moderate length lenses, even a 210mm or 240mm should be quite usable with this for even fairly close work. Portrait distance with ease. Infinity is a slam dunk.

Great cameras and really surprisingly tough.

Lynn Jones
13-Oct-2010, 12:56
CJ, my suggestion it that you sell the Master View, it was a pig, Kodak sold the whole mess because they lost money on every one of them! If you wish, then buy a real Calumet (the one that looks like a Master View but weighs about 3 lbs less), is smooth, has swings limited only by the bellows, has a smooth drive lock, etc. We totally re-made this camera and that was truly excellent.

From the suggestion that Calumet VC's had a rack and pinion, no, that was a Cambo with a Calumet name. Thre real Calumets had "V" drive, the smothest focus system ever created and oddley enough, Kodak invented it.

Lynn

John Koehrer
13-Oct-2010, 13:06
American camera from mid twentieth century most likely did not use metric hardware but ANSI standard. That may be why you had trouble threading the screw.

Lynn Jones
15-Oct-2010, 12:15
John is right, especially since the original Master View was created in 1939 and wasn't manufactured for the first time in 1940 or 41 (we have to guess since Kodak didn't remember when and had no written data on the subject.

Lynn