Mine had a second lens board mount on the middle of 3 standards, same size as the front. There were 2 bellows.
I was so unknowlegable when I got it I didn't notice the huge Packard inside the front standard. It was open, 4.5 inches. I thought it just an odd round hole.
I later removed it and put it in my current Deardorff SC11.
Never did find out why they have center lens board mounts, seems a short lens would get vignetted by your box or my front bellows.
Perhaps it was for copy work?
Tin Can
Would you use a really short lens for copy work though Randy? I am sure there is an explanation that will be a "doh" moment and I bet I am really showing my ignorance too.
Michael
We better find out now as a lot of photography is not written and the knowledge base is dwindling.Originally Posted by mikl
Tin Can
Won't that allow using shorter lenses? When I added my Sinar shutter on the front of my Century, it made the minimum extension grow by a couple inches. With the added extension from the shutter, I can't use a lens shorter than about 10".
“You often feel tired, not because you've done too much, but because you've done too little of what sparks a light in you.”
― Alexander Den Heijer, Nothing You Don't Already Know
Hi Peter I imagine that is it but it is a huge studio camera and the box is so deep so I was wondering the application for the short lens would be, it would never have made it out of the studio I imagine.
Michael
A big Petzval or Euryskop mounted at the front does give something of a phallic appearance!
Many surviving Portrait lenses do have traces of impact with the studio floor. Studio photographers used assistents who were, understandably, less concerned about investments in equipment. So, perhaps, a deeply recessed board would reduce the chances of a catastrophic fall. This is especialy true of the big Euryskops which have fixed end mountings.
Another possibility is - one position for Cabinet lenses and the other for CdeV lenses. Petzvals have low angles of view.
Long ago I briefly had a solar enlarger or copy camera with provisions for holding film at one end, a lens board in the middle, and film or paper at the other end. Two bellows permitted the focus and enlarging ratio to be changed. I never tried to use it. The Century may have been modified for similar use.
Interesting! I recall seeing a similar camera: two bellows and a wooden midsection which had a tall, thin door in the side. Perhaps it was to insert a lens board.
Still a mystery then, I am thinking with Jim and Randy, copy work hopefully someone will weigh in with a definitive explanation. Someone must know!
Michael
Now that would be interesting!
Michael
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