Framing with no ground glass back on Crown+Super Angulon 47/8

[dkopylen]

<p>Hello,</p>

<p>I mounted a Super Angulon 47mm/8 on my Crown Graphic for the first time and even shot one roll of film. This is really superb combination!<br>

Now I am at the stage of making my work with this setup more comfortable. Following are the problems I would like to resolve:</p>

<ol>

<li>extremely hard to frame the shots using the ground glass back not only because the lens does not have separate focusing mode (a lever for instant diaphragm opening), thus requiring constant diaphragm switching back and force, but also because even at f8 the image is so dark at the corners, that one barely sees anything even in the bright light.</li>

<li>constant back-switching (from ground glass back to film roll) usually causes for focus and framing loss.</li>

<li>SA47 requires the front lens-standard to be locked on the part of the rails before the drop-bed. I noticed that on my Crown this part of the rails is somewhat more loose then the ones residing on the drop-bed itself, which sometimes causes the standard to be stuck while focusing (because the rails start to rise a bit and the standard leans a bit forward or backward). Does anyone also have a problem like this, or this is only the problem with my camera? If this is my problem, how do I tighten these rails?</li>

</ol>

<p>I think the problems 1 and 2 can be solved by attaching some kind of wide angle viewfinder to the camera. Then I will not have to put the ground glass back at all (focusing very hard on this lens, so I will just prefocus it to hyperfocal distance). Does anyone know which viewfinder shall I put? I shoot with 6x7 back.<br>

Does anyone know what is the hyperfocal distance for this lens?<br>

If anyone knows any other useful information on how to comfortably use this Crown+SA47 combination, your help will be very appreciated.</p>

<p>Thanks<br>

Denis</p>

[ed_gerson]

<p>Determine where infinity is and mark your rail at that spot. Wide angle lenses are a big<br>

reason to have a helical focusing mount (!), so on a rail focus it is unfortunately a rapid change<br>

from say 10 feet and infinity whereas on a helical mount it's all day to focus that "much".<br>

Good thing is the rail difference from 10 feet to infinity with a 47mm is incredibly short. <br>

Which might give a sharp lensman ideas! Figure out where 10 feet and infinity are located<br>

on your rail and mark both spots with a scribe. Your big problem is accurate framing. Contact<br>

a used camera dealer like KEH, Adorama, or B&H for a viewfinder. Warning: you will have to <br>

make allowanaces for what your lens sees and what your viewfinder sees. <br>

You don't need to focus this lens if you're interested in landscapes. at infinity and also stopped<br>

down a couple of f/stops, say if everything is from about 10 ft to infinity anyway. As you noted, the<br>

realities of edge falloff can be difficult with large format lenses. - Ed</p>

[leicaglow]

<p>Denis, You might consider getting a brighter ground glass material. It makes a real difference with smaller aperture lenses. Because I use roll film holders, my ground glass is very marked up with grease pencil marks where the frames are. You can also buy masks for your roll film back. I use Calumet holders and I think you can get replacement masks, but it should probably match the back.</p>

<p>If you're set on a viewfinder, I think a 47mm on 6x7 is about 28mm (slightly more?) with 35mm film. So you might look for a Voightlander or Leica finder for a 28mm lens.</p>

[thirteenthumbs]

