Recessed lens board for 65mm lens on ebony SV45Te

[peter lagus]

All:

I have recently purchased a Fujinon 65mm lens for use with my ebony SV45Te since the ebony catalog mentions that Linhof type boards will work on the camera. (FWIW 65mm is roughly my favorite focal length in 35mm for photographing Colorado Plateau rock formations)

So I purchased a Linhof 12mm recessed board on epay. I know that ebony claims that you can manipulate the camera to accept a 65mm lens without a recessed board but it seems that your options so far as movements are concerned are quite limited. Also, there ain't a lot of room to connect up the pin that actuates the lens. There is even less room to manipulate f stop and shutter speed.

So I have two questions.

1) Should I purchase a Gepe flexible extension to allow me to trigger the lens using the Linhof lens board? 2) Will something like a Toyo recessed lens board work instead? I don't know whether the Toyo board has the proper size and thickness to be usable on the ebony. From the pictures it appears that there is a lot more open area around the lens with the Toyo lens board. This would make manipulating the f stops and shutter speed a lot easier. Any suggestions or comments would be appreciated.

pete

[Brian Ellis]

Toyo boards are a different size than Linhof boards so I doubt your Linhof recessed board would work on your Ebony without an adapter. I had an Ebony 45Te and used my Linhof boards with it. They worked perfectly but I don't think I used my Linhof recessed board on the Ebony.

I'm not familiar with the Gepe flexible extension.

[B.S.Kumar]

Toyo also makes Linhof type boards - a Linhof lensboard version of their field cameras can be bought in Japan, and has an 'L' at the end of the model designation. But regular Toyo field and and G type boards are larger than the Linhof boards. Conversely, adapters are available to use Linhof boards on Toyo field and G type cameras.

The Gepe flexible extension works well with recessed boards.

Kumar

[Steve Barber]

The first question is, why do you equate a 65mm lens on a 4x5 with a 65mm lens on the 35mm camera you are used to using? A far more reasonable choice for use on a 4x5 for the purpose you give would be a 210mm focal length lens, which is, actually, the 4x5 equivalent to the 35mm camera's 65mm lens.

Even if you still insist on a 65mm lens, from looking at the specs, I doubt you will need a recessed lens board. Even if you did, the small amount of rise and tilt you would need to eliminate using a recessed board is a lot easier to live with than a recessed lens board with its inherent inconveniences that you have mentioned.

Last, the Toyo lens boards will not work on your Ebony. Use the standard Linhof Technika with the slightly lower off-center mounting of the shutter and raised ring surround that fits the Ebony standard as a light seal. You can use the non-standard lens board bored to mount the shutter in the center, but that is not normal for the Ebony.

[peter lagus]

Thanks to all who commented.

Steve I think my 35mm analogy may have been poorly worded. In 35mm, my favorite focal lengths for Colorado Plateau formations lie between 17 and 20mm. 65mm in LF gets me approximately the same view.

Pete Lagus