Mystery Cambo Board Adapter

Sundowner · Sep 14, 2013

I need a bit of help figuring out exactly what kind of lens board this thing accepts; at first sight I thought it was a Technika adapter but the central hole is the wrong size and the spring clips - here removed - are the wrong thickness; a Technika board doesn't seem to fit it at all. I've been looking at pictures online for a couple days and I haven't found anything that seems to match it. The recessed grooves are 3.865" apart (outside edge to outside edge), the central hole is 2.965" in diameter, and the spacers for the retainter clips on either side are .120" thick and were spaced exactly 4.000" apart. I'm sure someone knows exactly what fits it, but that someone isn't me; apologies for the horrid picture...I had to prop the board on a film canister in order to get the weird groove in the surface to show up.

Pictured: With my luck, whatever fits this will be more expensive than Cambo boards.

Alan Gales · Sep 14, 2013

I once came across an old Cambo recessed lens board which was a lot smaller than the later lens boards like the one you have. Maybe you have an adaptor that fits the old small Cambo lens boards?

wildbill · Sep 14, 2013

I've made a few lens board adapters for folks lately. PM me if you're interested.

clayne · Sep 14, 2013

What does the other side of the board look like? Can you take a picture?

Sundowner · Sep 14, 2013

clayne said:
What does the other side of the board look like? Can you take a picture?

Yes, I can do that; it's identical to the back of an undrilled Cambo SC board, which I've shown adjacent for the sake of comparison. The only differences are the size of the central hole and the four tapped screw holes that hold the adapter hardware on the front.

Pictured: They even have the same part number.

cowanw · Sep 14, 2013

I wonder if it's home made, the way the grooves extend beyond one another. Could it be for a Pacemaker Speed/Crown Graphic.
Or could it be made for a digital back

Sundowner · Sep 14, 2013

cowanw said:
I wonder if it's home made, the way the grooves extend beyond one another. Could it be for a Pacemaker Speed/Crown Graphic.
Or could it be made for a digital back

I don't think it's a homemade job; the factory paint is present inside the grooves, and although they do extend beyond the corners as shown in the photo, it's clearly machined that way for a purpose...I just don't know what that purpose is. I don't think that it's a digital back model because this particular piece had been in storage since the early 80's and had never been used; the only sign that it wasn't brand new was a slight bit of aluminum corrosion here and there as a result of moisture intrusion into the storage location. Both this and the undrilled board I showed were in factory-esque plastic bags when I got them, albeit with no identifying labels. It took me a couple of hours to figure out that the other board was undrilled; at first I thought it was for a Copal 0 shutter but it's clearly too small.

As far as the Pacemaker/Graphic board is concerned...I don't know. When it became clear that a Technika board wouldn't fit I thought a 4" square board might fit...but there's no provision for the rabbet in that type of board. What I'm guessing is that the large circular hole accommodates a circular light-trapping lip on the board that fits over it, and the grooves machined in the surface accommodate some other feature on the board...but what that feature might be, I don't know.

shutterfinger · Sep 14, 2013

See the second post in this thread
http://graflex.org/helpboard/viewtopic.php?t=6333
for 4x5 Pacemaker Graphic and Super Graphic measurements.
The Graphic board will not fit on the Cambo ribs.

Alan Gales · Sep 14, 2013

I think a smaller board fits inside those Cambo ribs.

Sundowner · Sep 14, 2013

Alan Gales said:
I think a smaller board fits inside those Cambo ribs.

I think you're correct; someone on LFF suggested that a CC400 board might fit it, which - I think - is the same board that's used by a Master View?

Alan Gales · Sep 14, 2013

I did a little research for you.

It seems the early Calumet boards were designed by Kodak. They are the same as the Kodak Master View boards. They are said to be a 4" square board. The actual measurements may be just a little smaller.

I originally said I had an early Cambo recessed board but I guess it was actually an early Calumet board.

Sundowner · Sep 14, 2013

Alan Gales said:
I did a little research for you.

