Lensboards & spanners & shutters OH MY

[MikeSeb]

Here's the situation; want to tap the collective wisdom of the class here.

I have a Chamonix 4x5 on order, expected sometime next year . I am currently shooting with a Sinar F and 90, 150, and 210mm lenses in Copal 0 or 1 shutters. Nothing wrong with the Sinar, mind you--but it's a bit cumbersome for the portraiture and field shooting I do.

Plan is to (probably) sell the Sinar when the Chamonix gets here and passes muster. I plan to have the lenses either remounted in Chamonix lensboards, or else buy the adapters that allow Sinar boards to be mounted in the Chamonix. Figure the cost would be not that much different, especially if I don't DIY the lensboard remount.

Now I'm handy with a wrench; but I've never disassembled a lens / lensboard before. Plus, I'm thinking that a lens/board remount would also be a good time to have SK Grimes CLA the shutters, as it's been a while (like, two decades.) Nevertheless:

1. Is a lensboard remount something I should do myself? How bad can I screw this up?
2. Remount in Chamonix boards or use the adapters for the Sinar boards? the latter sounds a bit, well, jury-rigged; anyone tried this?
3. Any good books on this sort of basic camera repair stuff?

Forgive me if this is elementary. Not afraid to get my hands dirty, but I'd sure hate to get a hairball inside the lens or something.

 

[Nick Zentena]

Mounting lenses if fairly simple. Unscrew back. Remove retaining ring. Remove front. Start on the front with the new board. I guess if you are ham handed and force things you could screw up the threads. But go slow and it's an easy 1 -2 minute job.

What boards do Chamonix use? I thought Linhof type? Sinars are bigger. Linhof type boards are common and cheap. Also some of the smaller ones. Usually you use Linhof type boards and get an adapter for your bigger cameras. For example my Shen haos natively use Sinar boards. But I have an adapter to mount the small Linhofs. So all but one of my lenses are on Linhofs. Keeps everything small and easy to carry.

Mounting lenses isn't really camera repair.

 

[Ian Grant]

Mounting a lens on a board is extremely simple, and easy. The Sinar boards I've used in the past are too large to adapt to a Field camera so you'll have to remount anyway. You can get an adaptor to mount the new boards on a Sinar.

I swap lenses from Graphic to Linhof, Wista style boards regularly takes less than a minute, it's almost as simple as taking the top off a bottle

Ian

 

[John Kasaian]

It depends. Wood boards and lenses with flanges are simple enough. Metal boards with flanges are more difficult to mount the flange. Retaining rings are usually pretty straightforeward on metal boards while on wood boards they'll sometimes require a countersunk relief on the backside of the lensboard. Thank said, if you order your Chamonix boards drilled to fit your shutters it should be a relatively easy job espacially if your lenses have retaining rings, just buy or make a spanner and have at it.

 

[edtbjon]

As stated above, if you lurk around e.g. _bay for a used Sinar to Linhof adapter board, you can get around to remounting your lenses as soon as you have found that adapter board. I got one with a box of Sinar gear that came with a Sinar camera. From that point I have mounted all of my lenses on Linhof boards, which are much smaller, thus making the lenses easier to transport.
B.t.w. it's quite easy to resell the adapter board at "full value" if you decide to sell your Sinar F camera. They hold their value very well.
For the mounting job, I recon that e.g. Mpex sells a wrench which is simply a piece of hard steel plate which is machined to fit exactly into all the modern sizes of shutter retaining rings. I think it's about $10 or so and it's a good investment.

//Björn

 

[Martin Aislabie]

Mike, sounds like you have a good plan

Re-mounting onto a Technika is a piece of cake - couple of mins at the most for the first lens and a minute flat for subsequent ones - unless you are completely ham-fisted

Badger sells new Technika panels for about 35USD (http://www.badgergraphic.com/store/cart.php?m=product_list&c=165) and a lens key for 10USD (http://www.badgergraphic.com/store/cart.php?m=product_detail&p=1263)

The Technika panels are aprox 98 x 94mm and a Sinar Panel is 140x140mm.

