Using and Modifying the Travelwide 4x5 camera

[Ben Syverson]

Oh, very strange. I'm struggling to picture it! I would say, unscrew the retaining rings and then reinstall the whole assembly?

- Take off the focus indicator grip (rubber).
- Unscrew the retaining collars from the inside of the camera (don't lose the screws!)
- Pull the whole assembly out of the back
- Rack the focus collar all the way to the base of the helical (away from the copal opening)
- With the helical and collar pointed as if they're going into the back, orient the helical assembly so that the infinity collar is pointing to 12:30 or 1:00
- Install the retaining tabs like ears on the left and right. If you get one tooth, the other should snap into place. They have a top and bottom—if you're looking at the back, make sure that the side with the slight bevel on the tooth is facing up.
- Put the screws into the retaining tabs first
- Lower the whole assembly into the body
- Attach the screws —*don't over-tighten.

That should do it! Let me know if that helps. And hopefully this helps anyone else in the future to reassemble the 90 helical!

[Jim Cole]

Oh, very strange. I'm struggling to picture it! I would say, unscrew the retaining rings and then reinstall the whole assembly?

- Take off the focus indicator grip (rubber).
- Unscrew the retaining collars from the inside of the camera (don't lose the screws!)
- Pull the whole assembly out of the back
- Rack the focus collar all the way to the base of the helical (away from the copal opening)
- With the helical and collar pointed as if they're going into the back, orient the helical assembly so that the infinity collar is pointing to 12:30 or 1:00
- Install the retaining tabs like ears on the left and right. If you get one tooth, the other should snap into place. They have a top and bottom—if you're looking at the back, make sure that the side with the slight bevel on the tooth is facing up.
- Put the screws into the retaining tabs first
- Lower the whole assembly into the body
- Attach the screws —*don't over-tighten.

That should do it! Let me know if that helps. And hopefully this helps anyone else in the future to reassemble the 90 helical!

Ben,

That worked, thank you very much. One of the little loops on one of the retainers that the screw passes thru did break, but it's good enough to hold for a little while. When you get a chance, email me the price a new pair of retainers with an extra set of 4 screws (in case they start to strip with a couple of removals) plus the cost of shipping and I can PayPal the total to you before you ship.

Thanks and I'm really looking forward to putting some film thru this little beauty.

[Tin Can]

First thing I did was take the whole thing apart, which is 4 screws as Ben knows.

Be gentle you guys, I think some of you are asking a lot of when you install heavy lenses, Bryan, and Grafmatics and Metz flash, Pierre!

I know you can break them, it is plastic.

There's a good reason I settled for a tiny 90mm Rapex, it's very light weight and I think light is where this camera is at. With regular DDS holders.

Now ignore me and let's see those mods.

After all I did drill holes in mine before ever using it...

[Corran]

Truth be told, I took off the 90XL and put on an Angulon for my trip, calibrated it (and my freshly-calibrated Blik) so I'm set for snapshooting. It was more of an experiment - I tried many different lenses and configurations.

[Ben Syverson]

Bryan, I can't wait to see the results! You'll have to weigh in on how the 90XL compares. Do you have a Super Angulon to play with too?

I just found a 101mm Graflex Optar in a drawer… It won't focus to infinity on the Travelwide, but it could be interesting as a portrait setup. I'll give it a whirl and report back.

[Corran]

Yep I have all three...will have to try to do a comparison.

[nonuniform]

I'm so glad I read this thread. The distance scale is in meters? I was wondering why mine was so off!

(yeah, it's right there in the instructions, but, I need BIGGER print!)

[nonuniform]

I wish New55 PN was a reasonably functional product, shooting with my remaining Type 55 and 59 is really great.

[nonuniform]

How did you get a Polaroid 405 to fit in the Travelwide? Mine won't. It's way too tall for the end of the spring clips. This camera would be better with something like the way graflok backs are held on to a crown graphic.

[rdenney]

How did you get a Polaroid 405 to fit in the Travelwide? Mine won't. It's way too tall for the end of the spring clips. This camera would be better with something like the way graflok backs are held on to a crown graphic.

It was designed for standard film holders, and a Graflok would have added a lot of cost. But you can remove the spring clip (which is held on by two screws) and use bungie cords to hold on a 405.

Rick "frustrated to be traveling while his new Travelwide is waiting at home" Denney