<p>First download a copy of the service manual for the camera <a href="http://www.southbristolviews.com/pics/Graphic/manual-pdf/servicemanual.pdf">http://www.southbristolviews.com/pics/Graphic/manual-pdf/servicemanual.pdf</a> (<a href="http://www.southbristolviews.com/">http://www.southbristolviews.com/</a> Graflex Manuals in left plane then Pacemaker Service manual ). The side RF and Top RF Pacemakers are the same except for the rangefinders.<br />1. Being the shutter does not have a press to focus lever it should have either a B or T setting on the speed selector dial. Select T if available, cock and trip shutter and it should stay open until the second trip of the shutter release without recocking or the shutter speed dial is turned to another speed setting. If it has a T anddoes not operate this way the shutter needs servicing. Attach a locking type shutter release cable to the shutter release socket, select B on the shutter speed dial, cock the shutter then trip it via the shutter release cable and lock the cable in the trip position without releasing it. Release the cable lock when finished with focusing and framing. <br />Using the service manual referenced above, remove the ground glass and ektalite field screen (fresnel) if so equiped. Wash the ground glass and ektalite field screen in warm water and dish soap. Use your finger tips only to rub the ground glass and rub with the curves of the ribed side of the fresnel. Rince with running water then rince in a weak photoflo solution then allow the ground glass and fresnel to air dry bu standing on edge. Handle the ground glass and fresnel by the edges only once the wash step is complete. Reassemble by placing the flat side of the ektalite field screen facing the lens then place the ground side of the ground glass facing the lens and attach the retaining clips turning the screws down until they just touch the clips then turning each screw in sequence around the primiter of the ground glass 1/2 turn at a time until the clips are tight.</p>

<p>2. If the sports finder frame clears the top of the camera when the lens is focused at infinity then a mask for the 6x7 rollfilm back can be easily made from 1/4 inch thick goatfoam that will slip into the sports finder frame. Also a focus scale can be easily made and attached to the bed.</p>

<p>3. The case yoke guides can be damaged by not having the yoke fully retracted into the body before closing the bed. The body yoke guides may simply be loose or have the wrong shims under them. The referenced service manual tells how to adjust the bed guides on manual page 19. Yoke is Graflex speak for rails.</p>

[User_503771]

<p>Re focusing: You could just move the standard around a bit while getting initial focus, then tighten that on the rails and use the knob to fine-tune the focus from there. That would avoid having the rail extended on the dropped bed so far that it bunches up like you described. I'm familiar with this phenomenon, and that's how I solve it.</p>

<p>The advice above to lay down a piece of tape on the bed and mark off a few key distances is good advice.</p>

<p>Re hyperfocal distance: There's math all over photo.net and the web about how to compute that distance for your focal length of lens. I don't have it in front of me, but you could google it very easily and get your answer.</p>

<p>Meanwhile, a good rule of thumb for wide-angle lenses is to focus at 35 feet and stop down. That'll get you infinity focus and quite a bit else too. I read that in a post here from a gentleman who used to work for Burke and James and Calumet (I'm sorry, I've forgotten his name) who's quite knowledgeable when it comes to lenses.</p>

[brian_wallen]

Denis,

 

You didn't mention which size Crown you have. They originally came in three sizes: 2 1/4 x 3 1/4, 3 1/4 x 4 1/4 and 4 x 5. The proportions of the image are different, so the existing finders may be showing you a frame that is not consistent with the 6 x 7 rollholder you are using. There were masks that could be inserted into the front of the optical finder on crowns that did the masking appropriately. You could make a mask as Charles suggests for the sports finder using the correct 6 x 7 proportions that might not be the proportions of the finder.

 

The clamps that hold the focus rail in place are held to the case with four screws that you can see by pulling the front standard and the bellows past the front of the focus rail, then upward. These may just be loose and can be tightened, or may be damaged as Charles suggests.

 

New ground glass is usually a good investment for cameras of this age if you actually prefer using GG focusing rather than a finder. A fresnel screen behind the GG will brighten the image. Sometimes these are installed on Crowns already, but if yours doesn't have one, it could help. Have you tried using a focusing loupe next to the GG for critical focusing?

 

The Crown is a nice Graphic to use with wide lenses, since the inner bed rails were articulated with the front part of the focusing rack. This lets you drop the bed to get it out of the field of view, but still use the focusing rack mechanism. You can even use all of the shift and a little rise while the front standard is still in the case.

[dkopylen]

<p>Thanks for your help, everybody! A lot of useful info to think of.</p>