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View Full Version : Ebony 45S modification to enable 72mm Super Angulon XL rise capability



john wilton
16-Dec-2012, 20:07
Update to earlier thread:
http://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?95626-How-to-make-a-thinner-back-for-an-Ebony-45S

When I acquired a 72 SAXL a few months ago, it quickly became apparent that I was not going to be able to exploit the large amount of rise the lens is capable of (the reason I bought the lens) because at infinity focus the very large diameter rear of the lens bumps up against the top of the back frame with only a small amount of rise. But it misses clearing the back by only a few millimeters.

So I asked Richard Ritter to rout 5mm off the front edge of the top of the back. The job turned out to be considerably more complicated than I had anticipated: The level box needed be moved away from the front edge but I did not anticipate the hole beneath it that accommodates the adjusting mechanics.

Richard did a beautiful job, it's hard to tell that the camera wasn't made this way. He found a piece of ebony to fill the level box hole; it's pretty hard to see.

The 72 SAXL now works perfectly with the camera.

I've written to Hiromi asking if this is a design change worth considering for future production of this model. But perhaps it only works for me because my 45S is very old, and the bag end of the universal bellows lost its pleating years ago. It is perfectly happy being used in this way.

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Ian David
16-Dec-2012, 21:45
Thanks for the update, John. I was just wondering the other day how it had turned out for you. I'm glad it worked out well!

Ian

jose angel
17-Dec-2012, 01:00
Congrats. Looks to be a good work.
I bought this lens time ago. I had to return it for that very same reason, switching to a Gandagon-N. Mine were all metal cameras!