Question to owners of Phillips 8x10 Compact II

[Marco Annaratone]

Greetings!

I have a Schneider SS 110mm XL and a SA 72mm XL that I plan to use on my 8x10 Phillips Compact II. Yup, the SA 72mm XL does not cover 8x10 but (barely) 6x10. It's an interesting format anyway.

What kind of setup with the Compact II do you use with either one of the two lenses to avoid having the two rails and the bed showing up on the bottom of the film?

My experience with the 72mm showed that even if I tilt the camera forward and readjust the two standards vertically the bed/rails can still be seen (focusing at infinity of course). I am using a mildly recessed board though, maybe 1/2 in. I have seen on Ebay 47mm (almost 2 in) deep recessed Sinar/Horseman boards. Would that solve the problem?

And what about the 110mm XL?

Before buying a recessed board (or actually two) only to find out that it's not enough I would like to hear some practical recommendations from those who actually did it already (or learn that it can't be done).

I appreciate (and thank) well-meaning theoreticians :-) but I'd rather rely on the advice from those who have actually worked the problem in practice.

Thanks!

[Michael Mutmansky]

The 110 will show the bed in vertical mode. If I recall, I could not adjust the camera in any way to avoid that, but the newer models may be slightly different in this respect, as Dick made some adjustments to the camera to better suit the 110 after it came out.

I don't think the 72 will ever not show the bed, even in a cropped horizontal, but I haven't tried it.


---Michael