Now that everyone's starting to get theirs delivered (mine was waiting for me when I got home), I thought we could all compile a compatibility list of lenses and backs from our experiences.
I've already spent an hour playing with mine and trying different things, and what I've found so far with the bits that I had lying around:
Focussing: It's no Takumar nor a Zeiss. But it gets the job done. To be fair, I've used soviet lenses that focussed rougher (like an L39 Industar 55/2.8 that focusses like it was used as an artillery shell).
Focussing screen: Is definitely nothing to write home about. A giant hotspot and hard to see (they already mentioned that in an update, iirc). But the good news is that my Toyo-view focussing hood (monocular, rubber thingy about 15cm deep) fits inside the ridges of the screen when you take the spring-back off and hold the whole thing together with bulldog clips. It makes it a lot easier to see, I'll definitely be using this to calibrate focus, then leaving it all at home and using the Blik rangefinder. I do foresee some smart cookie making 3rd-party / aftermarket focussing screens (even the wanderlust guys themselves might, if their manufacturers ever give them the same as their samples).
Accessory shoes: Are a bit on the tight side, which is better than a bit on the loose side. Digisix and Voigtlander 21mm viewfinder fit perfectly, my Blik rangefinder is very tight, I'm going to dremel its shoe a bit thinner. Ironically, the metal 'sports-finders' included are also too tight for me to risk pushing them in fully. Any 3 of those 4 fit side-by-side nicely (with the blik on the far left, obviously), very close but not touching each other.
Pinwide: Looks like it'll get the job done. Pulling the rubber cap off as a shutter might wobble the camera a bit, but it's a pinhole so won't show up on the photo. I'm not sure because they're not labelled (and I presume that i got one per camera, not 2 per one camera), so they're the same pinhole for both 65mm and 90mm?
Lenses:
65mm f/8 Super Angulon in Synchro Compur 00 - fits of course. Converting the camera from the 90mm helical to the 65mm plate was damned fiddly, tiny screws, and this from someone who's spent half their working life soldering things under a microscope. It's done, and I'm glad I'm never going to do it again. That lens may as well be glued there now.
90mm f/6.8 Angulon in Synchro Compur 0 - fits of course.
90mm f/8 Super Angulon in Prontor-Press 1 - fits of course.
90m f/5.6 Fujinon SWD - DOES NOT FIT. I already asked the guys and they said no, but I checked anyway. With some dremelling out of the rear of the helicoid (and maybe sacrificing some close-focus) it might fit, but I'm not going to try.
105mm f/3.5 Xenar in Synchro Compur P 0 - fits, gets to infinity focus at about the point that the scale for 90mm lenses says '0.7', and gets as close as about 2m where the helicoid stops. I might try shimming this or something for a nice headshot 6x7 or 6x9 point-n-shoot camera (the lens itself barely covers 4x5).
135mm f/5.6 Nikkor-W: Doesn't even get to infinity. If I'm bored one day I might adapt a tele-lensboard.
Backs:
Regular double-darkslide film backs work, obviously. Even on my Riteway holders with the darkslide-locking tabs, the darkslides slide out nicely.
Polaroid 545i: They said it would fit, but mine just slightly doesn't. There's a bit on the holder that needs dremelling off. Must take the spring back off first to use it.
Polaroid 545 (metal): They said it wouldn't fit, but it almost does, needs as much dremelling in the same spot as the 545i.
Kodak readyload holder: Fits with the spring back off.
Fuji quickload holder: I swear I had one but can't find it.
Calumet 6x7 slide-in holder (the one with both spools on the right): fits with the spring back off.
Graflex '23' Graphic (6x9): fits with the spring back on.
Graflex RH50 for 70mm film: DOES NOT FIT. It's just too huge. Too bad, I was hoping to use this for a full day hiking with a few meters of film.
Graflex Model 2 Graphic for film packs (which some people adapt for wet plate): Almost fits, but the hinge stops it going in the full way. It should fit if I dremelled off the locking ridge (and risked lightleaks etc), which I might do.
Polaroid pack-film holder for FP100/3000B (I forget the exact number, it's not even written on it, maybe on the inside but there's film in there atm): DOES NOT FIT. The darkslide comes out the other end which is all solid. If you put a pack in, pulled the darkslide and *then* mounted it on the camera, it might fit. I'll try it in the darkroom one day.
Da-Yi 617 groundglass back and film holders: DO NOT FIT (which I'm kinda bummed about). They hit the left end and sit slanted ~5mm away (as in, rear swing). Would fit if I dremelled a notch in the left end of the travelwide body. If someone doens't like their travelwide and wants to sell it, I might buy another and try it. Even slanted, it focusses with my 150mm f/9 G-Claron, and hacking another $100 of plastic is a lot cheaper than the ShenHao PT617 field-cam I want one day.
