I have recently acquired an old De Vere 8x10 view camera (older than 1965, it has exagonal monorail).
I am looking for somebody who knows very well these cameras, cause i have a few not-so-trivial questions, and i'd like to get some help.
Before getting the camera, i knew mostly nothing about De Vere view cameras, the only thing i have learned from browsing the forum was that the camera has a very sturdy construction, and that is very heavy. Both infos were confirmed my my first hand-on impressions.
The seller also confirmed that the lensboards are compatible with older Sinar ones (i.e. same dimensions).
I purchased the camera for one reason: its price (and because the monorail extension and the bag bellows were included, as well as a half-plate back and a few lensboards!).
What i must understand is the level of compatibility/interchangeability between the De Vere and old Sinar view cameras.
I have no experience with Sinar cameras, most of my LF stuff is Linhof, the only Sinar parts i have at home are an old 4x5 back and a few lensboards (one DB and a couple of Norma's).
The main problems i found with the new camera were the availability of lenses with enough coverage, and how to fix the bag bellows (made of vinyl/fake leather, badly repaired and still with some light leaks). While i think i can tackle the light leaks with the stuff i have already at home, a couple of new lenses for 8x10 must be purchased, no way around
Being a very low budget project, i have no intention to spend too much money on lenses, but i found that most of the affordable ones are not in shutter!
To be sincere, i have already two lenses that could do:
1) a G-Claron 240mm in Copal Press No. 1. The factory specs show a coverage that's 1mm short of the required one... maybe with a stop closer it would cover, but definitely no movements!
2) a Zeiss Jena Tessar 4.5/300mm. A huge, heavy glass, in very good condition. If i remember it's even coated, but no way to mount it in shutter.
In the meantime i have found an usable wide angle (a 160mm Meyer Aristostigmat), and a couple process lenses (Apo-Nikkor 480mm and Red Dot Artar 420mm). The former will probably cover only with close subjects, while the latter... i'll see; but all of them in barrell.
So when i was searching for large shutters, i found a Sinar/Copal shutter, and on a whim i got it, together with a Copal Press No. 0, for the same money of two used No. 3 shutters, maybe even something less.
The Sinar shutter is one of the more recent versions, with aperture scale, and it came with both a shutter release cable and a flash sync adapter. Another vendor even had the other flex adapter, that connects to the Sinar backs... but the Sinar back i have at home is a 4x5, and its adaptation to the De Vere is neither simple nor easy to happen in the near future, so i gave it a miss.
From the pdf manual i found online, i get that it's possible to operate the shutter without that connection, as there is a lever that open and coses the shutter blades, for focusing.
AFTER buying the shutter, i found a few posts that were totally against the possibility of successfully adapting the Sinar shutters on non-Sinar cameras... but i have also found a nice picture of a gorgeous ULF camera with the same shutter adapted on its lensboard!
The two main caveats i have found are:
1) it's best don't reverse the shutter because an heavy lens could rip off the bellows attachment. So the shutter should operate the way it was supposed to do
2) The back of the lens should be at around 1mm in front of the shutter. I think that the only reason is that the more the shutter is distanced, the more there is a chance of vignetting
Of course i still don't have the shutter in my hands. It will take some time, cause i purchased it from across the ocean. In the meantime i trying to understand if De Vere bellows are compatible (i.e. same attachment) with Sinar ones, and which would be the best way to follow, trying to adapt the Sinar/Copal to my camera.
If only i had the chance to have these infos before, i could try to save some time having part of the work done in advance. For example adapting a couple of Sinar lensboards so that the back element of the lens sits flush with the back of the board.
If somebody with specific experience, or simply more at ease with this kind of works (i am not), is willing to help, i can provide a few pictures
BTW, the Apo-Nikkor, still on its way, have this strange electrical shutter (see attachment)
Any clue about pin-out?
have fun
CJ
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