Add a little Swing to your Busch Pressman

<p>I just finished the machining on the front of my Busch Pressman Model "C", to add full movements to it. It now has rise and fall, shift right and left, tilt forward and back, and swing right and left. The tilt is now limited only by the bellows and the same for the swing, about 45 degrees. There is nothing like full movements for landscapes and table top photos.</p>

<p>Bringing these up to speed makes a good camera great! And the addition of a sliding back with a Leaf, or other digitql back, a real value in todays high priced market. </p><div></div>

<p>well... it looks cool and all, but how about some details????</p>

<p>What kind of details would you like?</p>

<p>Ok I measured the exact specs:<br>

Tilt 35 Deg up 23 Deg down<br>

Swing 35 Deg Right and 35 Deg Left<br>

Rise 36mm Fall 20mm at infinity much more at closer distances since bed is droped.<br>

Shift 13mm Right and 13mm Left</p>

<p> Tilt up and Swing will go further but I don't want to push the bellows any further than that.That is a lot of movement for a 2x3 camera.</p>

<p>Can you provide a tutorial?</p>

<p>Have ever you looked at machining an adapter to add a Mamiya 6x9 roll film back?</p>

<p>Forgot to say, Amazing! Beautiful work!</p>

<p>That's the coolest camera mod I've seen in a long time. Great work!</p>

<p>>>What kind of details would you like?</p>

<p>Like how you did it? :)</p>

<p>How I did it?<br>

Well, It's pretty easy if you have a metal band saw, belt sander with contact wheel, milling machine, drill press, and assorted taps and dies.</p>

<p>Remove the old parts, Drill out the rivits and remove the old tilting clamp. Make a new tilting base plate. Mill it to fit over the existing rail clamp. Drill and tap it for the lever locks, Make the levers and adjust them for locking position. Drill, tap, and counter sink a flat head machine screw into the front center for the swing plate. Drill out the old existing tilt plate and front standard base to fit on the new swing bolt. Mill down the plate bottom reducing it's thickness by about .100 inch. Make a lever lock and adjust it for locking position. Drill a pocket for a spring and ball bearing center detent on the new swing plate.Assemble it all using teflon shiming washers for smooth operation, and enjoy your new technical camera with full movements.</p>

<p>I am considering making a retrofit kit to just remove the old parts and replace with the new parts,if there seems to be any interest in it. After all you get a great camera with very little invested. I have seen these and the Sears Tower branded ones sell for as little as $40. </p>

<p>Tim, There are existing adapter plates for all of the popular backs out there including the RB and new Z digital back, horseman, Hasselblad, Leaf, and others. The only thing that would need to be done is to make an adapter from the camera back to the plate, or a complete sliding back for the camera with attachments for the adapter plates. I think the easiest would be to make the international standard sliding clips for the Graflock slots. .</p>

Here is an animation of the movements. This turns the lowly press camera into a very usable tool.

 

http://perfectplanes.com/cameras/camera.gif

 

Cliff

<p>Cliff</p>

<p>Do you think that something similar could be done to a Pacemaker Speed Graphic 4x5?..</p>

<p>Bruce,</p>

<p>I'm sure it can be done, but the problem with the Graphics is the way they lock the front standard to the rails is not an easy fix. You would have to engineer an new locking base plate system..</p>

<p><img src="http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b29/hurdy_gurdyman/IMGP1075-pacemakerMod-1.jpg" alt="" /> <br /> Bruce,</p>

<p>You can easily add horizontal swing to a Pacemaker using just a Dremal Tool and small grinding bit. It's non reversible, though.</p>

<p>Dave</p>

<p><img src="http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b29/hurdy_gurdyman/IMGP1075-pacemakerMod-1.jpg?t=1237828596" alt="" width="600" height="402" /> <img src="http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b29/hurdy_gurdyman/IMGP1074-pacemakerMod-2.jpg?t=1237828665" alt="" width="600" height="402" /></p>

