Linhof board question

[Bob McCarthy]

When I owned a technika all of my lensboards were drilled offcenter-down.

Are these boards practical to use with another camera, for example a Chamonix. Or should one start over with new center drilled boards??

bob

[Oren Grad]

Yes, in general they are.

There are two issues. The first is whether you might run into a physical obstruction fitting a lens to the camera. The only situation in which I've ever encountered this is when I was testing the Phillips 4x5. Dick was aware of the problem and recommended using center-drilled boards.

The second is whether the camera will have enough available front rise remaining if you "use up" some of that movement in order to center the lens. This depends on your camera and your needs, though it's rare for someone to report having a problem in this way.

[David de Gruyl]

No problem on the Chamonix. You got the rest of the story above.

[Leigh]

I've encountered some issues such as Oren described when using offset-drilled boards on my Toko field camera.

I generally prefer center-drilled boards, and have switched some lenses from offset to center.

- Leigh