Copal shutter & modern lenses for 4x5 Crown Graphic?

[65Galaxie]

Why buy a modern lens when the 203/7.7 Ektar is better than good enough?

I ended up buying a modern (looked like new) Rodenstock Geronar 210 in copal shutter for less than what the 203 Ektar was bringing on ebay, otherwise I would have bought an Ektar 203.

[Dan Fromm]

Not to be completely contrary, old Ford car, but the Geronar is a Cooke Triplet under another name and the Ektar is a dialyte under another name. Both designs are ancient. Even the plasmat, the quintessential design for modern LF lenses that are neither really wide nor really long, is aged.

[Kirk Fry]

A Crown Graphic is not a View Camera or a Field Camera, it is an amazing liberating experience. Just think of it as a over grown point and shoot (almost).

K

[venchka]

Why buy a modern lens when the 203/7.7 Ektar is better than good enough?

Thank you. I will remember that. By design or by dumb luck I have managed to accumulate a variety of good old and good modern lenses for 35mm use. I was thinking of doing the same for 4x5. On the other hand, this may not be correct for 4x5.

[Ole Tjugen]

There is nothing wrong with accumulating "good old and good modern" lenses for 4x5", nor even "pretty old and pretty modern" lenses.

My lens accumulation spans the time from around 1860 to 2002, and includes both good and pretty - and even bad. Even the "bad" lenses can give good results if you know them.

Part of the fun with LF is the compatibility of everything with everything else, unlike 35mm where you are more or less tied to one lens mount per camera.

[Kevin Crisp]

I carry a 3 lens kit for the Crown; a 135mm MC Symar-S, a 90mm Angulon, and a 210 R Claron. The 135 stays on the camera. It take some patience to get the lens and the little "L" lever on the camera body positioned exactly right, but with just a little preload on the shutter firing lever of the copal, you can use the body release as you would with the standard press lens. If you preload the lever too much the shutter won't cock, and there is not much room for error. The advantage of the Kalart rangefinder is that it can be adjusted for the 135 lens and be accurate without having to worry about a cam.

[lloydlim]

Note that it is theoretically possible to mount a Copal 3 shutter on a Crown Graphic lensboard, however most Copal 3 lenses I have seen have a rear diameter that is even larger than the shutter hole. Hence, the process of using such a lens on a crown graphic would be:

1. open body
2. take out the back
3. unscrew the lens back element from the shutter
4. mount and secure the lensboard
5. screw the back element
6. reinsert camera back.

In comparison, it is a 2 step process to change copal 0 and 1 lens