47 XL center filter?

[John Conway]

Well, got my 47XL, sweet. Mounted her up on the Cambo Master and started playing around inside the house. At first, I thought the bellows was folded in or something, I was only seeing a small circle in the center of the ground glass. I checked the lens again to make sure I was at 5.6. I was at 5.6. At that point I knew that I will be needing a center filter for anything I do inside. I then went outside and even though it was an overcast day, it was fine. Now, I'm wondering if any company makes a center filter at a reasonable cost, or will i have to take out another mortgage and buy a Schneider.

[Bob Salomon]

Sounds like you also need a Fresnel lens

[Oren Grad]

The 47XL isn't that bad - try pricing the CF for a 165 SA or 210 SS XL sometime. Seriously, though, keep an eye on KEH - they occasionally have some, and with a bit of patience you should be able to get a Schneider IIIb or IIIc without breaking the bank. I picked up a IVa for the 90XL recently at a very substantial discount.

EDIT: And to answer your question directly, I haven't been able to find any other brands of CF that will be any cheaper. It's basically Schneider and Rodenstock. There are a few Heliopans that aren't any cheaper, and Horseman/Cambo/Linhof offer CFs for their helicoid-mounted lenses that I imagine are rebranded from Schneider/Rodenstock, but at even higher prices.

[John Conway]

Yeah, I think a fresnel would be a good start. Then I will focus on a center filter.

[AnselAdamsX]

I use a heliopan CF on my 47XL. At the time it was the cheapest. Now it's much more expensive than the Schneider.

[Ed Richards]

Consider a Fresnel optimized for wide lenses. I had a wide one on my Ebony and it drove me nuts because it is harder to see what is going on when you use something like 110mm XL with a lot of shift. But then I got a tilting loupe so I can focus with the shift and the wide Fresnel works OK for the longer lenses. It is a lot better than a regular one with the 47mm and other ultrawides.