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View Full Version : Does Busch Pressman C lens fit on a 4 by 5?



jeaninfo
22-Nov-2010, 12:14
Good day All!

I am a new user of this forum and I am searching for some information about lens. Currently I am using my Busch Pressman C (6 by 9) camera with 4 lens :

Wollensak Raptar 65mm f6.8
Wollensak 101 mm Velostigmat f4.4
Wollensak Raptar 8 inch F5.6
Linhoff Shneider-Kreuznach tele-Xenar 240mm f5.5

My questions are the following :

1- I am wondering if I could used these lens on any 4 by 5 camera without losing any quality?

2- I am wondering if I can use a 120 film older on this camera ? If yes any brand to suggest and were can I purchase one? (beside Ebay)

Thank you very much for your help :)

Jean from Montreal

Fotoguy20d
22-Nov-2010, 12:51
Jean,

The 65mm and 101mm lenses will not cover 4x5. But, the 8" and 240mm lenses will.

Dan

jeaninfo
22-Nov-2010, 13:06
Good day Dan and thank you for your fast reply. I would like to understand why 2 lens (the 8 inchs and the 240mm) will fit and 2 lens (65mm and 101 mm) will not fit on the 4 by 5. Is there anything I could read to understand the concept.

Jean

Dan Fromm
22-Nov-2010, 13:12
Dan, the bible (Graphic Graflex Photography), 10th edition, says that the 8" TeleRaptar covers 2x3 but not 4x5. Schneider (see http://www.schneiderkreuznach.com/archiv/pdf/tele_obj_56.pdf) agrees with you about the Tele-Xenar. It pays to check coverage for tele lenses, they usually have less than non-tele lenses of the same focal length.

Jean, if your Pressman has had a Graflok back added it can use 6x6, 6x7, and 6x9 rollholders that will fit a 2x3 Graflok back. For example, most, not all, Graflex roll holders for 2x3 backs. There are others too.

If your Pressman has its original spring back, then the only roll holder you can use with it is an Adapt-A-Roll 620. For a discussion in French of the Pressman model C and the AAR-620, see http://www.collection-appareils.fr/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=9331

To learn how to recognize Graflok and spring (also called Graphic) backs, visit www.graflex.org and read the FAQs. While you're there, read what I wrote about the AAR 620.

Adapt-A-Roll 620s aren't very rare, if you're patient you'll be able to buy one via eBay.

You have a very nice 2x3 kit. If you want to shoot 2x3 with roll film and the lenses you already have and can't find a roll holder for your Pressman C, you can always get a 4x5 camera and a 2x3 (6x9) roll holder to fit it. But you shouldn't try your three shortest lenses on 4x5 film.

Ivan J. Eberle
22-Nov-2010, 16:14
Why be limited to an Adapt A Roll and screwing around with respooling 120 film onto 620 spools? Provided the OP is willing to forego ground glass focusing for rangefinder or scale focusing, he should be able to simply remove the rear half of the spring back to mount most any 120 or 220 roll film back that'd fit
a Graflok.

Dan Fromm
22-Nov-2010, 18:15
Ivan, using an AAR 620 doesn't require respooling film. AARs feed perfectly well from a 120 spool, must take up on a 620. The only reason to respool exposed film is not to lose the 620 spool to the lab. If the film goes to a lab for processing. I have Graflex-made 2x3 roll holders that work, prefer to use AAR 620s. I might have reasons for preferring them.

Graflex' own adapter for attaching a roll holder to a camera with a spring back replaces the ground glass with the roll holder. This isn't a problem when the camera has an RF that's calibrated to the one and only lens that will be used with the camera. Swapping roll holder and GG back and forth in the field to focus a lens for which the RH isn't calibrated isn't very practical.

If the OP's camera has a Kalart, it can be recalibrated for at least several of his lenses. I don't think he should attempt doing this in the field. I wouldn't.

If the OP's camera has no RF or Busch's (? I'm not sure the one that they put on top is theirs) he's stuck with guess focus for all of his lenses or an RF that will work only with the normal lens.

Come to think of it, I hope the OP will come back and tell us how he positions the front standard for all of his lenses but the normal one, also how he focuses the 65. This first is a problem because unlike Pacemaker Graphics, the 2x3 Pressman has fixed infinity stops. The second is a problem because the 2x3 Pressman, unlike 2x3 Pacemaker Graphics including the Century, does not have movable inner bed rails linked to the outer bed rails.

The link I posted didn't work for me just now, here it is again, and tested:

www.collection-appareils.fr/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=9331