Showing off new acquisition Horseman FA

[Brooklyn45]

Managed to do a backroom deal with an auction site dealer and scored this beauty for 850 from Japan. Arrived in 3 days in original packing with all papers and manual.. the protective plastic on the focus scale is still in perfect condition.. I think this camera is new old stock..

I have a 90mm Angulon that I am starting out with also a couple of Tessars, 135 and 150, older lenses but interesting. I am thinking of saving the money for a used Sironar-N 135 as I hear it is an excellent lens.. also am in the hunt for an Ektar 203 in a compur shutter.. all of these lenses will fit inside the Horseman..
Any other recommendations accepted.. Is there an alternative to the Rodenstock or should I just wait till one turns up.. ??

Here he is.. I think I am going to call him Frank Adams.. FA get it.. Ansels younger brother.. Yea I have names for everything..

crappy cell phone photo..
87966

[Brian Ellis]

Nice camera and great price. These went for over $2000 new IIRC. I'm not sure about your name for it though. Frank Adams was a well known columnist back in the early 1900s and forward who went by the initials F.P.A. and wrote a famous column called "The Conning Tower." I guess there's nothing wrong with naming a camera after a long-ago newspaper columnist but I wouldn't name mine "Walter Lippman" or anything like that. : - )

[MyronL]

> I am thinking of saving the money for a used Sironar-N 135 as I hear it is an excellent lens.. also am in the hunt for an Ektar 203 in a compur shutter.. all of these lenses will fit inside the Horseman..

I assume your concerns are: 1) optical quality; and 2) size that allows closing the camera with the lens still mounted.

Symmar-S and Apo-Symmar 150mm lenses will fold or close in a 4x5 Linhof if they are on recessed boards. The 135mm versions manage on flat lensboards. I don't know how the Horseman compares, but it may be similar.

The Fuji LS 210 (a Tessar design) as well as the Schneider 210mm f/9 (?) are also "foldable" in the Linhof. They are both extremely fine lenses at f/16-f/22.

Good luck. It looks like a sweet camera!

Myron

[chassis]

Congrats, nice camera.

[Brooklyn45]

Hmmm Frank Adams was a football player in the 1930's. he played for Bury St Edmunds.. Frank Adams was n English Mathematician .. The camera is not named after your Frank Adams or these guys either.. and his initials are not FPA .. so I am sticking with Frank for now..

Yep its a totally sweet deal in brand new shape.. Yes to the question about foldable... I read a ton of stuff in these forums about what will and won't fit inside this camera. One "Authoritative" poster stated that shutters needed to be 0 or 00.. Patently not true..

Seems like everyone likes the Sironar-N lenses . so thats why its my first choice.. and 135.. since I do quite a bit of street hand holding the angle of view is more handy..

[rich815]

Very nice and congrats. Let us see some work done with it later. Have fun with it.

[Sal Santamaura]

...I read a ton of stuff in these forums about what will and won't fit inside this camera. One "Authoritative" poster stated that shutters needed to be 0 or 00.. Patently not true...Which lens in a size 1 shutter have you found that fits in a closed Horseman FA? Which Horseman lensboard is it mounted on?

[Sal Santamaura]

...I read a ton of stuff in these forums about what will and won't fit inside this camera. One "Authoritative" poster stated that shutters needed to be 0 or 00.. Patently not true...


Which lens in a size 1 shutter have you found that fits in a closed Horseman FA? Which Horseman lensboard is it mounted on?OK, since your comment was a swipe at my attempts to be helpful in this thread


http://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?98585-Request-a-List-of-recommended-compact-Lenses-for-Horseman-FA

and you haven't identified the lenses in question, I took out my FA and did some checking. In order to mount a Copal/Compur 1 shutter on the FA, one must use this lensboard:


http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/23121-REG/Horseman_25657_8x8cm_Extended_Lensboard_for.html.

Slight extension is necessary so that shutter controls won't be blocked by the camera's front standard. Although Chinese sellers offer flat 80mm-square lensboards drilled for size 1, I don't see how those boards would permit use of the shutter's controls, particularly the preview lever.

Since I'd never closed my FA with a lens mounted on the above board installed (way too large diameter front cell), I just set up the camera, removed front and rear cells from the size 1 shutter, installed the board/shutter and attempted to close the camera. No way; the base can only get within approximately 3/8-inch of closing.

I remain interested to find out which size 1 shutter you've found that can be closed inside an FA and which lensboard you've mounted it on.

[Richard Wasserman]

Sal knows what he is talking about, there are not many lenses that you can keep on the camera and fold it up. I have an FA and don't fold it with lenses mounted. Why is that so important? It only takes about 30 seconds or so to stick a lens on the camera. No lenses that will work on this camera are large, so they don't take up a great deal of space in a bag.