Other than that, they're definitely worth the $100 I paid each.
Who else has tried what other backs/holders/etc?
I've already spent an hour playing with mine and trying different things, and what I've found so far with the bits that I had lying around:
Focussing: It's no Takumar nor a Zeiss. But it gets the job done. To be fair, I've used soviet lenses that focussed rougher (like an L39 Industar 55/2.8 that focusses like it was used as an artillery shell).
Focussing screen: Is definitely nothing to write home about. A giant hotspot and hard to see (they already mentioned that in an update, iirc). But the good news is that my Toyo-view focussing hood (monocular, rubber thingy about 15cm deep) fits inside the ridges of the screen when you take the spring-back off and hold the whole thing together with bulldog clips. It makes it a lot easier to see, I'll definitely be using this to calibrate focus, then leaving it all at home and using the Blik rangefinder. I do foresee some smart cookie making 3rd-party / aftermarket focussing screens (even the wanderlust guys themselves might, if their manufacturers ever give them the same as their samples).
Accessory shoes: Are a bit on the tight side, which is better than a bit on the loose side. Digisix and Voigtlander 21mm viewfinder fit perfectly, my Blik rangefinder is very tight, I'm going to dremel its shoe a bit thinner. Ironically, the metal 'sports-finders' included are also too tight for me to risk pushing them in fully. Any 3 of those 4 fit side-by-side nicely (with the blik on the far left, obviously), very close but not touching each other.
Pinwide: Looks like it'll get the job done. Pulling the rubber cap off as a shutter might wobble the camera a bit, but it's a pinhole so won't show up on the photo. I'm not sure because they're not labelled (and I presume that i got one per camera, not 2 per one camera), so they're the same pinhole for both 65mm and 90mm?
Lenses:
65mm f/8 Super Angulon in Synchro Compur 00 - fits of course. Converting the camera from the 90mm helical to the 65mm plate was damned fiddly, tiny screws, and this from someone who's spent half their working life soldering things under a microscope. It's done, and I'm glad I'm never going to do it again. That lens may as well be glued there now.
90mm f/6.8 Angulon in Synchro Compur 0 - fits of course.
90mm f/8 Super Angulon in Prontor-Press 1 - fits of course.
90m f/5.6 Fujinon SWD - DOES NOT FIT. I already asked the guys and they said no, but I checked anyway. With some dremelling out of the rear of the helicoid (and maybe sacrificing some close-focus) it might fit, but I'm not going to try.
105mm f/3.5 Xenar in Synchro Compur P 0 - fits, gets to infinity focus at about the point that the scale for 90mm lenses says '0.7', and gets as close as about 2m where the helicoid stops. I might try shimming this or something for a nice headshot 6x7 or 6x9 point-n-shoot camera (the lens itself barely covers 4x5).
135mm f/5.6 Nikkor-W: Doesn't even get to infinity. If I'm bored one day I might adapt a tele-lensboard.
Backs:
Regular double-darkslide film backs work, obviously. Even on my Riteway holders with the darkslide-locking tabs, the darkslides slide out nicely.
Polaroid 545i: They said it would fit, but mine just slightly doesn't. There's a bit on the holder that needs dremelling off. Must take the spring back off first to use it.
Polaroid 545 (metal): They said it wouldn't fit, but it almost does, needs as much dremelling in the same spot as the 545i.
Kodak readyload holder: Fits with the spring back off.
Fuji quickload holder: I swear I had one but can't find it.
Calumet 6x7 slide-in holder (the one with both spools on the right): fits with the spring back off.
Graflex '23' Graphic (6x9): fits with the spring back on.
Graflex RH50 for 70mm film: DOES NOT FIT. It's just too huge. Too bad, I was hoping to use this for a full day hiking with a few meters of film.
Graflex Model 2 Graphic for film packs (which some people adapt for wet plate): Almost fits, but the hinge stops it going in the full way. It should fit if I dremelled off the locking ridge (and risked lightleaks etc), which I might do.
Polaroid pack-film holder for FP100/3000B (I forget the exact number, it's not even written on it, maybe on the inside but there's film in there atm): DOES NOT FIT. The darkslide comes out the other end which is all solid. If you put a pack in, pulled the darkslide and *then* mounted it on the camera, it might fit. I'll try it in the darkroom one day.
Da-Yi 617 groundglass back and film holders: DO NOT FIT (which I'm kinda bummed about). They hit the left end and sit slanted ~5mm away (as in, rear swing). Would fit if I dremelled a notch in the left end of the travelwide body. If someone doens't like their travelwide and wants to sell it, I might buy another and try it. Even slanted, it focusses with my 150mm f/9 G-Claron, and hacking another $100 of plastic is a lot cheaper than the ShenHao PT617 field-cam I want one day.
Other than that, they're definitely worth the $100 I paid each.
Who else has tried what other backs/holders/etc?
