Compatibility of 4x5 lens boards between manufactures.

[Mamu]

Are most 4x5 lens boards interchangeable?

[Bob Salomon]

No.

The most common are Linhof 45 Technika ones. They will directly fit some other brand cameras or to some others with an adapter board.

Sinar and Horseman monorails also share a lensboard as well as a couple of other cameras.

[Leigh]

The most common are Linhof 45 Technika ones. They will directly fit some other brand cameras or to some others with an adapter board.
Sinar and Horseman monorails also share a lensboard as well as a couple of other cameras.

The 4x5 Tachihara field camera uses Technika lensboards.
The 8x10 Tachinara field camera uses Sinar lensboards.

- Leigh

[Alan Gales]

I used to own a 4x5 Tachihara field camera and a Sinar P monorail. I had a Sinar to Technika adapter board so I could just swap lenses back and forth between each camera. Currently, I have a Wehman 8x10 which takes Wehman boards. I have an adapter so I can use the smaller Technika style boards.

I believe there was also an adapter board made for Speed and Crown Graphic boards to fit some monorails.

Do your research before you buy if you want to switch lens boards between cameras.

[Mamu]

I used to own a 4x5 Tachihara field camera and a Sinar P monorail. I had a Sinar to Technika adapter board so I could just swap lenses back and forth between each camera. Currently, I have a Wehman 8x10 which takes Wehman boards. I have an adapter so I can use the smaller Technika style boards.

I believe there was also an adapter board made for Speed and Crown Graphic boards to fit some monorails.

Do your research before you buy if you want to switch lens boards between cameras.

I'm really focused on large format black and white film shots of landscapes and studio closeup work at this stage. I've gotten a lot of experience with medium format, especially Mamiya gear, but other than printing as a lab tech, learning the basics of view camera operation in art school and lusting after them for decades, large format not so much. I'm really enjoying shooting the Crown Graphic Special with the 135mm f/4.7 Xenar since I was able to borrow one earlier this year. Since then, I've been learning as much as I can before settling on the used view camera and lens for me. Something like a Cambo SCII with a Fuji 210mm is the direction I'm contemplating, but I want to get more feedback (which I really appreciate) here before settling. If I understand correctly, there is a market accessible after 30 days here, unless I misunderstood or that info is out of date. I really doubt I'll swap lenses much, but it's great to know of adapters to make it as little of a pain in the butt as possible. I was primarily wondering if I could pop the Xenar into the view, so I could go ahead and get that while saving for glass. I'm itching to use some movements beyond what the press camera can do. Thanks for the feedback!

[jim10219]

There are lots of adapters to use one type of lens board on another type of camera. And in some cases, you can even make your own lens board adapter. I made one to mount my Anniversary Graflex lens boards onto my Sinar camera. I built and sold a Graflex Pacemaker lens board to Sinar adapter as well. I had the spare parts available, and it seemed like a good use of them.

[angusparker]

SK Grimes can make just about any adapter as long as the front standard is larger than the lens board. Also quite a few of the more common options on EBay. The most common sizes are Technica for 4x5 and Sinar for 8x10. Some cameras are picky about the exact Technica shape like Shen Hao. Chamonix Lensboards don’t always fit a Technica sized standard and can be problematic on non-Chamonix cameras.


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[Mamu]

Thanks for the quick feedback! Y'all are awesome. I'm sure I'll come up with more questions. I want to get opinions on the less expensive Cambo and Calumet cameras. I enjoy answering beginners questions, but I enjoy learning new things from other's experience even more. I've probably saved more from listening and asking questions than I've collected in instructor fees for darkroom and basic photo classes. I'm glad to find a good community of large format shooters.

Thanks!

[Dan Fromm]

Mamu, there are two ways you can use your 135 Xenar on a Cambo. Obtain a Cambo board drilled to accept the shutter and move the lens from the Graphic board to the Cambo board (and back) when needed. Or get a Cambo board and have it modified to accept Pacemaker Graphic boards. The second way makes economic sense only if you have more than a few lenses that you want to use on both systems.

FWIW, I shot 2x3 Graphics for years before I was given a Cambo SC 1 (2x3). I'd accumulated quite a few lenses on 2x3 Pacemaker boards, also a variety of spare parts for 2x3 Pacemaker Graphics, including a couple of front standards. 2x3 SC boards are hard to find and not cheap. Since I wanted to shoot my lenses in shutter on my SC 1 and on my Graphics I sacrificed a front standard and a SC 1 board. SKGrimes combined the two, and now I have a board that fits my SC 1 and accepts lenses on 2x3 Pacemaker Graphic boards. Version one of the adapter added a little extension. When this turned out to be a problem, SKG reworked the adapter to let Graphic boards mount on it flush with the front of the SC 1 board.

[Jim Jones]

Mamu -- The 135mm Xenar doesn't have enough coverage to make full use of the front movements. You may eventually want a 135mm lens that does have greater coverage, although it may be too bulky for the Crown. If you do, having each on an appropriate lens board is cheap enough. A longer lens like the ancient, but good, Ektar 203mm f/7.7 will fit the Crown and have enough coverage for some view camera front movements.