Linhof type lens panel for Wista 45

…do they always have an off-centre hole for the lens? Why are they like this? Does it cause the lens to sit below the centre line?

Linhof-made boards have an off-center hole because this centers the lens when mounted on the camera. As far as I know, other cameras are designed to use boards with a centered hole. But you can use either type on either camera at some sacrifice of rise or fall.

Exactly, it varies from camera to camera, and most of the time, where the hole is supposed to be is not mentioned in the user manual -- if you are lucky enough to have a manual.

It's easy enough to figure out by yourself. Just put a lens on your camera with the board that you have. It just needs to be a lens with a small image circle. Even a 35mm lens will work. Collapse the bellows as much as you can -- with the front standard centered at the ZERO mark, if it has one -- and see if the image is centered on the ground glass. You might be surprised, and you might need to make an additional mark on the front standard for where the lensboard need to be for a true ZERO.

Both center and off-center boards are available. I mainly use centered generic Bromwell brand Technika/Wista style boards for several view cameras, sometimes in combination with a Sinar board adapter.

Drop-bed technical cameras like the Linhof Technika and Horseman FA, and certain others differ in this respect from typical view cameras, which are apt to work best with basic center hole boards, unless you are determined to squeeze a little more rise or fall from the front standard.

I use Linhof style boards with an adapter on my Deardorff, most of my lenses are on off-center drilled boards, since those are most of what’s available.
It hasn’t caused any problems, even when I’m using the 5x7 back.

As other have said, both types are available. The more specific why is the Linhof Technika has nor rear rise or fall, and the front has rise only, so the off center hole requires you to apply front rise to center the lens, which effectively gives you fall if you return the front standard to its default position. Other Linhof cameras like the Technikardan don't have this limitation.

I have the user manual for the Wista DX, and for some reason it never mentions that it uses boards with the shutter hole off-center (AKA, lower than center), or that it has centering marks on the front standard -- just like my Toko field cameras (which don't come with a manual at all).

The exception to this is with a #3 shutter, which is so large, it can only be used centered on the board.

In any event, it's a good idea to check yous boards for correct centering. The holes you have might be off-center, but they might be off-center too much or too little -- however, this will only be a significant problem with lenses having small image circles like a Fujinon W 105mm f5.6 or SW 65mm f8.

It's pretty easy to check your particular camera to see if the off-center hole centers the lens on the film when the camera is in "zero" position. If not, make your own reference mark or get centered holes.

FWIW, I used Technika off-center boards on my Woodman, which position the lens lower than center when in "zero" position. I just made a mark and raised the lens to the proper place using front rise if it was really important to have the lens centered (e.g., small image circle, etc.). An advantage of this on this particular camera was that I could remount the lensboard upside-down on the camera, giving me a slight bit of more front rise when needed. This was really helpful from time to time.

Best,

Doremus