Master Technika: to cam or not to cam...

[cm1]

Actually I had not believed I wuld get back to large format as I never liked to

put my head under a darkcloth.

 

But yesterday someone offered me a Master Technika at a very good price. It

comes with a 150mm Symmar. The camera shows average wear.

 

BUT I could not use the rangefinder. When the lens is dragged out there are

three stop positions, one of them probably being the right one for this lens. I

tried all three and turned the focus knob - and nothing happens in the rangefinder.

 

How can I find out whether a cam is installed and whether the camera is working

or defective? I have never seen how this is used properly. Is there some kind of

manual with pictures (!) showing me how to operate it on the web? I looked into

some text descriptions, but can not really understand what a properly installed

cam looks alike and what else I have to do to make the finder work.

[bob_salomon]

Look unde the bed by pulling it out fully adnd see if thier is a cam instajjed.

[Jochen_S]

Look at the attached pic of a previous model. Sometimes the levers operating the RF get sticky; time for a CLA.<div></div>

[Jochen_S]

Test instruction: Go out into the cold, pull the cam mount to the right and check if it snaps back and influences the view in the rangemeter.

[sattler123]

There's an easy way to test if a cam is installed - if the camera closes easily - the cam is installed. Otherwise the little arm that holds the cam will be in the way. I assume that the cam is installed - you would have noticed otherwise or the entire mechanism has been removed. The rangefinder should work with ANY cam and ANY of the stop positions. Just pull the front standard out - doesn't matter where and THEN use the focsuing wheel - looking through the rangefinder window, the pad should move - if it doesn't, then the rangefinder is broken. A proper cam will have the body serial number and the lens serial number engraved and it has the focal length engraved as well. IF the rangefinder works you can have custom cams made by Marflex - if memory serves right, it is about $250 per lens. They can also repair your rangefinder, should that be necessary.

[Troll]

The front standard has to be pulled out onto the focusing track before the RF will work.

[brian_ellis19]

If you want to use the rangefinder but don't want to pay $250 to Marflex to grind one for your lens you might try picking one up on ebay. While it's ideal to have one ground for your lens in my experience an "off the shelf" cam may work just fine. You should be able to get one for about $30 or so on ebay so it's not a catastrophe if it doesn't work. But I should add that Marflex does more than just cut a cam for their $250. They also set the infinity position and provide a distance scale IIRC.

[bob_salomon]

" should be able to get one for about $30 or so on ebay so it's not a catastrophe if it

doesn't work"

 

It won't work at all distances but you can try this. When you discover that it doesn't track

properly and that you do want your camera to track properly at all distances then Marflex's

250.00 cam will only now cost $280.00 + the time and frustration of wasting time with a

cam that does not match.

 

Additionally the set screws on the infinity stops have sharp points that bite into the reail

so tey stay set. If you install the stop yourself and find that it is not where you want it you

will leave a small pock mark on the chrome rail. When you have a mis-matched cam users

frequestly re-set the stop position to compensate for the error that a mis matched cam

will have at one end or the other of the focus range.

 

This results in an expensive camera with what looks like measles on the two chromed

rails. These pock marks can not be removed or re-chromed. And, if the camera is used in

wet or moist environments the broken coatings leave a place for moisture to attack the rail

under the chrome.

 

So yes, you can buy a cam that will not match for just $30.00 "so it's not a catastrophe"

but it is sure the most expensive way to cam a lens.

[brian_ellis19]

Actually Bob the cam that I bought on ebay for my 150mm G Claron lens seems to work just fine. And I happen to have installed set stops on my previous Technika and my camera didn't look like it had measles.

 

I often see this kind of thing from you here and in other forums. Someone relates personal experience with a product or methodology that costs less than buying a new product that's distributed by your employer or having something done by Marflex and you post a message with a list of all the bad things that will result if that's done. Like everyone here, I appreciate your knowledge of Linhof equipment based on your years of being employed by the U.S. distributor for Linhof. And I appreciate the fact that you pass on that knowledge freely. But everyone doesn't always have to do things the most expensive way, sometimes other less expensive ways work even if they aren't strictly by the Linhof/HP Marketing/Marflex book and this cam situation happens to be one of them.