You can easily get a Sinar Panel which will take a Technika insert if you wish

The basic process is:-
1) Gripping the front of the lens, unscrew the rear lens assembly
2) Still holding the Front Lens assembly, take the Lens Spanner and remove the lens retaining ring
3) Remove Sinar Board and fit Technika board
4) Using Lens Spanner tighten Lens Retaining Ring onto Lens Board
5) Screw Rear Lens assembly onto Front of Lens

Note - the Technika lens board is not symmetrical and you may need to re-orientate your lens on the lens board to suit your personal taste

Martin

 

[MikeSeb]

Thanks everyone; you've cleared up a number of points of confusion. I had thought the linhof-style boards were larger than the Sinar, when it is actually the other way around. Makes perfect sense to do the Linhof remount and use the adapter in the meantime.

Is dust within the diassembled lens a problem?

 

[Trevor Crone]

Mike, when I need to mount lenses I close the shutter to help prevent the ingress of dust and just before I reassemble the rear lens cell I give it a quick puff with a bulb blower.

 

[greybeard]

edtbjon: For the mounting job, I recon that e.g. Mpex sells a wrench which is simply a piece of hard steel plate which is machined to fit exactly into all the modern sizes of shutter retaining rings. I think it's about $10 or so and it's a good investment.

Indeed. The big adjustable two-prong spanners are a bit trickier to use, and the little flat-plate wrench is even marked with various shutter sizes. Carry it in your field case; then you can be less aggressive when installing the lens, knowing that you can snug it up if necessary.

Trevor Crone: Mike, when I need to mount lenses I close the shutter to help prevent the ingress of dust and just before I reassemble the rear lens cell I give it a quick puff with a bulb blower.

Dust in the lens is a smaller problem than a finger through the diaphragm or shutter blades; until you get used to the procedure, it might be better to lock the shutter open at full aperture until the shutter is mounted. And do watch out for the infamous shims (there are quite a few posts on this, and it seem not to be possible to predict which lenses will or will not have them). And you can always dust carefully before putting in the back element.

As several have noted, moving lenses between boards is not a particularly challenging task; start with your least sophisticated lens and you will probably be surprised at how simple it becomes.

 

[Shmoo]

I agree with greybeard - get the flat-plate wrench...it's easier. I just remounted my lenses from my Sinar F2 boards to linhof style boards for my Tachihara...easy. In fact it's so easy that you may just want to keep both the Sinar and the Chamonix. Or the alternative is to get a single linhof-to-Sinar adapter board...and only remount the lenses to the linhoff boards.

BTW - I don't know if Chamonix/linhoff boards need to be drilled off-set from center, but the Tachihara's did...you may want to check first.

I'll be interested in seeing how you like going from a Sinar to a field camera...the experience from my standpoint has been interesting and fun. Good luck!!!

S

 

[craigclu]

I found this thread just now while looking for info on removing a Super Angulon to mount into a Copal #0 that I just found. The rear element came off the DB mounted lens as expected (easily). The front section isn't turning with the ease that I expected and I'm not wanting to force it in case it is mounted in some additional manner. I'm not familiar with the Sinar DB mount and there seems to be a number of screwed in sections on the back side of the DB board. Is there a procedure specific to this or am I needing to get ham-fisted with it and simply unscrew it?

 

[MikeSeb]

Thanks once again all. Got my spanner wrench; now all I need are some lensboards and, of course, the Chamonix. @Schmoo, that makes two of us. I love the Sinar, but I find it is too much of everything for the simple portraiture I most frequently use it for. (example here.) Being able to pack it up and shlep it around more easily will be a welcome change.

I might just keep the Sinar and obtain one Sinar--Linhof adapter as recommended; not sure how much the camera chassis and stuff would bring at sale; ?enough to bother with?

Appreciate everyone's help.

 

[JBrunner]

You go Mike! It's easy. You don't want to post your lenses for the CLA anyway, just the shutters.