Coming out with a Norma.

[Paul.]

A little over a week ago after much thought and little research I took the plunge into LF by buying a Sinar Norma kit. I belive what I have is the Norma expert less a couple of bits, these being the filter holder and rod the ruler and the extra third peice of 11 or 16 inch rail.
The additional rail is available from various places but it will be a long time before I need it so am not too botherd, similarly the filter holder and rod as I was intending to use my Cokin filters.
Now for the questions;-
1. How important is the ruler, am I right in thinking it is used to calculate bellows extention factor when doing macro / close up work? Is it unique to the camera or is there an alternative available I could get and where might I get one?

2. The kit came with 3 lens boards and 1 lens, 2 of the lens boards are Sinar with a raised front and 1 is a Horseman flat board, with the flat board I understand I will have to use more bellows extention to place the rear lens element in the same place as the raised boards so is this board better for a wide angle lens or a longer lens and does anyone know the longest and shortest normal focus lens I can use on the flat pannel and the raised Sinar panels?

3. The lens that came with the camera is a Schneider 150/265 f5.6/f12 in a Compur shutter that was running slow so has been sent off for a CLA. Any recomendations for additional lenses would be gratefuly recived.

4. The kit came with 2 fidelity DDS. How many do you feel is a reasonable number to have? personaly I feel 2 is a little on the low side but funds are limited so I dont want to spend unnessisarily.

Now for the crowing:-
The camera is in good condition with the only sign of ware being the front standard rail clamp locknut has turned slightly, not supprising on a 40 year old camera. All the bellows seem fine with no pinholes that I can find as yet and the Linhoff 6x9 roll film back that was part of the kit works as it should with no light leaks.
I think I have fallen in love with this thing, I cannot use it at the moment until my lens comes back from the repairers but cannot put it away in its case, it is out on the tripod so that I can addmire the wonderful engineering that went into it 40 years ago and all this for less than the cost of a secondhand wideangle lens for the Hasselblad.

My appologies for the rambling post. Any and all information and advise will be greatfuly recived.

Regards Paul.

 

[Soeren]

Hi Paul
I suppose your Norma is a 4X5"
I have a Norma 5X7 with the 4X5 reduction back and No ruler.
I got me a tape measure on which I planned to mark the appropiate compesations factor when needed but so far I just kind of guestimate
@2 One of my lensboards is the extended kind like yours but I never used it since I have the bellows extension I need for the 240mm I use ( it doesn't add much anyway)
If you need more you can add more bellows using an extra front std or acessory std.
Actually there was a 90mm SA mounted on the extended lensboard and offcource it didn't work that way
The 90mm SA is the widest I own and it works fine on the flat boards.
@3 You can shoot for years wanting nothing but the 150mm but a 240-300mm could be nice as could a wide like the 90mm or even a 75mm.
@4 2 DDS is not enough in my experience. I have 6 13X18cm DDS for my Norma and though I havn't used all on a single shooting I'd like to have a couple more. So between 6 and 10 would be my answer.
The Norma is a great camera and solidly build. Con gratulations.
Kind regards

 

[epatsellis]

Paul,
if you do alot of studio/still life or tabletop work, you should find a Quick Stick, made by visual departures ltd. It will make life 1000% easier. See http://www.visualdepartures.com/product_pages/quickstick.html

erie

 

[pwitkop]

I can't speak specifically the sinar, but I use a tape measure to calculate bellows; take the focal length of the lens in inches (rounding is ok, a 210 is about 8"), and measure the distance between the standards, the differance between the two measurements in stops is the bellows comp. So an 8" lens (210mm, I use this as an example because that's what I shoot with), with 11 inches of bellows is 1 stop of compensation (the differance between F/8 and F/11).

I'd recomend around 10 film holders, pick them up as you find them cheap. I find I occassionally will shoot all 10 in a outing, but most often it's 6-8.

Good luck, and have fun with you new baby!

Peter

 

[Don Dudenbostel]

Never needed a ruler but a dozen holders minimum would be good. IMO you have the finest of view cameras. I bought mine new in 1969 and added a 5x7 kit with standard and WA bellows the next year. I also added the additional rails , extra standard and extension bellows. I've used it ever since in the studio and location and have never had the first problem. It's a tight as new and still looks great.

I don't know what you paid but I found the invoice for mine a couple of months ago and the price new was a whopping $365. Of course that was 1969 dollars and that was the basic 4x5.

 

[Paul.]

Thank you all for your input.
Regards Paul.

 

[Paul.]

Don £495 about $990, as I said wide angle lens for the Hasselblad would be £500 or so and I got the bag bellows secondary bellows and auxilary standard plus a roll film back in the fitted Sinar case for that money. Cannot wait for the lens to come back to start learning.
Regards Paul.

 

[CBG]

You have obtained one great camera - beautiful looking and beautifully made - plus all the interchangeability that it has to work with almost the entire Sinar system.

There are many ways to sort out compensation for bellows extension and plenty of threads on BEF (bellows extension factor), so you will have your choice of methods.

Happy shooting!

C

 

[Nokton48]

I have the Sinar Norma ruler, but have not ever used it in twenty-five years of using my Norma(s). Go on and enjoy the precision.

 

[John Kasaian]

Name your Norma "Jean"

 

[erikg]

Name your Norma "Jean"

I was thinking "Abbie"...