Newbie mounting lenses for the first time.

[Bill, 70's military B&W]

I just got my lenses back from Carol Flutot and they look great. Each one has a timing sheet. Lower speeds seem great, highest speeds are a little off on some. But at least I know that now.
I want to mount all the lenses on Linhof Tech boards. I assume they just unscrew and screw back together with the lens board sandwiched in-between.
Is there anything more to it? Make sure you do this or make sure you never do that...
Any words of advice before I screw it up?

I have a Voigtlander Collinear Series II, No.6, f/6.3, 12 1/4", on an old ACME ILLEX shutter that is a tad larger than a Copal #3 predrilled hole. I tllk a 1/2 round file and evenly enlarged the hole a couple of mm's so that now it fits. I'll have to drill 4 holes and put in machine screws. It does not look that hard, but then I've never done it before. I assume I'll have to screw the lens together tightly and then mark where the holes will need to be drilled. Then assemble.
Do I need any kind of lock-tight? any kind of gasket? anything for light tight mounting?

Thanks, Bill

[Atul Mohidekar]

You might find these resources useful:

1. How to Mount a View Camera Lens (video) - View Camera Store
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JjzwjO5ZSE

2. Lens Mounting to Lensboard - SK Grimes
http://www.skgrimes.com/lens-mounting/to-lensboard

// Atul

[Frank Petronio]

It's just common sense, simple mechanics... obviously you don't want any light to leak and it needs to be square to the board.

There are some lenses that require specific washers or spacers between the front and rear sections to maintain the design characteristics. I think most modern lenses have accounted for this with their shutter mounting but you may see that some cases have some select washers in between. With older lenses that may have been remounted or handled by several owners, it's a good guess as to what the specs were or what is optimal. But in most cases, the manufacturers tried to keep things simple for us.

[premortho]

I don't know jack about newer lenses, but that Voightlander should have a mounting ring for it. I run the ring up tight to the shutter, then mark the screw holes, and use bolts with nuts to attach the mounting ring to the lensboard. (Which I usually make out of hobby shop plywood). Then I carefully screw the lens into the mounting ring. Newer rings often mount behind the lens board. I never take a lens apart unless there is no choice...lose one little shim, and you're ------.

[Bill, 70's military B&W]

Thanks everyone, I read the replies on the board and some PM's too. I sat down yesterday and had absolutely no problem mounting all the lenses onto Linhof Tech boards. The Voigtlander on an ACME Ilex Dial Set #4 Shutter, I had to enlarge the lens board hole #3 a couple of mm's, it was aluminum and I used a half round file, even # of strokes all the way around and it worked very nicely. I bolted it with 4 #4 bolts and nuts. On the board off the camera it operates flawlessly, when I mount it onto the camera the lever for the f-stops bumps the camera at the 6 o'clock position, but all I have to do is pull the lever ever so slightly forward and it slips on by. I can live with that.
All the other lenses mounted without any problems at all. I bought a Linos spanner wrench last week, so that was easy.
If I notice any problems today, I'll be back on the board with them.
Thanks to everyone, I tackled the task yesterday confidently.

That video Atul provided did point out the possibility of indexing screws on the lens, I do not remember seeing any, but I'll probably go back and check.

I've considered mounting that old Acme Ilex shutter at an angle to avoid the contact, but 2 reasons stop me. One it is only a minor contact, the amount I have to move the lever forward is so small that I do not believe it is flex/stressing the lever at all. Another is the lens definitely has an upright look to it. Almost like a clock face, it would really look stupid at a 60* angle. But I am definitely open to other opinions from photographers who have more experience than I do.

I didn't see any type of shims on any lens yesterday, but I'm not sure that I would recognize a shim. Nothing fell off when I took them apart, and I only saw the flange/retaining ring.
All in all I think it went great.

I have accumulated 90mm, 135mm, 150mm, 180mm, 210mm, 300mm, 12 1/4"Voigtlander, and had them all CLA'd by Carol Flutot (great girl). I have a 4x5 monorail and a field camera, 5x7 B&J Grover monorail, 8x10 B&J Grover monorail and same in a field camera. These came from when I ran into a couple of sales where someone was selling everything for very little $$$. All are set up with Linhof Tech lens holders. All the cameras have passed the flashlight test. Now it's time to get to shooting some film.

Thanks again to everyone.
Bill

[premortho]

Did you get a tripod with all that stuff you scored? I hope so, as it will not only make your in focus areas sharper, it makes the whole experience much easier. Just remember to let the camera vibes die down before exposing...I just read to day in an old "the camera" that I bought on flea-bay, a trick with the cable release to help with vibro-massage...loop the cable in a sort of inverted "U", and push cable release gently.

[Bill, 70's military B&W]

Premortho, I've got a couple of heavy tripods, so that is not a problem. The inverted "U" and push gently, sounds like a great idea. I've had some real problems with camera shake in the past, I'm really aware of it... gives me nightmares.

As far as the lens mounting goes,
Well I have the job completed, all lenses on Linhof Tech boards, and it works. Had a small problem, the adapters I bought so that the B&J Grovers will accept Linhof boards, well it did not fit. The Linhof boards came from econobuy from China. They look great, but they have a raised ridge circle around the back of the board. It's about 1/16". The adapters would not accept those boards, so I had to break out the router and cut a 1/4" wide by 1/8" deep rabbit around the adapters, then paint it black. I hope it is still light tight.

Well it's all done now and it all fits.
Now all I need is some time off...

[premortho]

Time off? No table, no plate, no green peppers, no lights? Actually, once you get into it, you'll wonder why you wasted all that time watching television.

[Bill, 70's military B&W]

I hope to get to it this weekend. No television for this guy.
I have to work cuz my dog does not like generic Kibble!
Bill