Problems with Graphex lens

[mfohl]

Hello Folks, once again I seek the wisdom of the APUG community. A couple of years ago, I decided to dip my toes once again into large format. I bought a package from somebody here, and it included a nice recessed lens board. Good for 90 mm, he said. So a while ago, I bought a 90 mm Graphex Optar lens. Not too expensive, just right for checking out large format wide angle. And I just now got around to trying it.

The problem is that there is a screw on the back of the lens, protruding from the flat circular area. This is visible in the second photo on the right of the lens, near the silver shutter release button. Because of that screw, I'm having difficulty keeping the lens flat and tight on the lensboard. Does this mean that the Graphex lens can only be mounted on certain cameras? Is there any way that I can work around this? I can imagine buying a large washer with a notch for the screw. Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance.

-- Mark

 

[John Koehrer]

The screw's to prevent rotation on a Graphic? board. Two, maybe more solutions.
1) remove the screw
2) file or drill a groove in the lens board
3) IF anything binds when the shutter's mounted on the board, find a spacing washer and if you need to, notch it.

 

[shutterfinger]

There was a period that all shutters had alignment pins in the form of a headless screw and lens boards has a recess to clock the release lever at the 9 o'clock position. The screw can easily be removed to allow clocking at any position you wish easier than making a recess in a board to accommodate a pined shutter to fit properly.
+1 on post #2.

 

[mfohl]

Interesting! Thanks, Guys. I took out the screw, then kludged the lens into the board with the help of some cardboard. It's reasonably steady, and ready to test.

 

[ic-racer]

kludged the lens into the board with the help of some cardboard

Yes the original Graphic View Camera lensboards were thick.