It seems the early Calumet boards were designed by Kodak. They are the same as the Kodak Master View boards. They are said to be a 4" square board. The actual measurements may be just a little smaller.

I originally said I had an early Cambo recessed board but I guess it was actually an early Calumet board.

I was just looking up the same thing after the reply I got on LFF; I can't find a picture of the rear of a Master View or CC400-series board so I can't verify that they will work. Both of those are 4" square boards, and I've seen a couple of text-only threads that refer to them using a tongue-and-groove light blocking system...and that seems to fit with the grooves that I have in the Cambo board. If I could see a picture of the rear of one, I'd likely know immediately as to whether or not it would work.

Alan Gales · Sep 14, 2013

Yeah, It's hard to find photos of some of this old stuff. If I still had my board I would measure it for you and post a couple pictures. I couldn't us it so I sold it on Ebay a few years ago.

clayne · Sep 14, 2013

Yeah this looks like a wista/linhof adapter board.

Sundowner · Sep 14, 2013

Alan Gales said:
Yeah, It's hard to find photos of some of this old stuff. If I still had my board I would measure it for you and post a couple pictures. I couldn't us it so I sold it on Ebay a few years ago.

If I find one, I'm going to be sure to post lots of pictures of it.

clayne said:
Yeah this looks like a wista/linhof adapter board.

That hole in the middle really makes it seem that way! The Technika board just doesn't fit it, though...but I wish it did, because I've got a couple of those laying around.

Alan Gales · Sep 14, 2013

If you want a Cambo/Calumet to Linhof reduction board they show up on Ebay from time to time. Or you could have Vinny make you one. Vinny is a good guy if you want to go that route. I know him from Large Format Photography Forum and he is a well respected member.

Sundowner · Sep 14, 2013

Alan Gales said:
If you want a Cambo/Calumet to Linhof reduction board they show up on Ebay from time to time. Or you could have Vinny make you one. Vinny is a good guy if you want to go that route. I know him from Large Format Photography Forum and he is a well respected member.

I've seen a couple of them on eBay here and there; it's a pricey adapter, but it would be convenient. I guess I have to add up the cost of a few Calumet 4x4 boards against the cost of the Technika adapters.

Alan Gales · Sep 14, 2013

It's not just the cost of the lens boards. The Technika boards are smaller and a lot more convenient. Also you can use them on multiple cameras. My 4x5 Tachihara takes Technika style boards, my 4x5 Sinar P with reduction board takes Technika style boards and I also have a reduction board for my Wehman 8x10. I can swap almost all of my lenses among all three cameras. I do have two lenses in huge Ilex shutters that won't fit on a Technika board.

shutterfinger · Sep 14, 2013

Graphic View uses a 4 inch square lens board. Its board will fit a Cambo but the Cambo board is a few thousands larger than the Graphic View opening and won't work or is a very tight fit depending on the board in use.
Graphic View to Pacemaker 4x5 board adapter front view:

Rear view:

Sundowner · Sep 15, 2013

Alan Gales said:
It's not just the cost of the lens boards. The Technika boards are smaller and a lot more convenient. Also you can use them on multiple cameras. My 4x5 Tachihara takes Technika style boards, my 4x5 Sinar P with reduction board takes Technika style boards and I also have a reduction board for my Wehman 8x10. I can swap almost all of my lenses among all three cameras. I do have two lenses in huge Ilex shutters that won't fit on a Technika board.

Solid points, there. The board size is exactly why I wanted to be able to use the adapter that I have or the boards that I have; the Cambo boards are HUGE and take up WAY too much room!

shutterfinger said:
Graphic View uses a 4 inch square lens board. Its board will fit a Cambo but the Cambo board is a few thousands larger than the Graphic View opening and won't work or is a very tight fit depending on the board in use.

Good to know, and thank you for the pictures! Someone just e-mailed me a picture of the rear of a CC400/Calumet 4x4 board, and it looks like it will fit!

Pictured: It had BETTER fit, that is.

Thanks to everyone for all their help!

Mystery Cambo Board Adapter

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