RhS 4x5 : light restoring

[lethoncbon]

Hi all,

I'm new to this forum and to LF also, but I've been reading a lot of very usefull information here.
I had the opportunity to buy a RHS 4x5 wood field camera on the big auction site and as it was a bit rusty and dusty (guess that's why I bought it cheap ... ), I decided to restored it a bit.
Not much info on this camera, only saw one page talking about it ... I took my chance and don't regret it at all so far - I think it's going to be a perfect starter for me = light and easy, with all movements ...

Just wanted to share my joy now it's almost done ... now it's really mine and I finally can start using it "for real" ...

Here's the before :




Note that the bellow was hopefully in almost perfect shape.

[lethoncbon]

And after a lot of that :



Finally the metal shines again :





I just applied twice some oil varnish on the wood, but kept it as is ...

now I'm just redoing some of the chrome, even if I find nice the mix of gold and silver colors metal.

More pictures to come ... and soon some made with the camera!

[Michael Roberts]

Sweet! The cleaned-up wood looks beautiful. Nice design for keeping track of the extension rail. I haven't seen one of these models before--what's your max extension? Do you plan to replace the handle, and if so, what kind/source?

Good job!

[ic-racer]

Nice!

[Aahx]

Nice work, looks like a fun project.

[lethoncbon]

Sweet! The cleaned-up wood looks beautiful. Nice design for keeping track of the extension rail. I haven't seen one of these models before--what's your max extension? Do you plan to replace the handle, and if so, what kind/source?

Good job!

Thanks for the greetings everyone

- The extension rails are actually part of the camera : at first I thought I could choose how many rail to use and remove the unused, but they are all linked with hinges. In the end it's a good thing, it protects well the ground glass and like that, no chance to loose one rail extension.
- I'll measure the max extension tonight. Only page I could find is this one about this camera : http://www.ramaglia.com/rhs.html
- I plan to replace the handle for sure, but I'll not be able to have the same type has the ancient one : I can't remove without damages the 2 metal pieces that were retaining the old one. I'll see with a local leather artisan what's possible, but I guess a it's going to end with something similar to a small leather belt (can't find the name of it )

Thanks again!

[Bob Salomon]

Raygram's full name was Raygram Hornstein, Corp. so that may explain the H in the name. Don't know about the S though. Raygram was a major distributor of photographic products up to sometime in the late 70s or 80s. I don't think that they made it into the 90s.

[lethoncbon]

Just measured the max extension, from the front to the glass plate : it's almost exactly 21 inches.

Quick question, as I'm not fmiliar with those kind of camera : does the mechanical parts (focus wheel and rail ...) need some kind of grease? Or is it ok like that?

Thank again!

[lethoncbon]

And another newbie question : what would the widest - ideally cheap - lens I could use on this type of camera for landscape photography?

Thank you

[Michael Roberts]

I'm pretty sure you could use a 90mm (3.5 inches); probably a 75mm with a recessed lens board. Measure the distance from gg to where the front of the lens would be--that will tell you the shortest lens you can focus with at infinity. For macro shots, you will rack out the lens to double or more the distance at infinity, so you can use even shorter lenses if needs be. For landscape though you need to focus at infinity.

The least expensive wide 4x5 lens I know of is the f6.8 90mm Optar. Since it was designed as a press lens you won't get much movement with it, but your bellows won't allow much movement with it in any event. An average price would be about $90. Later Raptar editions are coated; earlier Optar versions are not; both are fine lenses.