<p>Please excuse my dSLR's auto focus getting the wrong thing in focus. I didn't notice until after I had everything put away.<br /> Use the dremal tool to grind away the flange that holds the front unit on the rails, then grind away an arc on the back side of the plate that runs under the rail's L shape. Take off a little at a time and try it out. Thaking off too much will cause it to come off the rail easy.<br /> I've done this mod to two 2x3 Pacemakers, a Century and a 4x5 so far. It works good. Sorry, but I can't get the other movements that Cliff got out of his Busch Pressman.</p>

<p>Dave</p>

I don't think I would do this grinding mod to a Graflex camera. This mod detatches the entire front standard when you wish to swing and there is no way to focus while doing it. There is no way to control the swing and see what you are getting, so is of no real value. The other issue is that the pressure of the locking mechanism on the rail is not distributed over the rail but is now concentrated on a small point that would likely result in damage to the rail after a while.

 

The Graflex line of cameras are very fine cameras the way they are, and if I was going to convert it to swing, I think I would devise a better method, even though this looks like it swings, there is really no benifit that I can see to this hack.

<p>The whole point to the movements is to have precise control of the focus of various pionts on the film plane. Just having a camera that will do the Hokey Pokey does not mean control. Each control should be independent and allow simultanious focusing while moving the control. I think my hack of the Pressman meets that goal with what there is to work with.</p>

<p> If you look at a camera like the Chamonix, it looks like a great camera with all of the movements. But a closer look tells you there is no control. The rear standard is connected with sloppy large holes to allow it to swing in the slop and also controls focal length by sliding forward and back in the same sloppy holes. The front standard is the same. The verticle rise and tilt use the same control lock, and the swing is the same control lock as the shift. The rear tilt is from the bottom rather than the center, so when you tilt it the entire film plane goes out of focus. Trying to adjust a camera like this is a hit and miss proposition because everytime you try to adjust it something else moves.</p>

<p> Precise control means having the controls seperate and isolated from the others. Some even go as far as GEARING ALL of the controls for even more precision. Take a look at a Wisner Technical for a real working camera.</p>

<p>I know it isn't as precise as what's on a view camera, but it does work on the cheap. I have somewhere in my files some beautiful scenic shots taken using horizontal swing with ground glass focusing. It just takes a bit of patience to get the focusing right. I would never do this on real nice conditioned Graphic, but it works well enough on a beater.<br>

Dave</p>

Here are a couple of shots using the movements. Shot at f8 with an Ektar f4.5/101mm.<div></div>

#2<div></div>

A little bigger for your pleasure.<div></div>

Here is another example. My dusty keyboard in the shop. It's kind of hard to see in this small picture but one is with the movements and one without, Both the same exposure and f stop. Can you see the difference?<div></div>

<p>How I did it?<br>

Well, It's pretty easy if you have a metal band saw, belt sander with contact wheel, milling machine, drill press, and assorted taps and dies.</p>

<p>Remove the old parts, Drill out the rivits and remove the old tilting clamp. Make a new tilting base plate. Mill it to fit over the existing rail clamp. Drill and tap it for the lever locks, Make the levers and adjust them for locking position. Drill, tap, and counter sink a flat head machine screw into the front center for the swing plate. Drill out the old existing tilt plate and front standard base to fit on the new swing bolt. Mill down the plate bottom reducing it's thickness by about .100 inch. Make a lever lock and adjust it for locking position. Drill a pocket for a spring and ball bearing center detent on the new swing plate.Assemble it all using teflon shiming washers for smooth operation, and enjoy your new technical camera with full movements.</p>

<p>I am considering making a retrofit kit to just remove the old parts and replace with the new parts,if there seems to be any interest in it. After all you get a great camera with very little invested. I have seen these and the Sears Tower branded ones sell for as little as $40. </p>

 

Brilliant mod! I know this is a thread boardering on ancient, but, I thought it worth a try. I would be interested in a retrofit kit. Have recently purchased a Busch 2x3 and am in process of her resurrection. This is the mod I’ve been searching for. Please let me know.