Oh dear!

[Ian Grant]

I have two lenses that are not on Wista/Linhof boards. The 450mm Nikkor M is in a Copal #3 shutter and is just too big and heavy for anything other than the 8x10, so it stays on a Sinar board. The smaller cameras cannot focus a 450mm anyway. The other lens is a 135mm on a Galvin board, but since I have a Galvin to Wista/Linhof adapter I may just move it over sometime.

The trouble with using more than one format and having a lens common to more than one, is remembering to move it between bags. I can get by without a cable release, but not bringing a lens is a bit of a show stopper!

The Nikkor 450mm f9 M lens is smaller and lighter than my Nikkor W 240mm 5.6, both are in Copal #3 shutters. I have no issues in terms of weight & size using my Nikkor W 240mm o

Nikkor W 240mm Overall length 77mm weight 820g
Nikkor M 450mm Overall lehgth 58mm weught 640g

The major issue with the 450mm Nikkor is most 5x4 cameras won't have enough bellows extension, few field cameras have triple extension, and even if they do, or you use a monorail, the camera is unstable acting as a windsock in the slightest breeze. And then, even with triple extension, you are limited by not being able in focussing particularly close.

More about conversion boards in a separate thread. I'm just refinishing one that came with a 10x8 Agfa Ansco a couple of years ago, it's dual purpose as it can take Linhof/Wista boards as well as Pacemaker Graphic.

Ian

 

[David M]

The most convenient solution (although nobody gets into LF because of the convenience) is to mount all your lenses onto Linhof-type lensboards, then have one Linhof-to-XXX adapter board on each camera.
This assumes that you have more lenses than cameras, of course. For longer lenses, they can be mounted on a top hat. Using a recessed board would depend on the rearward bulge fitting into the opening in the adapter, but nothing’s perfect.