Can you guys recommend any good replacement Ground Glass/Fresnel Lens for my 4x5?

[manfrominternet]

I bought a barely used Linhof Technikardan 45 (not the 45s, the later model) 4x5 camera, but the fresnel screen is a little scratched up and I'd like to replace it. The current screen on this camera has two parts - a frosted fresnel screen and a protective clear outer glass with black squares and aspect ratios (6x12, 6x9, 6x7, and 6x6 medium format) imprinted on it.

Do any of you guys have any recommendations of good ground glass and/or fresnel screens that will work well with this camera? I had a great (and very long) conversation with Bill Maxwell about his screens for my camera, but his new and used screens are pretty expensive alike.

Also, the circular rings on the current fresnel screen I have are facing the lens, not the photographer. Is that correct?

[Bob Salomon]

You have the Linhof Super Screen with the Grid Cover Glass. It is no longer available and has been gone long enough that you would not be able to,find one.
But the current Linhof 45 Grid Screen and Fresnel are exceptionally good. Try them.

[Bob Salomon]

I bought a barely used Linhof Technikardan 45 (not the 45s, the later model) 4x5 camera, but the fresnel screen is a little scratched up and I'd like to replace it. The current screen on this camera has two parts - a frosted fresnel screen and a protective clear outer glass with black squares and aspect ratios (6x12, 6x9, 6x7, and 6x6 medium format) imprinted on it.

Do any of you guys have any recommendations of good ground glass and/or fresnel screens that will work well with this camera? I had a great (and very long) conversation with Bill Maxwell about his screens for my camera, but his new and used screens are pretty expensive alike.

Also, the circular rings on the current fresnel screen I have are facing the lens, not the photographer. Is that correct?

On the Super Screen the grooved side faces the photographer. That is why I added the glass overlay to protect those grooves.

[manfrominternet]

I'm confused. On the Linhof website it says to mount the 4x5 fresnel screen "with the grooves facing the lens." http://linhof.com/en/fresnelscheibe-4x5/

Is that a mistake?

[manfrominternet]

I'm confused. On the Linhof website it says to mount the 4x5 fresnel screen "with the grooves facing the lens." http://linhof.com/en/fresnelscheibe-4x5/

Is that a mistake?

Any takers? I’m confused as to which way the circular grooves on the Linhof fresnel should face.

Bob said that they should face the viewer, but under the mounting instructions on the Linhof fresnel page it instructs you to mount the fresnel with “the grooved side facing the lens.” http://linhof.com/en/fresnelscheibe-4x5/

I trust Bob on this, and I’m wondering if there’s a mistake on the Linhof page.

Can anyone help clear this up?

[David Lindquist]

I'm sure Bob will clarify this as soon as he sees it. The Linhof website is correct about the current fresnel lens, that the grooved side should face the lens. As I understand it the Super Screen did have the grooved side facing the viewer.

David

[Bob Salomon]

Any takers? I’m confused as to which way the circular grooves on the Linhof fresnel should face.

Bob said that they should face the viewer, but under the mounting instructions on the Linhof fresnel page it instructs you to mount the fresnel with “the grooved side facing the lens.” http://linhof.com/en/fresnelscheibe-4x5/

I trust Bob on this, and I’m wondering if there’s a mistake on the Linhof page.

Can anyone help clear this up?

You probably misread what I said.With the LInhof Super Screen the grooved side faced the eye because it was a single piece of acrylic and the frosted side had to face the lens. Because that left the delicate groovedside exposed we sold a grid glass plate to cover the grooved side.

With a regular gg Linhof places the Fresnel on top of the gg with the grooves facing the lens.

The Linhof Super Screen and the Grid GG were only sold by HP Marketing in the U.S., Linhof themselves never sold it but allowed us to use the Linhof name on it.

Similarly Linhof sold our HP Combina system of roll film and 45 and 57 daylight processing tanks as the Linhof tanks even though they never carried the Linhof logo on the tanks or the packages. Depending on the owner of the Combi system they were first labeled with the inventors name, Krause, or the Gepe name or the HP name.

