90mm on Pacemaker Graphic and Linhof

[anglophone1]

Just bought a nice little 90mm that I want to use on my Pacemaker SG , but occasionally on a Linhof Tech V.
Clearly I could get a board for each and just remount lens when necessary, or is there such a thing as a Linhof>SG adapter board or a SG>Linhof adapter board.
Second part of question, can I calibrate the Pacemaker SG Kalart to work wit the 90mm, [extra infinity stops?], or is there a 90mm scale I can add if RF won't couple , on the Linhof I already have 90mm stops installed, and a 90mm scale,just need a cam.
Thanks Guys [and Gals!]
Clive

[Bob Salomon]

Clive,

When you have a lens cam coupled for a Linhof the cost includes the cam, grinding the cam to the specific lens, the focusing scale and the infinity stops and, if you sent the camera with the lens to the service center, attaching everything to the camera.

Just adding a cam that is not ground to your specific lens by serial number will not guarantee that the lens will focus true over the entir focusing range.
If this is the case many owners then re-position the infinity stops and this will leave a trail of small pit marks on the chrome rails which can not be removed.

[IanG]

It's extremely difficult to make an adapter to go from Linhof to the Pacemaker lens boards, I looked at doing it as I had a Wista and Crown Graphic here in Turkey, in the end the problem resolved itself because I replaced both by a Super Graphic, that can take cams for each lens.

A 90mm has better DOF so you can get away with scale focussing, or better still the GG screen, but you'd need to make a scale yourself.

You can calibrate the Kalart's but only for one lens, details are on the Graflex.org website.

Ian

[Graybeard]

There is a simple, but inelegant, way to use the 90mm lens on the Crown Graphic.

Using the groundglass, make a focus scale for the 90mm and attach it to the camera bed.

Then use the rangefinder as you have it now to determine the subject distance. Next, set the 90mm focus using that subject distance and the 90mm scale you've just made.

Not my idea, it has been described many times by others.

[Lynn Jones]

A reminder if you aren't familiar with a typical 90mm superwide, don't forget the drop bed unless you like to photograph the camera itself.

Lynn

[Frank Petronio]

You're better off just switching between lensboards since they are so close in size. I guess you could make an extension but it would be a bad thing for a wide angle lens, also it might interfere with the front end controls.

Some 90mm lenses will not have the camera's bed in the shot, it depends on the lens design and how far they stick out.

In my experience, making your own scale for a Crown is pretty easy and reliable for moderate to infinity distances. If you are focusing close then the rangefinder isn't worth a darn anyway, so just switch to using the ground glass.

The side-mounted rangefinders on the Crown can only be (poorly) adjusted to one lens at a time. And if you've ever tried to insert the tiny top-mounted rangefinder cams into a Crown you'll realize the folly....

At least the Linhof cam is large enough to actually provide some reasonable accuracy. The tiny Graphic cams are ridiculous.

[anglophone1]

Great advice guys, keep it up!
Probably should have mentioned that my Pacemaker Graphic has a side mount Kalart which is set up for a 2.5 Aero Ektar.......the idea of the 90 is to give the kit a liitle more versatility without carting along my Linhof kit too.....
Clive

[Mick Noordewier]

Hey Frank, you must have big fingers! I can swap out my Crown TR cams in seconds. I agree, however, that I've never had any success in calibrating a Kalart RF.
-Mick

[Frank Petronio]

Haha yeah I hate those little things. Maybe you should post a tutorial!?

[anglophone1]

So I have a 90m f8 angulon on the way, need a copal 0 board for it, will a cheapo heavy star http://www.heavystar.com/servlet/the-13256/New-Lens-Board-For/Detail
wotk OK or do I need the special alloy pacemaker job.
Scale focus is the way to go, I have a top mounted tube finder so need a 90mm mask for this [acually could use a narrow one for the Aero Ektar could't I?]
Any pointer on where to get these?
Any thoughts on using the wire sports finder for either 90mm or Aero Ektar?
Thanks guys
Clive

[rjbuzzclick]

I have a couple of the heavystar lens boards for my SG, and they work fine. They seem just as durable as the stock ones.