Universal iris on a Linhof board

[Takizawa]

Is this possible? If so, what size universal iris? I'd love the flexibility with barrel lenses.

[dap]

It's possible (I have one). You either have to find one small enough to fit on the board or buy a moderate sized one and have a spacer machined that fits the iris flange and narrows down to fit the dimensions of the linhof board.

[Louis Pacilla]

Is this possible? If so, what size universal iris? I'd love the flexibility with barrel lenses.

Unless your planning on using only small lenses say like 5x7 Tessar or smaller, Protar IV - V/ smaller Dagors/ smaller Protar VIIa and alike. It will be money wasted.

The trouble is, to fit a Linhoff Technika board it will have to be the smallest size universal iris's made. This means the maximum opening will be on the small side to begin with and the iris will not hold lenses (very well) when they are around the same diameter as the iris. You need the iris to be stopped down a little on the diameter of the barrel for the iris to have a proper hold. Most of the Petzval/Veritos/Heliars/Vello II w/ diffusion (even in smaller sizes) have a somewhat larger barrel diameter even in fl for 4x5 and probably will not be safely held by the smaller Universal Iris.

So again, you'll only be able to use smaller vintage lenses which tend to be sharp and smooth but not tons of character that your probably looking for. If you tend towards vintage sharp/smooth lenses then it will work fine.

This is just my experience and others my have had a different outcome.

[Jason Greenberg Motamedi]

I agree with Louis. I had a small one mounted on a Canham board (more or less the same size as the Linhof) and honestly it was useless. Nothing I had would fit on it with the exception of few small Protar V lenses. Luckily I was able to trade it for a much larger one.

[Bob Salomon]

Linhof Technika 23, 45, 57 or Linhof M679 or Linhof Kardan lens board?

If you are trying to mount it to anything smaller then a Technika 57 board or the M679 board then forget it. Additionally, for optimal performance from modern lenses - or any lenses - these universal iris mounts were not known for mounting the lens in proper parallism to the lens board and the image plane. One reason why they are not made today. Same shortcoming with the bayonet ring mount from the 80's.

[Takizawa]

In my case it's a Linhof IV. Thanks all for the comments.

[Bob Salomon]

In my case it's a Linhof IV. Thanks all for the comments.

A IV is a model, not a size. The IV, like the III and the V was available in 23, 45 and 57. Each used a different size board and there were flat boards as well as recessed boards.

[Takizawa]

I was not specific enough. It's a 4x5 size.