[David Lindquist]

Unless you plan on using roll film backs, I'd suggest Linhof's 021804 ground glass. This has just a grid of squares of one cm by one cm. Their ground glass 021805 which seems to be the current standard equipment for the Master Technikas and the Technikardan 45 S has in addition to the grid, outlines for 6 x 7, 6 x 9 and 6 x 12 cm plus 9 x 12 cm. I found this a bit "busy".

The 021804 shown on the B & H website has an outline for 9 X 12 cm but I bought one from them in 2015 and it did not have this; I think what they show is an earlier version. Both Laflex and Linhof & Studio in Great Britain show this ground glass without the 9 x 12 cm rectangle.

David

[manfrominternet]

Ah, I see. Damn, I really wish I had known about this earlier. I’ve been using the Linhof Super Screen with the grooves facing the lens. I did, indeed, notice some loss of sharpness on my negatives, but it isn’t anything drastic because I stop down to f/22, usually.

The Linhof fresnel (the one currently available at Linhof Studio in the U.K.) is a little pricey for me, a rather impecunious grad student, at $142.

Do you guys have any recommendations of the current selection of 4x5 ground glass/fresnel replacements on eBay or anywhere else?

I was thinking this: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Ultra-Brigh...EAAOSwDEBcO0~v

Or this: https://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Linhof-...AAAOSwfjVbyRS1

Or this: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Super-Brigh...UAAOSw7eRdgyQM

Since I have the Linhof Super Screen, do I need a 2-in-1 fresnel/ground glass combo to replace it?

If you guys really think that I should spring for the $142 Linhof brand fresnel, I’ll go for it.

Many thanks! ��

[David Lindquist]

Ah, I see. Damn, I really wish I had known about this earlier. I’ve been using the Linhof Super Screen with the grooves facing the lens. I did, indeed, notice some loss of sharpness on my negatives, but it isn’t anything drastic because I stop down to f/22, usually.

The Linhof fresnel (the one currently available at Linhof Studio in the U.K.) is a little pricey for me, a rather impecunious grad student, at $142.

Do you guys have any recommendations of the current selection of 4x5 ground glass/fresnel replacements on eBay or anywhere else?

I was thinking this: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Ultra-Brigh...EAAOSwDEBcO0~v

Or this: https://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Linhof-...AAAOSwfjVbyRS1

Or this: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Super-Brigh...UAAOSw7eRdgyQM

Since I have the Linhof Super Screen, do I need a 2-in-1 fresnel/ground glass combo to replace it?

If you guys really think that I should spring for the $142 Linhof brand fresnel, I’ll go for it.

Many thanks! ��

The first item is a fresnel only so you would have to also get a ground glass. The last item sounds a lot like the Super Screen being an integral fresnel and (acrylic) ground glass plus a protective glass cover. I can't really make a recommendation among these three choices.

An additional thought here. How sure are you that you want a fresnel? There have been vociferous discussions about them here with some really disliking them and others really really liking them. I fall in the middle I guess. I like them but wouldn't give up photography if someone took them away. Thing is you could consider getting the Linhof ground glass (only) that I suggested from Linhof Studio. It's £95 or about $117.50 according to the currency conversion website I use. You could add a fresnel later if you really wanted to. Of course if you were to spring for the $142 Linhof fresnel today you would also have to get the ground glass. BTW I've been very happy in my dealings with Linhof Studio and the manager there Paula Pell-Johnson. And their Linhof prices can be a lot less than those of US vendors even with shipping and your credit card company's foreign transaction fee added on. Having said that I see there's not so much of a difference between B&H's and Linhof Studio's price for the ground glass (for the fresnel the difference is almost two fold.) Thing is B&H doesn't have these in stock and Linhof Studio almost undoubtedly does.

Just noticed your next-to-last question. Bob could answer this better than I. From the standpoint of plane of focus, as I understand it a properly installed Super Screen would have the "ground glass" surface in the same plane as would be occupied by a regular ground glass and so could be replaced by a regular ground glass without concerns of shimming or the like.

You may have noticed the used Super Screen on ebay. It may be in even worse shape than yours.

David