I recently purchased a Fujinon SWD 65mm f/5.6 ; on my early Toyo metal field, focus and tilt are both pushed to their limits by this lense - even 4 or 5 millimetres extra focus range would make a meaningful difference, I think, to getting an image that ranges from a few centimetres from the camera to infinity (i.e. extreme near/far) completely in focus. So, my question is - do recessed Graphic lenseboards (93x94mm) exist, would this help, or would it introduce a new set of problems? Where would such a board (in copal 0) be available?

-- fw (finneganswake@altavista.net), October 25, 1999

Answers

I have the same camera as you with the Graphic lens boards and I use a Schneider 65 f8 SA. I decided I needed a recessed lens board and had one made by a friend who is also a skilled machinist. Well, we got too greedy with the depth of the recess, and although the lens would mount, I just couldn't get my fingers or a cable release (even the angled one) in to do adjustments. The measurements from the front of the lensboard to the back is exactly one inch and I might have gotten somewhere if I had gone half of that.

Another solution would be to take a regular flat Graphic lens board and have the hole drilled significantly off centre, either higher than normal or lower. With the front camera standard in "zero" position you would then have built in "free" rise or drop if you put the lensboard in "upside down".

For most other cameras with square lens boards this would also give you left or right shift, but the Graphic boards won't go in "sideways" so it wouldn't work with the old Toyo. The only downside of all of this is that you might want to keep the flat normal lensboard you have now and switch as you needed extra rise or fall. A pain but a cheap solution.

-- David Grandy (dgrandy@accesscable.net), October 25, 1999.

David, thanks for your answer. Looking at the Toyo catalogue, I see that a cable release adjustment is available, which points the cable release forward to make life easier with a recessed lenseboard. Unfortunately the catalogue does not list a recessed graphic lenseboard (!), hence my question above.

-- fw (finneganswake@altavista.net), October 26, 1999.