The first time I set-up my Tachihara, the "L" puzzled me too – I thought it might stand for "Landscape." ;^)
And once, a Ladybug landed on the front of my lens board, right near the mysterious letter...
I've never been able to dismiss this association, no matter how many times people say "Linhof."
I recently purchased one of these locally to sell on EBay and had the same question. So, that satisfies my curiosity as well.
I'm pleasantly surprised by how well made these cameras are. Quite sturdy. As long as one has a suitable lenshood, they're capable of excellent photographs. (It's always easier to sell a good product.)
If you believe you can, or you believe you can't... you're right.
The Tachi I bought new in 1982 lacked the "L" on the scale. I can't say that the scale was of any use to me, but I liked that camera, and used it hard for ten years.
I continued digging after posting this and was able to confirm that the Linhof boards are offset a bit and therefor they zero out at a non-standard location compared to other boards. So, the "L", is in fact, for Linhof. Thanks everyone!
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