65mm Super Angulon

[tony lockerbie]

Hi, just picked up one of these, hasn't arrived yet, but was wondering if anyone has any experience with this lens.
I want to use it on a Linhof Tech. V, if possible, with most likely a 6x12 back.I know it will be a pain in a#@e to see through, but I'll see how it goes.
If it won't go back far enough on the V, I can use it on a Kardon Color.

 

[Ian Grant]

I've had one for around 20 years which I use on my Wista. It just covers 5x4 so will be the same with 6x12. It's a little harder to focus than my 90mm f6.8 Grandagon or a 75mm f8 SA but it has so much more DOF that it's not as critical.

You'll need to drop the focus bed or the front will be in the image, I have to use rear & front standard tilt, and front rise, which at first is awkward then you get used to it.

It's possible you need a recessed lens panel, but Linhof sold the 65mm so there should be something in the manuals, mine's Linhof select but came on the baby Linhof board.

Image wise my lens has saved the day a few times with it's wide coverage in tight spots and image quality is excellent, you'd need a centre filter for colour work. Good luck with it.

Ian

 

[tony lockerbie]

Thanks Ian. I have a recessed board for it, and I also have the 90mm Grandagon, so I'm used to the whole bed dropping drama. One advantage of 6x12 is that you don't have to drop the bed with the 90mm when shooting landscape format, I suspect that this will change with the 65.

 

[Steve Smith]

I have one but I have not used it yet. See my 6x12 wide angle camera link below.


Steve.

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

I use an older 65/8 Super Angulon in a 00 shutter on my Tech V with the Wideangle Focusing Device, bed dropped two notches. They also made a center filter, which is hard to find, but useful if you can find it. I think there may also be a Heliopan center filter that fits and should work.

It just barely covers 4x5", so it's not a bad choice for 6x12. The attached shot is slightly cropped. I printed it with vignetting in the top corners once for the APUG postcard exchange, and in this case it kind of works. It's quite a sharp image. You can examine the contact print with a loupe and see the church and buildings in the town of Wailua along the Hana road in Mau'i toward the left side of the frame.

 

[Ian Grant]

Tony if yours is the 00 shutter like mine & David's have fun, the shutter's a bit fiddly, needs a locking cable release as there's no T setting or shutter preview, so you use B & lock it open for focussing. Or maybe your lucky nad have a newer version.

Ian.

 

[removed account4]

i have one of these lenses too.
it works very well.
if you can get a center-filter get it ..
it is helpful, but unfortunately costs a small fortune.

 

[Ian Grant]

if you can get a center-filter get it ..
it is helpful, but unfortunately costs a small fortune.

Usually more than the lenses now - well the ones in 00 shutters anyway

Ian

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

I got very lucky and happened to find the center filter separated from the lens on eBay, and I don't think I was even particularly searching for it, but it came up in a search for something else. It wasn't cheap, but it wasn't absurdly expensive either--maybe $125 or so.

 

[tony lockerbie]

Thanks, I don't know which shutter it has yet, but suspect that it may be the 00. I will keep an eye out for the centre filter, but I only shoot B&W at the moment, and kind of like a little vignetting. I just realised that my spare recessed board has the 0 hole, so I will have to find a way around that.

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

A recessed board probably is not sufficient, even with the top rail in the retracted position and the front standard as far back as it goes without falling off. You will very likely need the Wideangle Focusing Device, which takes a Tech 23 lensboard. A 72mm lens is probably as short as you can go with a recessed lensboard on the regular focusing rail.

 

[Eric Rose]

I use mine on a Tech IV without a recessed lensboard. A bit tricky but doable.

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

One thing I've done with lenses that are too short for the main rail or even with the Wideangle Focusing Device is just to push the standard back into the box and focus by sliding the standard back and forth to focus, which is one of the tricky but doable options.

 

[tony lockerbie]

Thanks David & Eric. I have received the lens, it is tiny, size 00 shutter, which is too small for the size 0 recessed board that I have. I will get our local machinist to adapt it, and try the lens back in the "box" as David has suggested. I jury rigged it to a board and tried it on my Kardon Colour, it focuses down to about 10 feet with the bellows completely collapsed.
One problem that I have is there is no facility to open the shutter, and no "T" setting either, which is going to be difficult. I could have used "B" with a locking cable release but can't see a place for this to go.

 

[Ian Grant]

Should fit where I've indicated

Ian

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

Usually there should be a cable release socket, as in Ian's photo, but I have seen ultrawide lenses mounted on lensboards where there is an L-shaped cable release fitting on the lensboard with a metal plunger that presses the lever on the shutter. If your shutter doesn't have a cable release socket, it is possible that it was designed to be mounted in this way.

 

[Ian Grant]

Mine was fitted on a baby Linhof board like that when I bought it, a cable release pushing a metal plunger that tripped the normal shutter release. It also had the cable release socket.

I need to make an adaptor to do similar as I have a Compur Rapid 0 with no cable release socket & no T setting.

Ian

 

[tony lockerbie]

Thanks for your efforts. There is no sign whatsoever of a cable release socket. Just a flash nipple and a green lever that turned out to be a self timer! I have one of those L shaped releases for my 90mm Grandagon.
Tony

 

[epatsellis]

Mine was fitted on a baby Linhof board like that when I bought it, a cable release pushing a metal plunger that tripped the normal shutter release. It also had the cable release socket.

I need to make an adaptor to do similar as I have a Compur Rapid 0 with no cable release socket & no T setting.

Ian

I had to do the same thing on a well worn #00 Compur my 65 SA came in, some digging around and a few minutes of time with some #0 screws allowed me to do essentially the same thing. The shutter mine came in had the cable release area torn out, so no hope of a "proper" fix.

 

[Ian Grant]

Tony, you need something like this.

Ian

 

[tony lockerbie]

Thanks Ian, that's exactly what I need, but where on Earth does one find one? Certainly is an elegant solution!

Tony

 

[Ian Grant]

I think you'll have to make one. I sold mine with the baby lens board a couple of years ago before getting the Comur with no T or cable release with a Trinar lens which probably came off a Franka camera.

Ian

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

www.mpex.com may have such parts around somewhere. I'd e-mail them. You could also try a shutter repair technician who is likely to have a good stock of older parts or who can fabricate things like Frank Marshman of CameraWiz in Harrisonburg, Virginia (search, and I've posted his contact info around here a few times).

Linhof made linkages like this, but they require a cable release adapter and are no longer made. I suspect they have the parts for them in some of their authorized service shops, but I believe they've generally replaced the QR system with a recommendation to use the short flexible Gepe extension cables, if you need them, which won't solve your problem, and if you can find a Linhof shop that will set you up with one of the original linkages with the cable release QR system, I wouldn't be surprised if it costs more than you likely paid for the lens.

What about tying a short length of fishing line or something similar to the lever and just pulling it to trigger the shutter without getting your fingers in the picture?

 

[SMBooth]

Tony, I used the insert of a double screwed earth connector (your local electrician) and tapped a screw into the top to clamp the release. See photo in link
http://www.flickr.com/photos/isisford/4530143080/in/set-72157623878823730/

 

[tony lockerbie]

There is no end to the innovation on Apug, fishing lines and earth connectors! I will have a go at both after I get the lens adapted to the 0 board. Thanks all!
Shane, that Franken-Polaroid looks great, how well does it work?