Re: How difficult is it to drill holes in a Carbon Fiber lens board?
I have suggested for some time that the Crown Graphic lensboard is the best choice for most LF lenses. I always have a TRF Crown Graphic so it make extra good sense for me. All my lenses, except for two very large ones, are in Graphic boards. I use them on Toyo View cameras with Toyo to Graphic adapters adapters. My older Toyo field camera took Graphic boards when designed. I also have Beseler enlargers, which use a flat 4X4 lensboard. Since I sometimes use taking lenses on the enlarger, and enlarging lenses on the cameras, I have adapters that make that easily possible. There are clones of Graphic boards, which just like clones of anything else, could be excellent replacements, but some are junk.
Re: How difficult is it to drill holes in a Carbon Fiber lens board?
Check with hugo zhang <hugoz_2000@yahoo.com> from Chamonix.
Luland vs Shen Hao lens boards for Chamonix
Quote:
Originally Posted by
dave_whatever
How about just attaching your adapter to any old cheap second-hand (or Chinese eBay) metal Linhof-type board? Easy to drill, easy to find, and not expensive if you cock it up.
I may just do that. Since I first wrote this posting, I have ordered several brands of Technika compatible lens boards so have a couple I can put to use. The ones I buy now are Luland via eBay and cost about US $14 including shipping.
- 11-Jun-2021, 02:02
UPDATE:
Well... about those Luland Technika-compatible boards. I ordered two Copal #0 center hole boards about a month or two apart and then with Covid going on, I wasn't going out photographing so never really bothered trying them out. A couple of weeks ago I started to get the itch to go out to do some architectural photography so I moved my beautiful Nikkor 90mm f/4.5 lens from its home in a Cambo recessed board to one of those two Luland Copal #0 center hole boards. No problem.
But when I tried to mount the lens onto my Chamonix it seemed like an oddly tight fit. Hmmm... Then I looked really close at the front standard - the two rotating locks on the camera were j-u-s-t barely holding onto the lens board. What??? No way was I going to risk that beautiful lens falling to the concrete so I put it away and didn't take any pictures that day. (Good thing I was not on a paying job for a client!)
When I got back to the office I looked very closely at the Luland boards. What I think is wrong is the bottom and top edges are both shifted about .5mm from the center. The overall height of the front plate of the lens board is exactly right but because the bottom and top edges are incorrect, that causes that large 3D ring on the back of the board to be off center by that same .5mm, so instead of seating in the large hole on the front standard, it tips a tiny bit forward. And, because it is leaning forward, the two locks have a hard time swinging into place. Yes, if I use a lot of force, I can press the lens board into the big hole in the camera and force the locks but I really should not have to.
I contacted Luland and tried to explain the problem. Their answer? "Well they should fit." Well, duh yes, they SHOULD fit!
TO Luland: do you want to know what I think the problem is? Nope, not interested.
OK, if you are going to be that way, let me see if someone else has a similar board for a reasonable price. Well, what do you know? Shen Hao has them for about US $23 including shipping. Plus, they are in Kentucky, not China! So, of course, I ordered one. Two days later, it is in Atlanta. The fit? Perfect. The locks? Tight as a drum.
Now what I'm going to do is borrow a friend's bench grinder and remove about .5mm of aluminum from the bottom edge. Then that large 3D ring on the back of the board should seat properly. Yes, I know the top edge will be .5mm lower and there is nothing I can do about that. So what I will probably do is use the boards for a DIY soft focus lens project that I've wanted to do or mount light-weight or inexpensive lenses on them.
Funny enough, eBay sent me an email yesterday asking if I had any issues with recent orders. Oh my! Yes, I certainly let them know what happened with Luland and their "we don't care" attitude.
I'm going to make some popcorn and see what happens next.
Terry Thomas...
the photographer
Atlanta, Georgia USA
