Recessed Boards

[david ashley kerr]

Hi there everyone,

I am a landscape photographer and use a 4x5 Linhof Technika,

and am about to invest in a short lens to shoot a series in thick wilderness scrub,

After talking with some large format gurus, I have realised the required use of a recessed board on lenses 75mm and shorter is quite a frustrating element that I have not yet experienced due to only ever shooting 150mm and upwards..

So.. does anyone have any advice regarding the problems experienced with the use of a recessed board? namely, cocking the shutter [I can't move my copal 0 shutter inside the recessed board!] and adjusting shutter speed, aperture and so on.. Even with my weedy little fingers I cannot for the life of me reach inside the recessed board to adjust anything!

Any advice would be much appreciated, I am sure I am not the only person to come across this problem..

Regards

David-Ashley Kerr

www.david-ashleykerr.com

[Gem Singer]

Plastic swizzle stick from the local pub.

Makes a great instrument for reaching the shutter controls inside of a recessed lens board.

[DanK]

Chopsticks

Dan

[Nathan Potter]

Well I carry a hypodermic needle with the sharp tip sanded down so I don't inject myself accidently. But if you're obsessive there are right angle cable releases that work nicely - as I understand it.

Nate Potter, Austin TX.

[david ashley kerr]

Ha!

I see.. . Swizzle stick, Chopsticks.. that will work for the shutter and aperture controls

But what about the lever to cock the shutter? I have heard of people welding the bulbous tip off a copal shutter..

Regards

[DanK]

I've also used a plain & simple pencil....the eraser works well - has plenty of grip to cock the shutter...

Beyond that and the chopstick (works equally well)...Good Luck

Dan

[Roger Thoms]

On my Sinar I use bag bellow and a flat lens board with wide angle lens. Is this a possibility with the Technika?

[Leigh]

You may find that your front standard movements are restricted. For the work you described this could be a problem.

It depends on the flexibility of the bellows. That's the reason for bag bellows, which I believe are available for your camera.

You may not need a recessed lensboard. It depends on the flange focal length of the lens, that being the distance from the front of the lensboard to the film plane when focused at infinity. This value is published on every LF lens datasheet. It can vary all over the map for short FL lenses.

- Leigh

[B.S.Kumar]

Unfortunately, the Linhof Technika doesn't have interchangeable bellows, unlike its poor cousins, the Wistas. Wista makes a couple of nifty bag bellows and a recessed adapter that allows you to use the shutter controls easily.

On the Technika, the Linhof "Comfort" board will allow you to see the aperture scales, set the aperture, and use the press focus lever...What you can do is to fit pieces of rubber onto the aperture, press-focus and shutter cocking levers, so that they protrude a little bit out of the recess.

Kumar

[engl]

Which Technika do you have, and which focal length wide do you want to buy? Different combinations will result in different accessories needed, different limitations and difficulties. For some I do not think you want a recessed board.

If you are going to be using a broad range of focal lengths and need good movements, the Technika might not be the easiest camera to deal with. At least that is my impression from using a Linhof clone (MPP) and reading a lot about "the real deal" :)

[Jim Noel]

On my Sinar I use bag bellow and a flat lens board with wide angle lens. Is this a possibility with the Technika?
This is not possible with a Technika that is why I sold mine and bought a Norma many years ago.

[Bob Salomon]

Unfortunately, the Linhof Technika doesn't have interchangeable bellows, unlike its poor cousins, the Wistas. Wista makes a couple of nifty bag bellows and a recessed adapter that allows you to use the shutter controls easily.

On the Technika, the Linhof "Comfort" board will allow you to see the aperture scales, set the aperture, and use the press focus lever...What you can do is to fit pieces of rubber onto the aperture, press-focus and shutter cocking levers, so that they protrude a little bit out of the recess.

Kumar

They do protrude out of the recess on the Comfort board.

[B.S.Kumar]

Sorry, I meant he could add rubber pieces on a regular recessed board. On the Comfort board, does the shutter speed selector also protrude out of the recess?

Kumar

[Bob Salomon]

Sorry, I meant he could add rubber pieces on a regular recessed board. On the Comfort board, does the shutter speed selector also protrude out of the recess?

Kumar

You virtually don't have to reach into the recess to adjust the shutter with the Comfort board or to read the aperture scale.

[B.S.Kumar]

That's comforting, then. No need to stick something on the levers. I'll need to get one for my 35mm lens.

Kumar

[Bob Salomon]

That's comforting, then. No need to stick something on the levers. I'll need to get one for my 35mm lens.