[konakoa]

Wow, there are more FA owners here than I would've thought. If we're showing off, here's my modest contribution. I've added a solid metal curved bracket that threads into the tripod socket of mine. Two nice foam grips on the side for two handed use--and since the original Horseman viewfinders are impossible to find, I've added a Fotoman with a matching mask for my lens on top. Altogether it makes a wonderful handheld camera.

Can't help with any lenses that fold up in the FA. All I could say is that they'd have to be incredibly tiny.

[Armin Seeholzer]

You can close the Horseman FA/HF/HD 135mm Sironar N and the G Glaron 150mm. I have the one in the middle!

Cheers Armin

[Brooklyn45]

Sorry did not mean to ruffle anyones feathers..
From the Horses mouth so to speak..
http://www.horsemanusa.com/faq_tc.html See under number 3..

yep an older compur shutter is a tad tight in there with a flat board but theres about an inch of space from the front of the board to the rails.. I am thinking of adding a spacer that will bring the lens forward a little bit to afford a bit more access.

As I have a Tessar 150 lens set and a Tessar 135 lens set I am going to play around with these oldies before I decide between the 135 or 150 Rodenstock..

And BTW would not the depth between the board and rails play a factor with shallow lenses

[Sal Santamaura]

...all of these lenses will fit inside the Horseman..
Any other recommendations accepted.. Is there an alternative to the Rodenstock or should I just wait till one turns up.. ??...


...From the Horses mouth so to speak..
http://www.horsemanusa.com/faq_tc.html See under number 3...There's a huge difference between "may be used on" and "will fit inside." Horseman's answer to FAQ #3 is:


Any lens for large-format camera may be used on the Horseman Technical Cameras, as long as following conditions are met:
1. Flange-back of the lens is 60mm to 250mm.
2. The shutter used is either #0 or #1.
3. Diameter of the rear lens does not exceed 65mm.
4. Circle of the image of the lens covers the format used (exceeds 150mm for 4×5″, and 100mm for 6x9cm).

The only thing those criteria determine is whether a given lens can be used at all. I have a very long Horseman extension board for the FA (the 25654, which is no longer manufactured) that permits me to use a 300mm Nikkor M on the camera. Don't try to close the bed with that lens in place. :D

[ic-racer]

Sorry did not mean to ruffle anyones feathers..
From the Horses mouth so to speak..
http://www.horsemanusa.com/faq_tc.html See under number 3..

yep an older compur shutter is a tad tight in there with a flat board but theres about an inch of space from the front of the board to the rails.. I am thinking of adding a spacer that will bring the lens forward a little bit to afford a bit more access.

As I have a Tessar 150 lens set and a Tessar 135 lens set I am going to play around with these oldies before I decide between the 135 or 150 Rodenstock..

And BTW would not the depth between the board and rails play a factor with shallow lenses
Looks like you got a great deal on a fantastic camera. I paid $900 for a 'demo' It was pretty clean but has punched in bellows in the front from being toyed with by clumsy fingers.
The board with the C-1 ring extends the shutter to make access easier.
In terms of short lenses, the 65mm Horseman 6x9cm lens with recessed board, just focuses at infinity hanging on the back of the front rails.
Sal mentioned the extented lensboard, and they also made an extension from the rear. Also, if you run across any of the Topcor lenses for cheap, consider purchase. My experience with the LF Topcors is that they are right up there with the other Japanese LF lenses (Nikkor and Fujinon) in terms of quality.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v670/ic-racer/2012/LongExtension.jpg

[Brooklyn45]

Who there.. Thats quite a trunk. As it happens this is going to be more a hand holder.. thats why the desire to use compact lenses and be able to close the camera with the 150 or 135 or 90 in place. The less messing in the street the better.. That back attachment is extraordinary though.... Yep I can't find a mark on this little bay.. I truly think it was NOS... The box has the original styrofoam inserts and everything... And its all very tight and a little stiff as one would expect for a newly hewn piece.

I am somewhat housebound.. lamed up with a broken foot but expect to plow through quite a few sheets in the coming weeks as I test it out.. Also am planing a trip to Japan in June so want this to be a one lens point and shoot for that trip... I use grafmatics and set my lenses to marks on the bed for distance. The more one plays and practices the better one gets at the guessing game.. MY old Meridian which has just been retired had a Kalart that I spent hours calibrating and then wound up hardly ever using..I used to use the distance scale on the bed instead... Distance estimated with eye or Credit Card rangefinder..