Fresnell lens for Sinar

[Mark_Se]

I really hate to shoot with lenses shorter than 90mm on my sinar f2 because the image on the focusing screen is so dark. Do you think I should buy a fresnell lens? Is it worth the money?

[Ari]

Yes.
Or try a new focusing screen.

[Frank Petronio]

The Sinar ones are cheap and easy because you pop them on and off, so you get the best of both worlds for focusing. The downside is that they get scratched up by not being integrated with the camera, but so what? Buy a used one that is pre-scratched and don't worry about it.

[Bob McCarthy]

Buy a terrible one to get frame. Inserts are fairly cheap, I see the plastic fresnel inserts on eBay $30-50. For some reason the holding frame can cost some $$ to acquire.

I found a crappy one and polished the begeezus out it it and it's usable.

B

[lenser]

Or head to an Office Max, Staples, or other such store for a page magnifier (fresnel). I've found them from $less than $2.00 up to just under $11.00 and they have worked fine on both my Agfa and Kodak Master. You do have to do a bit of trimming with something like a jig saw. If they scratch or break, who cares!!

[Frank Petronio]

Plus One to that.

It is a shame that so many other cameras have mucked about ground glass registration adjusted to suit only a proprietary fresnel that may or may not be any good. The idea of putting on temporarily on the GG for composition and then removing it for fine focusing works so much better.

The other nice thing about Sinars is you can replace the ground glass with any thickness glass, it doesn't matter so long as it fits!

[Jeremy Moore]

The other nice thing about Sinars is you can replace the ground glass with any thickness glass, it doesn't matter so long as it fits!

Sinar GG's are the best, if you break them you just put them back together again!

[Bob Salomon]

Plus One to that.

It is a shame that so many other cameras have mucked about ground glass registration adjusted to suit only a proprietary fresnel that may or may not be any good. The idea of putting on temporarily on the GG for composition and then removing it for fine focusing works so much better.

The other nice thing about Sinars is you can replace the ground glass with any thickness glass, it doesn't matter so long as it fits!

Same with all recent 45 Linhofs (30+ years or so). The only requirement is that the ground surface rests on the shims. Just check the placement on that monorail you just sold.

GG thickness is a problem on a 23 Technika as that uses a different registration system then the 45 cameras and improper installation would result in improper focusing.

[rdenney]

I really hate to shoot with lenses shorter than 90mm on my sinar f2 because the image on the focusing screen is so dark. Do you think I should buy a fresnell lens? Is it worth the money?

Used Sinar Fresnel accessories are not expensive and cheap enough to be worth trying the experiment.

I found that for lenses 65mm and shorter, the Sinar Fresnel had too long a focal length, and the corners would be subject to double images and other artifacts that made composition and focusing both impossible. They are fine for a 90, however, though they were designed for normal lenses in the 135-210 range.

I ended up replacing my Sinar ground glass with a focus screen from Bill Maxwell. It was expensive and worth every penny in ease of viewing with very short lenses. With normal lenses, I can compose and focus in daylight without using a focus cloth.

Rick "who regularly uses 47 and 65mm lenses" Denney