Kumar

A 35mm lens requires a differerent recessed boatd.

[B.S.Kumar]

And that would not be a Comfort board?

Kumar

[Bob Salomon]

And that would not be a Comfort board?

Kumar

On a Master technika Classic the shortest lens that works on a regular board is the 72mm XL. That fits into the Comfort Board.
For lenses shorter then 72mm on the Master Technika Classic the lens has to be mounted into special recessed boards that have a helical for that specific lens.

For the Master Technika 3000 that has a wide angle focusing mechanism built into the body the 35mm Apo Grandagon mounts into the Comfort lens board. But the 45 to the 65mm do not use that board.

Which camera do you have?

[B.S.Kumar]

I have Sinar, Wista, Toyo and Linhof Color cameras, and all my lenses are mounted on Technika boards.

Kumar

[david ashley kerr]

I think it is a Technika III... serial no. 74595 [I wonder if bob is around... *cough*]

and I want the Nikon Nikkor-SW 75mm f/4.5 S Lens

My linhof has served me well thus far even without a lot of movement, so I don't fancy buying another LF merely for wanting to shoot with a short lens..

An additional note to all of these helpful replies; are ALL Linhof recessed boards called 'comfort boards'?

[Andrew]

a couple of thoughts:

firstly, some recessed boards have the hole offset rather than central and if yours is central perhaps getting an offset one would help make room above the shutter for access to the control levers and for those to swing around? Can you find a lens with a shutter that requires less space than what you're using?

the other thing is do you really need a recessed board? I have a technika too and I can focus a 65mm on a plain lens board by having the front standard on the small rails inside the body and pulling out the camera back... I got the idea from here:
http://photo.net/large-format-photography-forum/007QkE

[B.S.Kumar]

An additional note to all of these helpful replies; are ALL Linhof recessed boards called 'comfort boards'?

No, there's only one that's called by that name, because it is comfortable to use, with easy access to the controls. The others do not have the 'comfort' features.

Kumar

[Steve Hamley]

Another vote for the Comfort board. I can post a picture later. One thing the Comfort board can do is allow you to adjust aperture and shutter speed while using resin filter adapters like the Lee system. Chopsticks, pencils, etc work very poorly with wides with a Lee system mounted. Unless of course you have the right-angle chopsticks!

Cheers, Steve

[Bob Salomon]

"the other thing is do you really need a recessed board? I have a technika too and I can focus a 65mm on a plain lens board by having the front standard on the small rails inside the body and pulling out the camera back... I got the idea from here: "

To obtain the best and most consistent results it is critical that when you need the back and the lens properly leveled to each other that you can do that. That way, when required, all corners are the same distance from each other. If this is not the case the image can not be critically sharp overall. It is impossible to guarantee this condition by pulling the back out to use the back for focusing on a Technika.

So yes, doing what you are doing will give you an image. But someone using the front focusing capability via the current helical lens mounts or with the former W/A Focusing device will get better overall performance. But you will have saved money. But only until that shot that you really wanted shows the problem of your technique.

[tgtaylor]

I use the end-cap on a Bic ball point pen which I also carry in the pack to make notes with. The part that drops down to clasp the pen to your pocket works like a charm.

[Steve Hamley]

Here's a Comfort board that shows the aperture and the viewing iris controls.

Cheers, Steve

[engl]

Keep in mind that the Technika III owned by the OP has a different board type than Technika IV and later (still used), so the shown board would not work. Are there any recessed boards for the Technika III at all? (except the one designed only for the 65mm Angulon, not compatible with modern shutters, very small recess)

Also, how much recess is needed to focus a 75mm to infinity with a Technika III?

[Andrew]

"To obtain the best and most consistent results it is critical that when you need the back and the lens properly leveled to each other that you can do that. That way, when required, all corners are the same distance from each other. If this is not the case the image can not be critically sharp overall. It is impossible to guarantee this condition by pulling the back out to use the back for focusing on a Technika."

yes and no, Bob... isn't the whole point of the floating back and the front standard movements specifically to allow you to alter the relationship of the front and rear components to improve the image rather than to maintain it no matter what? The starting position of the back can be held at a normal alignment by having a couple of premade spacers so you can close the back down on spacers making the distance from the back very even. I made mine from short lengths of dressed timber. I should have made it clear that focusing is then achieved by movements of the front standard on the internal rail NOT by moving the back...

I actually have one of the wide angle focus devices and I would prefer to use this method with pulling the back out because it leaves enough laxity in the bellows that you can have limited movements for correcting focus or perspective. The focus device leaves the bellows so compressed that no movement at all is possible