Who uses infinity stops?

My toyo 45AII came with infinity stops but I have never bothered to use them. I know how but I just focus on the glass even at infinity and I never work hand held. I wondered when people use them if at all.

I had a crown graphic with infinity stops set up for the original 135mm Xenar. I used them every single time I shot with that lens. They made setup a completely mindless operation. For all my other lenses, I marked "soft" infinity stops on the bed with a sharpie.

I use them on my Technika. I shoot with the rangefinder sometimes, so they're necessary for that, and they just make setup faster, but I don't use stops for every lens.

When I used to have my Linhof Technika IV, I used to use I believe 3 sets of Infinity Stops. They proved very useful to set-up the camera quickly. Now with my Linhof Technikardan 45S this is no longer possible. The Technikardan is a far more flexible camera, but no longer offers rangefinder focusing or knowing ahead of time the focusing distance for infinity.

Rich

One thing that I forgot to mention, they are worth putting on the bed of the camera for setting infinity for a negligible amount of weight.

Rich

Hmm. My little Century Graphic has a set of infinity stops set up for the normal lens it no longer has. And my little Speed Graphic has a pair of sets of infinity stops set up for, respectively, the normal lens it no longer has and for a 10" telephoto lens I've sold.

So why do I keep the stops and what do I use them for?

Well, on both cameras they're close enough to right for a normal lens that I can just pull the front standard to them before using my 101 Ektar. The Speed's inner set are set up on the outer bed rails to allow the RF to be used with a 4"/2 Taylor Hobson that makes infinity with the front standard on the inner rails. I have a spacer that goes between the inner stops and the front standard and that's what puts the 4"/2 where it should be for use with the RF. I focus all of my lenses but that one on the GG.
The stops are close enough to some of my other lenses' infinity positions, sometimes with front standard pulled back to the stops' front, to be useful for setting up.

But on Graphics the stops have another function entirely. They prevent unintended swings. To deal with this I've had a pair of spacers made, both with very shallow T-shaped cross section. The crossbar rides on the rails, the lower part fits between 'em. One for each camera, and the Speed's spacer does double duty. With the spacers, I can put the front standard anywhere on the rails and ensure that it is square to them.

Cheers,

Dan

I have a 45AII, and setup 2 infinity stops, which I use.

Dan,
why dont you move the infinity stops to where the lenses you use are?

I need to pick up an angle square or something to make sure my stops are in the proper place. I use them on my Century Graphic also. Rangefinders rock!

I don't use infinity stops on my 45AX. I just pull the lens standard out to about the right spot, lock it down and focus from there. But, I can see where they would be handy.

When doing out-of-body explorations, however, it is adviseable to stop at infinity. There really is nothing beyond that point, so it's a waste of time.

I just recently started using the infinity stops on my Graflex Pacemaker do to the difficulty of acutally using a loupe to fine focus. I have difficulty in viewing the gg with the folding viewfinder, thus I have found it works great for quick set ups and the occasional hand held shot in LF. As mentioned elsewhere, you can adjust them to the focus setting you wish for your particular lens. It can be very beneficial in doing some LF candid portraits etc. Jon

darinwc said:

Dan,
why dont you move the infinity stops to where the lenses you use are?

I need to pick up an angle square or something to make sure my stops are in the proper place. I use them on my Century Graphic also. Rangefinders rock!

Click to expand...

Fair question, Darin. It isn't practical. I shoot lenses from 38 mm to around 260 mm on my Century, 44 to 305 on my Speed, and 360 - 480 on my tandem. That's a lot of sets of stops. At $25-30/set, I'm much better off with my little t-shaped spacers. If I had fewer lenses, a couple of more pairs of stops might make better sense.

I have a small square. Its useless when the front standard isn't in front of the struts. Been there, done that, don't recommend it.

Cheers,

Dan

I like to have known infinity marks for each lens I use with a view camera.
By having a known point to set either the forward or rear standard allows me to set up very quickly and point and shoot at infinity in rapidly changing light.
Should I accidently break my "SatinSnow" all is not lost, I can still set up and shoot a scenic with the known setting @ infinity. Just something I have always done.

Charlie..............................

Good point Charlie, especially for those of us who don't travel with a spare GG. I travel with two Graphics, so have a spare focusing panel ready to hand. There's nothing like cheating, eh?

Cheers,

Dan

"I shoot lenses from 38 mm to around 260 mm on my Century, 44 to 305 on my Speed, and 360 - 480 on my tandem. "

Ah thats right Dan, I remembered you had a ton of lenses. But it sounded like you got rid of a bunch earlier in this post. I only shoot with 2 lenses on my century. An 85mm synched to the rangefinder and a 47mm, which I have the focus scale set for the hyperfocal. i never did pick up a longer lens, but its not on my list of priorities right now.