Originally Posted by
Doremus Scudder
The manual linked to above is all I ever got with a DX. It has everything you need. The only quirk with the DX is how the lens folds in when closing; it's different than some other folders. The camera is basic but completely able to handle almost any task.
One real advantage of the DX is that you can fold it up with a small lens mounted. I can fold mine up with most 135mm Plasmats, my 203mm Ektar and even the Fujinon A 180mm. This speeds up set-up quite a bit. Watch carefully when you try to close the camera with a lens mounted the first time to make sure that it doesn't touch anywhere. If not, you're good to go.
One thing you should be aware of: The standard bellows don't really allow a lot of movement for 90mm and wider lenses. When using extreme movements, the bellows will bind and crimp; mine have an extra "fold" in them running diagonally from using lots of rise with wider lenses. This can, if you are not careful when folding the camera back up, cause some problems. I've seen some DXs with really destroyed bellows from crimping them and then folding them up incorrectly. Mine, however, have been going great for 25 years or more on one camera. I use recessed boards for all my wider lenses (really necessary for anything much shorter than 125mm) to give me more bellows draw and less crimping and I release the stress on the bellows as soon as I can after the shot by racking out the bellows. When applying rise, I'll rack out the bellows, shift the lens and then refocus by racking the bellows in. This seems to fold the bellows better than forcing the lensboard up with the bellows in the shorter position.
If you are going to use wider lenses with any movements at all, I highly recommend you get recessed boards. (I use a 90mm f/8 Nikon SW, 90mm F/8 Schneider SA and a 75mm Fujinon f/5.6 SW on recessed boards.) I have either cable-release adapters, or short flexible cable-release extensions (or a cable release with a short fitting) on theses lenses that stay with them permanently.
Any other questions you might have we here on the forum can likely answer rather quickly.
Best,
Doremus
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