Apo Grandagon 55mm usefull on horseman FA or HF?

[paul owen]

Armin, I may be wrong but I doubt whether you'd get any movements at all even if you are able to mount such a wide lens on this camera. Do you already own this camera or this lens?? Regards Paul

[Trevor Crone]

Armin, I used this lens on the Horseman VH (6x9)which I think has the same focus ing rail and front stage has the FA. Focusing at infinity is no problem but it g ave me very little in the way of lens movement however you may got more because the FA has the removeable top body panel. Incidently this is a first class lens one I still use alot for 6x9, 6x12 and 4x5. Good luck,

[steve_782]

I have a Horseman FA and I doubt you could use a 55mm on it. I use a 75mm Grandagon on mine and that's about as short as you can go - although Horseman literature says a 65mm is the shortest focal length. However, if I am not careful as to where I position the lens on the bed, I can see the bed rails in the bottom of the photo. You can drop the bed and raise the lens to compensate for this, but, you would need enough coverage to do this. On occasion, I have done this with my 75mm.

The real problem would be where the lens would focus on the rail. The 75mm is nearly at the back of the rail at the edge of the gap between the front rail and the rail in the body. I don't believe you could get the 55mm to focus as placement of the lens for correct focus would probably be in the space between the rails, or just at the edge of the rail in the body.

The FA does not have a removeable top body panel as stated in another post. On the front of the camera is a small panel on which the "FA" logo is attached. This panel will release and tilt upwards to a 90 degree position (parallel to the top of the camera, perpendicular to the face of the camera) giving more room for the bellows to move.