buying wista lens board from ebay: fake or not, and does it matter?

[o.gok]

I was looking for a lens board for a 240mm sironar with copal 3 shutter and found this:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Lens-Board-Copal-0-1-3-LINHOF-WISTA-96x99mm-/110603017443#ht_1292wt_1141

The seller is from hong kong and has lots of boards on sale. Yet from his answers he states that he doesn't know whether the boards are authentic or not. Do you think it matters? And what do you think about the price?

[Scotty230358]

29.99 is a good price for a genuine Linhof board. They may be badged clones. I note the all he says is that they are for Linhof/Wista cameras (and by implication Tachihara, Shen Hao and Chamonix cameras as well.

The only issues are a) are they the right dimensions and b) are they the correct thickness and c) is the hole the correct diameter. If they fit and you can live with having re badged clones then you can't go wrong.

As a price indication Walker Cameras charges around $40 for his Technika size board (and their damn good boards) and B&H charge around $55 for Wista boards

[Gem Singer]

Look at www.keh.com

They list a few Linhof/Tech type lens boards milled for Copal 3 (65mm).

Prices are reasonable.

[Frank_E]

if you are going to purchase a fake one
spend $20 including shipping
not $40

I have purchased several from this site and had no problems

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=350132405598&ssPageName=ADME:X:RTQ:US:1123#ht_1166wt_1141

[Lachlan 717]

They're fine.

Aluminium, so easily strong enough.

You might need to file a mm or so from the top or bottom, depending on your camera's mount. Not an issue; it takes 5 minutes.

[Heespharm]

they are from china... they are fake

[Lachlan 717]

they are from china... they are fake

It's a piece of aluminium. It is the same design as the Toyo design, which is the same as the Linhof design, which is the same as a Wista design. Not sure how this makes it fake.

It's not like a fake Rolex with moving parts. Nor is it badged as a Linhof/Wista/Toyo.

If you're silly enough to think that it will somehow negatively impact your images, then go ahead and pay the ransom for a badge. It's your money.

Mind you, how are you going to know if the expensive Linhof-badged board isn't a fake?

[munz6869]

I have a mixture of fake and genuine (actual Linhof or Wista) boards, and they are all fine - the annoying things are more to do with mounting silly lenses/shutters on a camera not designed for them - I tried to put a 300mm/f5.6 with a Copal 3 shutter on my Wista, and that's a bit squishy (you can't really move the aperture lever). Took me ages to hunt down a board with a little tophat to move the shutter away from the front standard frame - the tophat board is also a "fake" but works fine...

Marc!

[Daniel_Buck]

fake or genuine, it doesn't matter to me. If it holds the lens to the standard, it's good enough for me!

I've got metal boards, wood boards, cardboard boards. Some made by real companies, some made by me. And some lenses/boards that require additional bungee straps and Velcro to hold the lenses in place. So long as the lens is in place, it's genuine enough in my book :-) If you get a board that is not a perfect fit, just take a file to it until it does fit :-)

[Heespharm]

fake or genuine, it doesn't matter to me. If it holds the lens to the standard, it's good enough for me!

I've got metal boards, wood boards, cardboard boards. Some made by real companies, some made by me. And some lenses/boards that require additional bungee straps and Velcro to hold the lenses in place. So long as the lens is in place, it's genuine enough in my book :-)

Yeah I guarantee it's a fake but never doubt that it works the same.... If ur looking for oem parts... Not the way to go but if your looking for a good working part go with the cheapest

[o.gok]

Thanks a lot for the comments.

if you are going to purchase a fake one
spend $20 including shipping
not $40

I have purchased several from this site and had no problems

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=350132405598&ssPageName=ADME:X:RTQ:US:1123#ht_1166wt_1141
I think it is better to go with this one, since only difference between the two is probably the fake stamps.

[IanG]

Thanks a lot for the comments.

I think it is better to go with this one, since only difference between the two is probably the fake stamps.

I'd agree. I have quite a number of boards Wista, Lihnof, Toyo and some plain generic and they are all extremely close in tolerance, no way will I pay extra for a name plate.

Ian

[GPS]

Thanks a lot for the comments.

I think it is better to go with this one, since only difference between the two is probably the fake stamps.

I'm surprised nobody told you that yet. There can indeed be differences between the lens boards in question. It depends on the lens boards AND the type of the camera you want to use on. Even the Linhof guru Bob wrote about it. Do some search in the archive and you will find much more precise answers.

[o.gok]

I'm surprised nobody told you that yet. There can indeed be differences between the lens boards in question. It depends on the lens boards AND the type of the camera you want to use on. Even the Linhof guru Bob wrote about it. Do some search in the archive and you will find much more precise answers.
I have a toyo 45cf with linhof adapter, so 96x99mm technika or wista board should fit. I've just checked keh.com and they have wista boards, but the hole size is 63 or 64, do you think that would work with my setup?