 

I don't mean to suggest that you intentionally mislead anyone but as an an employee of HP Marketing, the U.S. distributor for Linhof, Heliopan, and other products used by LF photographers, you have a built-in conflict of interest in some of these discussions. Unlike you, I have no horse in this race - I don't care what Clemens or anyone else does in terms of buying and installing a cam. But I do believe based on personal experience, and from reading of the personal experience of others, that it's possible to successfully install a cam that hasn't been ground by Marflex for a specific lens. And I know for a fact that it's possible for someone to install infinity stops themselves without having a camera that ends up looking like it has measles.

[bob_salomon]

Brian,

 

Who do you think has gotten the phone calls, letters and emails regarding mis-matched

cams, how to install infinity stops correctly (there is a special target that Linhof makes for

plotting this) and how do I remove these marks on my rails?

 

A word to the wise is much better then someone complaining later that their rail has

measles. Their cam doesn't focus true, their range finder is off, etc.

 

After 26 years of answering these questions, which should not arise in the first place, we

know that some people really do care.

 

Others are happy as a DIY project.

 

That is fine. But then there are more folks who want to properly protect their camera

investment.

[camera_conjurer]

Wow!<p>The more I read Mr. Ellis' posts, the angrier I get.<p>The older these cameras get,

the more bad previous repairs affect them. That's all Mr. Salomon is trying to say.<p>It's

great that you take the time to answer these posts with all of your professional experience

and love for these cameras and consideration for the photographers who use them, Bob, but

sometimes it will be pearls before swine.

[bob_salomon]

Noah,

 

Thanks for the comments.

 

Some people seem to feel that we have a financial interest in people having a camera

adjusted properly or cammed properly.

 

To set the record straight there is no financial connection or ownership connection or

other releationship between our Linhof/Wista service center and HP Marketing.

 

Marflex is totally independant. They pay us no maoney when they make a repair. We pay

them if they perform a warranty repair. They buy their parts directly from the factory. Not

from HP Marketing Corp.

 

We make no moneies from Marflex, we have no financial interest in Marflex, We only know

that they are factory trained and will repair the product properly. To factory specifications.

As this is the case we have no recommendations on any other repair service for Linhof or

Wista in the USA.

 

That is why when someone asks what a camming costs or what a CLA costs or an

adjustment costs, or a repair costs, etc. we tell them to call Marflex. We do not set or

control the repair prices.

 

So those who talk about a financial interest on our part or financial gain on our part for

service simply don't know what they are talking about.

[brian_ellis19]

"So those who talk about a financial interest on our part or financial gain on our part for service simply don't know what they are talking about."

 

Nowhere did I say anything about a "financial interest" on the part of your employer or a "financial gain" for service. Surely you don't think that a conflict of interest can't exist unless there's immediate financial gain. What I said was that I thought you had a conflict of interest in some of these discussions that involve the purchase of new Linhof parts vs adapting used parts. Buying new parts benefits Linhof, the company for which your employer serves as the U.S. distributor. If you can't see the conflict of interest that creates when it comes to discussions of buying new Linhof parts vs buying used parts then I can't explain it to you. I also said that I didn't believe you intentionally mislead anyone and I don't belive that. And I expressed my appreciation to you for your knowledge of Linhof matters and your freely sharing that knowledge here and in other forums. But just because you're an honorable person giving your honest advice, which I believe you are, doesn't eliminate the underlying conflict of interest that exists in some of these discussions.

[bob_salomon]

" Buying new parts benefits Linhof, the company for which your employer serves as the

U.S. distributor"

 

When one buys new parts they do not come from HP Marketing Corp. Parts are sold by the

factory directly to Marflex. Many, if not all, repair shops who need new Linhof parts then

buy them from Marflex as well.

 

Accessories are sold to camera stores by HP Marketing Corp.

 

As a rule of thumb if the item requires a tool to remove or install it it is a part. That would

be, for instance, a Technika bellows. If the item mounts on and off the camera without the

use of tools it is an accessory. A TechniKardan bellows is an accessory.

[parnell_roberts]

I've seen numerous examples of Bob going out of his way to help a "used" Linhof user. In

these cases Bob doesn't have any interest in someone using a camera that might have

otherwise bought new from his business. That is the epitome of service and we should be

thanking Bob for his consistent consideration and generousity.

 

Brian is a great guy and makes a good point about the used cams, but Bob was only pointing

out the drawbacks to that approach.