I been given an Alpina 4X5 (swiss made) view camera. I would like to purchase o ther parts for it. Lens boards, bag bellows, etc.. I can't find any info on this camera and where to purchase parts. Some one told me it is a low price version of a Sinar and that the parts might be interchangable. Thanks for any informat ion.
This the camera with a flat monorail, and risers that extend downward yes? Then it is the low price Sinar. Virtually everything that Sinar makes that attaches to the standard frames (lens boards, bellows, auto shutters, etc.) will work on your camera. You might also want to get a fresnel screen attachment for the ground glass to make viewing easier. BTW: you paid the right price for the camera.
The difference between this camera and the F is the rail and lack of the tripod mount/base. All accessories that are concerned with the standards, boards, back, etc. will work with the camera, but the rail is different so if you buy an extension make sure it is for the Alpina. Also, choose your tripod head carefully because the lack of base (instead they put a recessed sliding tripod mount inside the rail) causes problems when using short lenses. If the head is too large it will not let the standards come close enough together for focusing unless you remove the camera from the tripod, slide the mount to the rear, and have both standards in front of the tripod head. The Sinar F base puts the camera high enough so that this is not a problem. All else work fine. One word of caution! The rail is not machined as well as other Sinar products and a sharp edge at the rear of the rail took a chunk out of my forehead once when I bent down too quickly. I don't have it anymore but it was a nice, tight camera. Free!
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