Is there someone on this forum with DIY repair experience on the Linhof Technikardan 45S ? I would like to make some adjustments to the play in the horizontal movements of front and rear standards and I can't seem to find any published info out there on doing this. It should be easy but official service info from a Linhof service manual would be preferred before I start messing with it . There are allen screws all over the camera that appear to be for this exact purpose.
Thanks,
Bibbt
Not easy, best talk to Bob Watkins at Precision.
Thanks Bob, I’m familiar with Precision as well as Nippon and Laflex. I was hoping to find someone on here that had done this themselves.Originally Posted by Bob Salomon
I might be able to give you some ideas. Is it the shift movements you want to adjust? Are they too loose or too tight? Does it involve the clamping lever?
Hi there Jim. Thank you for responding. Yes, it is the shift movements I want to adjust. When I release the locking lever for the shift, the standard is too loose in my opinion. After my first post here, I took a very close look at the two allen screws that I thought were for adjusting this play/tension and I'm not so sure that's what they are for. They are on the bottom of the standard and don't seem to do anything obvious. My only previous experience with Linhof cameras is with a Color Kardan 45S that I used in photography school and professionally for about 25 years. The shift on that camera was tight and smooth as butter right up until I switched to Sinar P and F cameras.
Any ideas you have on this would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Bibbt
Hi Bibbt,
The way the slide mechanism is designed, it needs to have some play in it to let the standards slide freely. It could be that the play you're seeing is how it came from the factory. The amount of play can be adjusted, but you may find when it's reduced to a level you would like, the standard will bind. The important thing is that there should be no play when the locking lever is tightened.
Adjustment is done with the 2 Philips head screws on top of the carrier. You need to remove the stop block at the end of the L-standard's extrusion and slide the standard right out of the carrier. Loosen the 2 nuts that lock against the dovetail guide. One requires a 5.5mm wrench and for the other slotted one I ground a screwdriver tip to fit. Insert the standard and adjust the screws carefully until you get the desired feel. Remove the standard, tighten the locknuts, re-insert the standard and test the fit... repeat if necessary.
You can probably do this procedure with the main rail clamped on a tripod, thus avoiding removal of the carrier from the rail as I've shown here...
Good luck!
Jim,Hi Bibbt,
The way the slide mechanism is designed, it needs to have some play in it to let the standards slide freely. It could be that the play you're seeing is how it came from the factory. The amount of play can be adjusted, but you may find when it's reduced to a level you would like, the standard will bind. The important thing is that there should be no play when the locking lever is tightened.
Adjustment is done with the 2 Philips head screws on top of the carrier. You need to remove the stop block at the end of the L-standard's extrusion and slide the standard right out of the carrier. Loosen the 2 nuts that lock against the dovetail guide. One requires a 5.5mm wrench and for the other slotted one I ground a screwdriver tip to fit. Insert the standard and adjust the screws carefully until you get the desired feel. Remove the standard, tighten the locknuts, re-insert the standard and test the fit... repeat if necessary.
You can probably do this procedure with the main rail clamped on a tripod, thus avoiding removal of the carrier from the rail as I've shown here...
Good luck!
This is absolutely what I was looking for. Thank you. This is a classic example of something that’s not hard, you just have to know how. You might be right on the money about my camera being adjusted properly. I don’t have another one to compare it to other than a different model of Linhof.
Thanks again,
Bibb
Jim and Bob,
So I have decided for the time being to leave the adjustments for the shift alone on my Technikardan and shoot some pictures with it. Put it through a real world test. After I actually put it on a tripod, installed a lens and leveled it up, it seems to be OK. Also, the previous owner had over lubricated the machined aluminum surfaces of the standard/locking block. I removed the excess lubricant and it seems to have helped the smoothness of the shift quite a bit. Seems counter to what you would expect but also the excess lube was attracting dust and crud. I will report back after I have actually used the camera for a while.
Thanks,
Bibb
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