View Full Version : Linhoff Technikardan 45S bellows question
What is the longest focal length lens one can use on a Linhoff Technikardan 45S with bag bellows?
Sandy
Bob Salomon
1-Feb-2013, 14:43
135 might be pushing it. The factory does not give a recommendation.
I think you could use a 180, but maybe not at infinity, and probably not with full movements.
My 210 gets close, but the bag bellows is really stretched at that point.
I can (and do) use my 150 Apo-Sironar-S with the wideangle bellows. I definitely can't use it with my 210. If I was sure I could use a 180 I might get one, but I think it might be tight with movements.
So, the limit with the bag bellows is about 65mm - 180mm.
What are the limits with the regular bellows?
Sandy
Bob Salomon
1-Feb-2013, 17:24
No, the WA bellows is for lenses as short as 35mm. 180 is pushing it if you are going to use the movements a TH is capable of. Also yiu would limit your close focusing ability.
The normal bellows can focus to infinity with very short lenses if you do not do movements. But if you tried to do them with the standard bellows and wide lenses you will find that you will need a new bellows.
So it is going to come down to what you will do. Everything at infinity and no movements you can use the WA bellows with longer lenses then I suggested/. How long will depend on the FFL of the lens.
Want to use wides without movements then the normal bellows will work.
Want to use lenses from 35mm up with movements with one bellows? That is what the Master Technika 3000 can do.
Nathan Potter
1-Feb-2013, 17:42
Sandy, what's been said above is generally correct. I use the baggy up to 150mm but with difficulty up to 180mm. At 180 movements become awkward. But at the low end I recently use a Schneider 47mm XL (thanks to Gittings) but for that I have to fiddle with a recessed lens board of at least 20 mm depth.
So the range really is 47 to 150 for practical purposes when talking normal 4X5. The bag is really very useful on that camera.
Nate Potter, Austin TX.
You can also search for threads on getting a universal bellows made for the TK; the topic pops up every so often.
No, the WA bellows is for lenses as short as 35mm. 180 is pushing it if you are going to use the movements a TH is capable of. Also yiu would limit your close focusing ability.
The normal bellows can focus to infinity with very short lenses if you do not do movements. But if you tried to do them with the standard bellows and wide lenses you will find that you will need a new bellows.
So it is going to come down to what you will do. Everything at infinity and no movements you can use the WA bellows with longer lenses then I suggested/. How long will depend on the FFL of the lens.
Want to use wides without movements then the normal bellows will work.
Want to use lenses from 35mm up with movements with one bellows? That is what the Master Technika 3000 can do.
OK, I just wanted to make sure that I could use the camera with the WA bellows with a 65mm lens in a regular lens board with a 6X9 roll film adaptor. No need to get anywhere near 35mm.
Sandy
I can't find my ruler to check for sure, but I do think a 180 would be pushing it and probably not practical. And to be clear, when I said I use the 150mm with movement with the bag bellows, that's near infinity for urban landscape work, not close portraits.
The standard bellows on the TK45S can focus very short lenses. When the camera folds the standards are very close and the camera is designed to fold with the standard bellows. However, if you want movement, that's a different story. I think you can get decent movement with a 150mm lens. A 135 might work tool, especially since most 135mm plasmats don't have much image circle anyway.
But for a wide angle 110, 115, or 120mm lens, you'll need the bag bellows if you hope to use a lot of rise. I generally leave the bag on the camera and use it for my 75, 90, 115 and 150mm lenses. I only put on the standard bellows for the 210mm and up.
I'm one of the people on the forum who wish there was a universal bellows for the TK. The camera is nearly perfect, but I tend to shoot with my 115mm and 210mm lenses most often, and that means a lot of swapping.
Having said that, the bag bellows is a thing of beauty. It works perfectly and seems to never get in the way or need fiddling with.
Bob Salomon
2-Feb-2013, 04:46
OK, I just wanted to make sure that I could use the camera with the WA bellows with a 65mm lens in a regular lens board with a 6X9 roll film adaptor. No need to get anywhere near 35mm.
Sandy
The 65mm on a TK 45 or 45S requires the 001143 lens board. This is a flat board. And it also requires the W/A bellows.
mortensen
2-Feb-2013, 06:30
... just to second what has already been said, I use my 150 Sironar-W with full movements with bag bellows - that means stitching 2 4x5 negs using extensive back movements. It stretches the bag, but not to any point near misuse. Very nice bag bellows and as Noah (and Gudmundur) says, its good practice to fold the camera with the bag bellows on. An easy way to avoid any of the once-in-a-while reported issues with folding the camera with normal bellows.
(this was not meant to start that whole debate again! I have absolutely only good things to say about that camera :D )
I don't fold the camera with the bag because it's hard to fold with the standard bellows--it really isn't and I don't want to perpetuate that idea. I just do it because I shoot with the 115mm lens 80 or maybe even 90 percent of the time, so the bag gets most of the use.
Once the TK is on the tripod, it takes about ten seconds to unfold. And if you consider that the TK can fold with a lens mounted, it can actually be faster to set up than a Technika.
Of course just yesterday I realized that my standard TK bellows is full of pinholes. I'm going to get a new one, but now I also have some spare bellows frames to experiment with a universal bellows...
mortensen
2-Feb-2013, 07:58
aight ;)
... just to hijack the thread a bit, while you are here Noah, how 'tight' are your locking mechanisms for shifts and rise? I find mine to require way more force to unlock that those for tilts and swing. I know there should be a difference, but especially in cold weather I find it discomfortingly to apply the force needed to unlock the camera.
Bob Salomon
2-Feb-2013, 09:20
aight ;)
... just to hijack the thread a bit, while you are here Noah, how 'tight' are your locking mechanisms for shifts and rise? I find mine to require way more force to unlock that those for tilts and swing. I know there should be a difference, but especially in cold weather I find it discomfortingly to apply the force needed to unlock the camera.
These are easily adjusted by a service center. One reason that yours may be doing this is due to trying to do some movements while it is locked.
The 65mm on a TK 45 or 45S requires the 001143 lens board. This is a flat board. And it also requires the W/A bellows.
Do you mean flat as opposed to recessed? I am trying to understand if there is a special flat TK board different from other TK boards that appear to be flat?
Sandy
Bob Salomon
2-Feb-2013, 11:08
flat
The locking levers for the rise and fall are definitely firmer than those for the swing and focus on my camera. The shift ones are somewhere in between.
When I got the camera I thought the swing and focus locks were too loose, so I sent the camera to Marflex. Martin said it was up to spec, so I assume what you're describing may be normal.
You might want to send your camera in to your local Linhof shop just to be sure. I might send mine in again after my next trip.
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