joe_gossman

<p>Thanks, Bob, for the valuable info. I spoke today with the folks at the local camera shop in Falls Church VA who is a distributor for your company. He's going to place the order here soon. Yeehaw.</p>

<p>Thanks very much, Bob. I will make that happen. Two questions if you don't mind: About how much should I expect the lensboard to cost? Also, I have noticed that you are able to tell folks what era various Linhof cameras were built in. Would you tell me when mine was made? The serial number is 2531054.</p>

<p>Would you know if that is the board offered by B&H on their site? It worries me somewhat because it is expensive and non-returnable. Description says that it fits most Lihhof 5x7's. If I gotta bite the bullet and get it I will. Would you know anyone else who I might speak with about getting my hands on one?</p>

<p>Bob, Thanks for the good information. I have learned some valuable information from an old timer who is on staff at the local community college where I have been studying large format. He has deduced that the 5x7 to 4x5 adapter board that came with this camera is not meant to accept a standard Linhof 4x5 board, but is perhaps an adapter board for another brand of 4x5 board with its own dimensions. In addition he noted that it has been customized to somebody's purpose with a small hole a couple of millimeters in diameter drilled just next to the hole for the lens mount. I think I am going to need a replacement 5x7 lensboard or something. Is there any good option besides the new Linhof 5x7 board that I have discovered at one of the online camera shops for like $250 that is described as fitting "most" Linhof 5x7 cameras but is sold as non-returnable?</p>

<p>That lensboard is black, labeled Technika across the top with the shield next to it. The 5x7 to 4x5 adapter board is also black. That board is flat with an area approx. 92x94mm that looks recessed enough to accept the depth of a 4x5 lensboard when laid on top of the adapter board. Because the 4x5 board is slightly bigger in both dimensions it does not lay flush to be seated in the opening of the adapter board like I suspect it is supposed to. The adapter board that came with the camera is labeled Technika centered across the top without a shield next to it. Thank you Bob for trying to work through this with me.</p>

<p>I have gotten a Linhof Technika V 5x7 and am trying to figure it out. I wish I could download a couple of photos but I have not figured out how to do so. The camera is absolutely lovely. It is black and is not range finder equipped. The serial number on the shoe is 2531054. It came with what was described as a 5x7 to 4x5 lensboard adapter. It does not appear to be aftermarket as it is engraved "Technika" across the top. Since the camera arrived I ordered a lens and a standard 4x5 Copal 1 Linhof Technika lensboard (96x99mm), but it is a few millimeters larger than the opening. The opening on the 5x7 to 4x5 adapter board has approx. 92x94 mm dimensions. I have not attached the lens to the 4x5 board because it does not seem like the boards are going to fit together properly. Does this seem correct? I wonder if it is an adapter board for some other brand of 4x5 board?</p>

<p>I absolutely loved my T2 during the time it functioned properly. I probably got a good couple of years out of it before it died. Once the electronics went out it was effectively totaled. Next I tried my hand with a Leica Mililux. Once again it was a lovely but short lived experience. They both died in similar fashions, kind of slowly advancing between frames for half a roll, and then kaput. As someone else mentioned, a Rollei 35 was called for. The meter's shot but I am content with the non-electronic battery-less experience from here on out after seeing $500 in '90's high end compacts become paperweights. The Rollei is smaller (but maybe a little heavier) than either of those two compact automatics.</p>

<p>The info on the finder makes a lot of sense and I can imagine its usefulness. For a while this camera will produce tons of questions for me. When, I wonder, will it become inappropriate to just continue this thread with them? Do you just figure it out when people get sick of answering? Probably there's something more specific. Here's an example: As I mentioned, I am new to LF, coming from 35mm, mostly old non-automated equipment, never caring to get into digital, etc. So, for example, I have never bothered with quick release and have been satisfied with the quarter twenty mount on a little Gitzo backpacker type tripod that has been more or less sufficient. When this 5x7 Linhof was produced, was quick release in use? I'm asking primarily because of the top tripod mount for using lens fall. How would they have done it back in the old days when this camera was being produced? I can't imagine quick release plates permanently mounted all over the camera, if nothing else for aesthetic reasons. (And, if I'm not mistaken, that's where the multifocus finder goes.). Is it common these days for any users of LF to avoid QR in mounting the camera on the tripod?<br> I'm borrowing a Cambo monorail set up from the local community college, so I will need to try to find a somewhat economical tripod for use with this Linhof. Is this an appropriate thread to ask for recommendations? If so, I am not concerned very much about weight, figuring that I've got a solid 4 or 5 years of mobility left in me to lug it and the camera around. </p>

<p>Understood. Thanks folks. That's where the accessory finder that mounts on the shoe comes into play then. I have a rudimentary familiarity with large format through the use of a borrowed monorail cambo, and no practical experience with rangefinder focusing equipment anyway. Do any of you have experience in the use of an auxiliary finder in composition? I am wondering if it aids in more readily finding the edges of the image.</p>

<p>Thanks for the information!! Unsure of the 57 to 45 reducing adapter board. I will try to figure it out or perhaps ask a few more questions when the camera arrives if it is not obvious. Hopefully it is a flat board since I will obtain a standard to slight wide angle lens first, maybe something like a 180? The info regarding the cams and mounting lens to a board is invaluable.<br> I will try to post a picture of the camera when it arrives. <br> One (more) stupid question: Does the rangefinder provide any useful aid in composition without being cammed to a particular lens, or would that be more of the job of the accessory shoe viewfinder?<br> Again, thanks for all advice.</p>

<p>I just paid for a Linhof Tech v 5x7 camera and should arrive in a few days. It has a 5x7 back, the rangefinder, and a 5x7 to 4x5 lensboard, and is described to be in good functionality. I have no lenses yet for the camera.<br> I believe it has no cam, which should not bother me because I see myself using the beast on a tripod and composition on the ground glass. I am interested in learning whether there is any danger using a lens on the camera without having a cam installed for the lens?<br> Also, is it most appropriate to obtain Linhof lenses already mounted on the 4x5 lensboard for use with this camera? They are quite plentiful used as well as affordable. I have read that an amateur should not attempt to mount a lens to the board himself. <br> Any other advice with experience in the use of this camera welcomed...</p>