super symmar 110x. & horseman 45fa

[John A.]

I've been looking into purchasing a horseman 45fa and a schneider super symmar 110xl.
I noticed on the b&h site that the lensboards with a copal #1 shutters are extended or slightly extended.
I'm new to lf and am wondering if this outfit would be completely compatible. What difference does a slight extension make with this lens? Thanks for any input.

[Ralph Barker]

I've never used a Horseman, John, so I may be talking through my hat here. With that caveat, it seems strange that they don't list a flat board for the Copal 1. But, the dimensions of the 45FA board are relatively small, so the use of the slightly-extended board with Copal 1 shutters might be a matter of providing some clearance with the side struts of the front standard for easier access to the shutter controls. The "slightly extended" board appears to raise the lens off the board by only 10mm or so. If so, it should work OK with a 110mm lens, as the minimum bellows extension on the 45FA is about 60mm.

[MYSherline]

I have used the Horseman 45A and was not impressed. I currently use a Sinar f1 but I am looking for a Toyo View 45A or 45AII. I have dealt with Jim at Midwest Photo Exchange and he is extremely knowledgeable and patient (I can drive anyone nuts.) Give them a jingle before you make any moves. MPX.com

Good Luck,

[Frank Petronio]

Seems like putting a race-car engine on a jalopy frame. The advantage of the 110XL isn't that you will notice it rendering the image any differently than other good lenses - they are all sharp at f/16 - but the large coverage that you get from it. The Horseman is a fine camera, but it will never use half of the 110XL's image circle, so you're wasting your money by paying top dollar for the 110XL's huge image circle.

But opinions are like a$$holes and I shouldn't be butting in... ;-)

[Glenn Kroeger]

What Ralph said! With the small Horseman boards, any lens you can use with the short extension is much easier than on a flat board... especially if you have big fingers!

[Armin Seeholzer]

Ralph and Glenn are right with only one exeption. The extended lensboard raises the shutter only about 4-5 mm to the front of the board.
The Horseman is a very fine camera if someone uses lenses from75mm to 300 mm, but for the 300mm you already need an extention board and you only can use lenses with a shutter no. 1 as largest!
Nobody get mine!

[Brian J Nelson]

Be sure to check the diameter of the rear element of this lens. I had a Horseman FA and the rear element on a Schneider 90 /5.6 Super-angulon was too big for the camera. Thats why I now have a Technika. You are also limited with bellows extension on the FA.

[Kerry L. Thalmann]

Be sure to check the diameter of the rear element of this lens.

Not an issue. The rear diameter of the 110mm Super Symmar XL is 54mm - it's threaded to take 52mm filters.

Kerry

[Steve Clark]

John, I use the 45FA with lenses from 80mm thru 300mm and they work fine. The slight extension on the #1 boards is for ease of operation of the aperture lever as clearances on a camera that small are pretty tight. There are also two other extended boards for that camera, one is about an inch and the other about two and one half inches, those are rough lengths, I`d have to go look for an exact measurement. As far as I know, the longest board must be ordered directly from Japan. And yes, the 110XL is included in the above lenses.

[Ted Harris]

I used a Horseman 45FA for years. From the day it hit the market the 110 xl was my favorite lens and I probably exposed more than 500 sheets of film with the camera and that lens ... no problem at all.