Graflex.org

[jbarber1]

Hi,

I've had the subject lens for years, and rarely used it on an Arca Swiss monorail. I'd like to find a cam for my Crown Graphic's top-mounted rangefinder, but don't know who could determine the actual exact FL of this lens. The list of cams once made show a variety of them at and very near the nominal 90mm spec.

I've also heard that in practice, all such wide angles perform better if you (or the cam) avoid focusing at infinity, and instead, get distance sharpness through DOF. Do RF cams for wides take this into account? And from where/who I might buy a cam the correct cam? And a focusing scale would be nice---if one would fit while the scale for the 135 Xenar is in place...

Funny, of all the film cameras I still own, this is the one I still want to use...
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Jonathan Barber

[tsgrimm]

Let me take a crack at this even though I don't own any of the equipment in question. I will try and piece together an answer from all the posts that I have read over the years.

Forget the cam (One can be made if you search for post by 45PSS)

Make sure that your camera is set for infinity and that the RF is working correctly

Mount the 90mm in a Pacemaker board: S.K. Grimes or fleaBay

Adjust the 90mm for infinity, make a mark on the yoke or get some stops

Use the Safe Set Method described below (My apologies to the Author)

You will need a complete set of scales from a scrap Pacemaker body (screws and the bar underneath the sliding scale) Not necessarily 90mm scales (probably impossible to find) 101,127 and 135 will do. New marks will have to be made for your lens

So, I think what they used to do (I was young then) was keep the Kalart set for the standard lens, and add a scale or two on the bed, and used the safe set method. So if your stuff is set up correctly, and the lens is set for the say fifteen feet marks, so too should the standard lens scale and the RF be in synch. You just move in or out until the RF is aligned and take the shot.

Rather simplistic but this will probably spark some better responses.

Good luck with the project.

[jbarber1]

Thanks for responding....though I'm not sure I understand what you mean. It sounds as though I'm to use the rangefinder, but with the wrong cam? I think I get how you could have the ground-glass and the rangefinder agree at one distance (infinity?) but otherwise, the procedure is unclear to me.

I do have a lensboard that's correct for the Fujinon, but haven't bought stops yet. And long ago, I set up a lovely 180mm f5.6 Fujinon-W with its own cam to work with the Crown, so I have experience changing cams in my top-mounted rangefinder. I think L&R in New York came up with a focusing scale.

I'm also interested to know whether the #3060 W.A. adapter is ever found, and how useful it is.
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Jonathan Barber

[Dave]

I believe tsgrimm's Safe Set method is just using the rangefinder as an uncoupled rangefinder, yes?

IOW, start by assuming that you currently have a rangefinder cam and a distance scale for a normal lens on the camera. (It doesn't matter if you don't have the normal lens.) If everything is set up right, you can focus using the rangefinder, and then read the distance off the scale-- provided it's the right scale to begin with.

The second thing you need is a distance scale that corresponds to your 90mm lens. You can make one yourself by focusing on the ground glass at infinity, and maybe 15 feet, and 4 feet, and making marks on a bit of card, which you'll tape to the camera bed. (It will be shorter than the scale for the normal lens.)

When you've read the distance off the first scale, just extend the bed to transfer that value to the second scale, and you should be in focus.