I recently bought a Horseman L45. This is my first foray into large format photography and I got a couple of lenses thinking more about the focal length than the practicality. One of them is a Fujinon SWD 75mm F/5.6. Two questions, first will I need to use the bag bellows? Second, will I need a recessed lens board? If I get the recessed lens board will I be able to use the regular bellows? Thanks in advance.
In theory, you should be able to use a 75mm with a flat board if you don't need much movement. if you've already got the lens, then just try it. An older 75 may not have a big enough image circle to allow much movement anyway.
Another less obvious concern is the actual setup of the camera. The front and rear standards look almost identical, and it won't be obvious which one is which if the camera has been disassembled and the ground glass back and lensboard removed for shipping. If it hasn't been reassembled properly, the orientation of the front and rear mounting points for the respective lens board and ground glass could be out of whack, and not cause any obvious functional problem, other than the lens board and ground glass being further apart than they should be. This would prevent you from achieving the minimum distance for very wide angle lenses, however. Check some images of the Horseman on the internet, to see if your camera looks to be set up properly. I had that issue with mine, and I was scratching my head at why I couldn't get the lens and ground glass close enough for even a 90mm lens. It was all due to the setup being screwed up.
Thanks for the heads up. I'm out of the country right now and ordered entirely way too many things while in quarantine, I was supposed to go back tomorrow but now it doesn't seem like I will be back until the day after so I will have the camera as soon as I get home as opposed to a day later. I was originally going to print out myself some lens boards and wasn't sure whether to print a recessed one or not. Guess I will be able to find out rather quickly now though.
If you mind me asking, do you like the Horseman? Do you think it is a decent first LF camera? I was really attracted to the precision of the system and the geared movements. Not sure I will be taking it out much though...
Forget about first large format camera, these babies are good enough for anybody.Originally Posted by linuxid10t
Horseman L should be good with lens focal lengths to 65mm without a recessed lens board (60mm lens flange to GG distance). Do spend the $50 to get a Horseman or Sinar bag bellows as there is zero reason not to use a bag bellows with wide angle lenses from 65mm to ~90mm.
As for 3D printing a lens board, better and easier to purchase a Horseman/Sinar lens board as they will be far more proper than a 3D printed lens board.
Horseman L is one of the best monorail view cameras made. IMO, way under rated and appreciated in too many ways.
Bernice
The only other tip I will add for these fine L series cameras is the one weak link with these is some of the lever locks are a hollow, thinner plastic that can crack over time, but if you are proactive, you can remove lever knob, fill it with a rigid epoxy (like JB weld) and re-install for extra strength...
Had to fix a friend's L knobs (the base tilt knobs), but his got too damaged (from regular use)... He couldn't get OEM replacements, so had to have a machinist make very nice replacements for them...
For the board, measure the distance from GG to lensboard with a ruler while camera is compressed to find out minimum distance available for short lenses... Note that short lenses usually don't have a large IC, and don't allow much movement anyway, so one less thing to worry about... And deep recessed boards usually make it hard to access shutter controls, and simple things (like screwing in a cable release) can become complicated...
Steve K
I did get a Horseman bag bellows for the camera too, it should be coming in with the camera. I guess this will probably be necessary to use the wide angle? As for the lens board, I have some nice aluminum ones coming in, but they are coming in from China so god only knows when they will come in. The 3D printed ones will just be temporary hopefully. That being said, I haven't seen any designs for Sinar/Horseman lens boards out on the internet so I will have to create my own. Hopefully I can get some and post it, there seems to be a thread on this forum for that sort of thing.
Also, glad you like the camera, there doesn't seem to be a lot of talk about it and I was wondering if I made the right choice. Thanks
Check out the Sinar stuff that Robert's has. All very nice P2 4X5 cameras and accessories from Rochester Institute of Technology. You can buy Sinar bellows, viewers, lenses, which will all fit your Horseman for very low prices.
Be confident, having been a decades long Horseman L and Sinar user, Horseman remains one of the best monorails due to it's modularity like Sinar (there are specific limitations with Horseman L, but absolutely ok) and cross compatibility with Sinar in various ways. As a monorail, it is precise, accurate, stable and all those things and offerings any excellent monorail must have and offer. They were the absolute bargain over stuffed monorail camera for a very long time.
Best of the Sinar style lens boards are the last generation from Sinar. These are cast aluminum about 3-4mm thick, raised cast in Sinar Logo with a light trap channel and precision machined registration areas on each corner to assure accurate and precise registration of lens board to camera.. a feature no wooden camera offers. Horseman lens boards are made somewhat similar and are interchangeable. Mid generation Sinar lens boards are also cast aluminum but thinner without the light trap channel, black in color. Sinar Norma lens boards are Sinar olive green, thinner than the mid-generation Sinar lens boards, works good. All are interchangeable between Sinar-Horseman L.
This media marketing perk comes up with discussions about Horseman L and those new to this view camera stuff.
So yea, plenty of web media toots about lightweight field folders being "THE" view camera to have-use-own, except this style of camera does not and will not meet all view camera needs... and IMO, a monorail is easier to learn "how to view camera" on than a field folder.
Bernice
I did get a Horseman bag bellows for the camera too, it should be coming in with the camera. I guess this will probably be necessary to use the wide angle? As for the lens board, I have some nice aluminum ones coming in, but they are coming in from China so god only knows when they will come in. The 3D printed ones will just be temporary hopefully. That being said, I haven't seen any designs for Sinar/Horseman lens boards out on the internet so I will have to create my own. Hopefully I can get some and post it, there seems to be a thread on this forum for that sort of thing.
Also, glad you like the camera, there doesn't seem to be a lot of talk about it and I was wondering if I made the right choice. Thanks
I have a lot of Horseman 2X3, 4X5, 8X10
I second Bernice
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