Difficulties mounting 4x5 wide angle lenses in Linhoff recessed boards

[Alain Briot]

I am having problems with two 4x5 lenses both mounted on a Linhof recessed wide angle lensboard. Those two lenses are a Schneider 47XL and a Nikon 90 f4.5 Both lenses were purchased new.

The problem is that if I tighten the retaining screw with my spanner wrench so that the lenses do not rotate on the lensboard I have problems opening and closing the lens prior or after making an exposure.

There is something that presses on the the mechanism which controls the opening and closing of the lens. I don't know if I am doing something wrong, or if I need a washer between the lens and the lensboard, or something else that I don't know about.

If you have had this problem, or know the solution, I really appreciate that you help me with this. This problem does not happen with all lenses, just with these two lenses.

Thank you.

Alain

[Bob Salomon]

I believe you have a Technika. For the Technika there is no recessed board for the 47mm. The only 45 Technika that this lens will work properly on is the Technika 2000 and then not on a recessed board.

There is a special deeply recessed board for the 47mm on the Technikardan. This board will also fit a Technika IV and later.

As long as your 90mm is in a 0 shutter the proper board is the 001015. If you have problems mounting your lens properly you can call Linhof service at 973 808-9626.

[Ralph Barker]

Bob is the authority on all things Linhof, but if you happen to be using the Linhof recessed board on a non-Technika camera, you may find that adding a paper "washer" a couple of millimeters wide between the lens and the board may help. I've also heard of people using appropriately sized rubber O-rings for that purpose. Either can give just enough offset to avoid binding the shutter controls.

[Alain Briot]

Bob,

Thank you for your helpful answer. Yes, I have a Master Technika. If I understand you correctly I need to get a recessed Technikardan lensboard, mount the 47XL on it, then use this board on the Master Technika. This is no problem - I also have a Technikardan by the way.

The 90 is a Nikor in Copal 0. Thank you for the board number. Please post the board # for the Technikardan recessed board if you have it.

Alain

[Alain Briot]

Ralph,

When you say a couple of millimeters, do you mean that the paper needs to be a couple of millimeters thick or a couple of millimeters wide? If you don't mind please describe the paper washer in terms of thickness and width so I have a clear visual idea of what it needs to look like.

Thank you.

Alain

[Bob Salomon]

"I need to get a recessed Technikardan lensboard, mount the 47XL on it, then use this board on the Master Technika. This is no problem - I also have a Technikardan by the way."

The 47 won't work on your camera it works on the Technika 2000 on a different board.

"The 90 is a Nikor in Copal 0. Thank you for the board number. Please post the board # for the Technikardan recessed board if you have it."

Linhof has no recommendation for this ,ens. For the TK you would use a flat board with 0 hole. On the Technika a recessed 001015 board should work.

[Ralph Barker]

Alain, what I was attempting to describe was a paper ring, the inside diameter of which would be the same as the hole in the lens board, and the outside diameter a couple of millimeters larger. Thickness would depend on how far back the shutter controls extend from the rear surface of the shutter. Cutting the ring from "construction paper" or a manilla folder might be sufficient, although almost any durable gasket material would probably suffice. Essentially, you want to raise the rear surface of the shutter from the surface of the lens board, while not creating another binding surface with an outside diameter that is too large. Rubber o-rings have the advantage of providing extra surface friction to prevent the lens from rotating on the board.

[Ralph Barker]

To be more clear, what I'm descibing, Alain, is a more general potential solution for shutter binding problems. I think you are still limited to the focal lengths that will actually work with your camera, as Bob mentions.

[Matt Brain]

Hi Alain,

I guess you may be trying to mount the 47XL on a recessed board to use the technikas back to focus it with the lens inside the body. I do this with a 65mm Grandagon in copal 0 in a technika recessed board (the 65 however could just as easily be used on a flat board and still pull the back to focus). If this sort of focussing is what you intend (with the standard inside the camera body), you should see if it works on a flat board before anything else.

To get mine to mount in a recessed board, it needed two things: One was a few washers - ending up with a lot less recess. The other was to carefull line up the lens in the board: Two things get caught on copal (but not compur) shutters. One is the large triangular plastic button that slides up and down to open and close the diaphragm (some ebay lenses can be seen to have this filed back to fit). As the hole is not in the centre of the recessed area, this is easily remedied by having it towards the top of the board. The other is the cocking leaver - this is more of a nuisance it sticks against the top of the recessed area. To solve this you have to do some filing: What to do is use enough washers to have it just skimming the surface of the board and then tighten the retainer. You may then find the retainer is too far behind the lens to allow the rear element to sit correctly - the answer is to file the retainer down a bit on both sides until the rear element sits properly.

What ever you do, don't get the filings anywhere near your lens.

[Bob Salomon]

" Two things get caught on copal (but not compur) shutters."

That is because you are using the older 001016 rather then a 001015 lensboard. Use the proper board and nothing touches.

However you method of focusing by shoving the lens into the body and pulling or pushing the back in and out is not very good. It is virtually impossible to retain accurate alignment between the back and the front this way. The back movements are for corrections once the camera has been focused.