Horseman VH manual or help with focusing stops

[romosoho]

Hi all,
First post here in a loooong time.

Does anyone have a copy of the Horseman VH manual? I found the VH-R one on Butkus and, while it's 99% applicable, the one thing I'm looking for is VH-specific.

The VH-R has maybe 6 stops on the focusing rail, that correspond to infinity focus for the lens used. You go with the first stop for, say, a 65mm lens, but the second stop for a 75. The VH only has 3 stops. One i quite close to the beginning of the rail, and the other two are next to each, at the end of the rail. I have no idea which to use with which lenses.

So far, I've been okay just kind of guessing, but that's not ideal, of course.

Thanks.

 

[ic-racer]

They are for your convenience; most view cameras don't have infinity stops. Since there is no rangefinder, you can put the stops where ever you want.

 

[romosoho]

I get that, but the bed that the front standard goes on extends, too. So I can extend that all the way out and also move the front standard along the distance of the bed. I don't know if that makes sense, but my point is that it's not as if the front standard defaults to one end of the bed or the other. There's a lot of variability.

So you think I should just keep doing trial and error to get focus?

 

[Dan Daniel]

Think of the focus stops as quick setup aids. Have the bed set as you want to start from. Using the ground glass, move the lens to an ~infinite position based on a distant object. There ya go- good starting position for using a lens.

Personally, I would also move the stop back just a bit so that focus was past infinity a light bit. I'd correct for this easily with actual focusing on the ground glass.

 

[romosoho]

Thanks. I'll modify my workflow accordingly.