Mounting lenses wothout a jam nut (flange)

[Rafael Garcia]

I have a barrel Kodak Anastigmat f4.5 8 1/2" lens without mounting flange that is pristine, huge, and shuterless. I decided to use it with my new Anniversary Speed Graphic, but since it is so heavy the lack of mounting flange put a damper on the plan. I figured out a safe, easy way to mount it today, and have done so. Here's what I did:

1) get a package of glazing points and some small wood screws
2) drill pilot holes on the diagonals of your wooden lensboard, about 1/8" from the lens hole
bend the point of the glazing points so they go into the hole while screwed to the edge. Bend the tip back up.
3) screw the glazing points and screw the lens onto the lensboard, using the sharp bent tip of the glazing points as the thread!



Hopefully this will be useful to all of you cheap collectors of assorted stuff like me...

[Mark Sawyer]

Another possibility on larger lenses; I've used this on a 13" Vitax, a 25" Cooke, and an 11.5" Verito. It's pretty ugly, but it's hidden inside the camera, is very secure, and doesn't hurt the lenses. Black rubber sewer pipe connecters from Home Depot, available in a variety of sizes for $3 to $5 each, and you cut them down to get two from each. You need about an inch of lens behind the board. Work the rubber ring against the lensboard before tightening the ring clamp, and as they tighten, the rubber squeezes out against the board even tighter, making them very snug and secure.

[Walter Calahan]

Both cool ideas.

Mark, your approach is SO simple. Good for you. I may try it.

[Ash]

That's a brilliant idea. I usually make a bit of a dodgy not-so-circular hole and the lens screws in with friction, or run tape around the lighter lenses to keep it super-snug when mounting.

Thanks for sharing both of you

[Rafael Garcia]

Mark:

I had tried your approach, but this lens projects only 1/4" behind my board, so I didn't have enough to 'bite' with the clamp. A good approach, though.

Ah, and... could 'management' please correct my spelling mistake on the title for this thread? Tough to type in the dark when you type with four fingers!

[Mark Sawyer]

A couple of further quick thoughts on the sewer connecter method; you can also slice a section out of it to fit a lens diameter that isn't one of the standard sizes, and the ring clamp holds it in so well it's imperceptible that it was cut. And yes, I painted the ring clamp a flat black. Also, I'd considered running a bead of glue around the edge of the rubber where it meets the lesboard (the glue wouldn't touch the lens) to keep it from twisting on the board, but this wasn't necessary. But yes, you need at least an inch of lens protruding behind the board to grab onto...

Another alternative to a factory flange that *sometimes* works is to disassemble a filter and use that threaded ring. This is fairly thin, but sometimes it is enough, and if you do need a thicker one, you can usually find a step-up ring with as much thickness as you need, (and you can even drill mounting holes in those!)

[Rafael Garcia]

The filter ring is also a good idea. Unfortunately my lens is almost 2" in diameter, so the filter or adapter ring would have been expensive! I tried to find it, though...

Here's a photo of a bent glazing point and an unbent one.



I had to bend them because the threads on the lens were shorter than the thickness of the board. Otherwise the straight points would have sufficed. The grip is very, very firm, and the lens does not move or rotate at all.

[Uusilehto]

You could try one of them universal iris clamp mounts. I just bought one on the auction site for 75€. Should have it before this weekend.
I used to have one but it was a lot smaller than the one I'm now getting.

They're basically very large (70-90mm openings) diaphragms with 18-20 very thick blades. Two knobs, One for size adjustment and one for locking the blades. Smaller lenses can be attached by simply clamping the blades on the threads (preferably with some thread-tape in between to reduce the crookedness. Most lenses have at least some space between the threads and the actual barrel, so that would also be a good place to clamp it.

The upside is that you only need one lens board for your lenses. Lenses with retaining rings work even better. Just have the ring almost tightened, clamp the blades between the ring and the barrel and tighten the ring (without breaking the blades, of course)

Now, the downside. They're pretty scarce these days and can easily fetch a pricetag of $150-250.

EDIT: Found a picture of the mounting diaphragm:

[domaz]

Here is a similar way to mount a lens without a flange. The lens needs to have a bit of "extension" out the back for this to work well but it's very effective. A few pieces of thin (spring?) steel cut and bent to contact the lens board and a lip at the end of the lens barrel. Secured in place with a cable tie. Credit goes to my father-in-law for figuring this one out.