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sethlatimer
18-Apr-2012, 07:55
Does anybody know if a small lens will fold up inside a chamonix 45n-2? Mine are all too big. I imagine with a small lens (say a 135) mounted backward it may be possible. What lens would you recommend?
Seth

Ulrich Drolshagen
18-Apr-2012, 08:21
I think this will be technically impossible, no matter what size the lens is. Folded, the front is lying flat on the base board without any space between.

Ulrich

Preston
18-Apr-2012, 08:24
Ulrich is correct. It can't be done.

--P

sully75
18-Apr-2012, 11:34
I have an old, very small Fuji 150mm. I'm not sure what style it is, but it's much smaller than any of the other fuji lenses I have. It's in a seiko shutter.

Anyway, it fits in between the bellows and the groundglass. I have to find something to wrap it in so it doesn't scratch or break the glass.

It's kind of a pre-modern lens, I think, but I must admit, it takes pretty nice pictures.

It looks something like this:
http://www.subclub.org/fujinon/150w63.jpg

but I think that's a different shutter.

sully75
18-Apr-2012, 11:36
I'm always super impressed with this little lens. It looks like it's going to be a dog but never seems to fail:
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3053/5864118849_83f748de1a_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/paulmcevoy/5864118849/)
Sasha Hsuczyk (http://www.flickr.com/photos/paulmcevoy/5864118849/) by Paul McEvoy (http://www.flickr.com/people/paulmcevoy/), on Flickr

Kuzano
18-Apr-2012, 12:10
I'm always super impressed with this little lens. It looks like it's going to be a dog but never seems to fail:
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3053/5864118849_83f748de1a_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/paulmcevoy/5864118849/)
Sasha Hsuczyk (http://www.flickr.com/photos/paulmcevoy/5864118849/) by Paul McEvoy (http://www.flickr.com/people/paulmcevoy/), on Flickr

That looks like a Copal 0 Shutter.

I have two of the Fujinar 150 lenses... very small, and one is in a Seiko and one in a Copal ). The Seiko shutter is about a quarter inch thicker.

Love the picture, and nice to see that Fuji glass does for you what it's always done for me. Lovely draw of the lens.

sully75
18-Apr-2012, 12:31
Yeah that lens just seems to work. It seems to have everything stacked against it. It even seems to have pretty good coverage. Never tested it. Gets a little soft in the corners if you make big movements but I generally don't.

I also tried it backwards in the front standard. It has very little behind the lensboard. It sort of works with the camera folded up, but the back of the lens hits against the base of the camera. So...it's pretty cruel to the camera and lens.

I wonder though if you had a lensboard that had a little extension on it, it would probably fit in reversed in the front standard.

D. Bryant
18-Apr-2012, 19:51
Does anybody know if a small lens will fold up inside a chamonix 45n-2? Mine are all too big. I imagine with a small lens (say a 135) mounted backward it may be possible. What lens would you recommend?
Seth

Choose your lenses on how they perform, not if they can be stored in the camera when folded, which won't work anyway.

sully75
19-Apr-2012, 12:57
Choose your lenses on how they perform, not if they can be stored in the camera when folded, which won't work anyway.

Actually this lens can 100% be stored inside the camera (between the bellows and the ground glass), no problem. And it's a great lens. So don't poop on my party, ok?

Ken Lee
19-Apr-2012, 13:20
If you're looking for a camera which will let you do this, I know that the Linhof Technika will do it, and so will a Tachihara, with several lenses.

John Sexton mentions the Technika it on his web site, with a 200mm Nikkor M.

You can see photos of the Tachihara with a 200mm Nikkor M here (http://www.kenleegallery.com/html/tech/Nikkor200MTachihara.php). The Tachihara will also close with a 150mm Rodenstock APO Sironar S - and others I am sure. You just need to put the lens-board in backwards. You don't need a lens cap, but I put it on just in case.

It makes things very handy when you can do this. If only I could figure out a way to keep the cable release on too :rolleyes:

Another option is to use a non-folding model that lets you leave a lens on all the time. Any monorail will do, as will a hybrid monorail-folder like a Kodak 2D.

Miguel Curbelo
19-Apr-2012, 13:31
I can also store my Fujinon 150 f6.3 inside my Wista DX -without putting the lens board in backwards.

D. Bryant
19-Apr-2012, 17:35
Actually this lens can 100% be stored inside the camera (between the bellows and the ground glass), no problem. And it's a great lens. So don't poop on my party, ok?

No one is pooping on your party. Reversing the lens and wrapping the lens to protect the GG doesn't seem too practical to me, but my response was directed to the OP not directed to your setup. Obviously the Fuji performs well but I don't see the gain of packing the lens like that when you have to take it out and reverse it to shoot. Since it is such a small lens why not place it in a camera wrap and carry it with the shutter release already attached. You still need to carry other stuff as well so the setup you describe doesn't seem to gain much, at least from my view.

My Chamonix is small and light whilst my lenses are much more bulky and heavier except for my 150 mounted in a small copal. To each his own ...

Bill_1856
19-Apr-2012, 17:41
Same problem with Nagaoka. Even my tiny little 12 cm Dagor won't fold into it, not even with the lens board reversed. It is, I think, the only fault of a wonderful camera.

Old-N-Feeble
19-Apr-2012, 17:57
So... we can have a thicker camera that will fold with ONE lens attached... or a thinner camera that won't fold with ONE lens attached. I'll take the thinner camera. ;)

sethlatimer
20-Jul-2012, 11:43
I measured carefully and there is about 49mm or so to put a lens under the ground glass, sorta inside the bellows when it is folded. Another strategy is reversing the lens and the lensboard in the front standard. There is barely enough room for a retaining ring before it lifts the front standard a bit from where it sits on carbon fiber extension board (maybe 2-3mm). So this may work with the tiny fuji 150 and maybe other lenses. I could not find a multicoated option with that small of a back element. Thanks for posting the photos from the fuji.

So I got a sironar-n 135 and it fits under the ground glass on a flat lens board. I appreciate everybody's help and advice. It is really nice to carry a super small bag.
Seth

Noah A
20-Jul-2012, 11:57
I was excited that my Technika would fold with a 150, but in practice it's nice for travel but a pain for shooting, since I only use that lens for a relatively small percentage of my photos. (It's my third-most-used lens after my 120 and 210, but the 120 gets the vast majority of use). And I need a large-coverage 120, the plasmats won't work.

So unless you primarily use a 150 or 135, folding the camera with the lens can slow you down in the real world.

Having said that, I'll take my brick-solid technika over a Chamonix any day ;)

Are you guys saying that you put the lens (and lensboard, with it's metal corners) inside of your bellows? Sounds kind of risky to me..

Michael_qrt
21-Jul-2012, 19:30
It is possible to fold at least a very select number of lenses inside a Chamonix 045n-2. I can fold mine with a 90mm angulon attached mounted in a 20mm recessed board. Other lenses which do not protrude past the front surface of the front standard when mounted in a recessed board and have short enough total length could also fit in this way. I tend not to do this often however as I'm usually using my Nikkor sw 90/8 in that focal length for movements.