superwide angles on crown graphic

[dave schlick]

please take a stab at answereing some of my questions under

rodenstock 55 a few lines down.. thanks dave..

[henry_a]

Here's my stab:

Buy another Crown Graphic, take the bed/front door off and dedicate that camera to the 55.

Its not gonna work with the bed dropped. You can probably get a crappy/damaged/parts missing CG for under $100?

 

Shooting smaller film will just reduce the wide angle effect so why bother?

A 55 is only kinda wide on 6X9.

[dan_fromm1]

Henry, did you report on your own experience?

 

I ask because I shoot a 38/4.5 Biogon on a Century (effectively a plastic-bodied 2x3 Crown) with the bed dropped and have no problems. I know a fellow who does the same with a 35 ApoGrandagon. One can go pretty wide with a 2x3 Crown.

 

I can't address how wide its possible to go with a 4x5 Crown because I don't have one. But since its bed drops at the same angle as the 2x3's and its optical axis is higher I'd expect that a 35 would work on one IF (huge if) it covered the format. My Biogon covers 84 mm, IIRC the 35 ApoGrandagon covers 125.

 

Cheers,

 

Dan

[henry_a]

Yes and no. I have a Crown 4X5 and a 58 Schneider. I have not used them together. But, I know for a fact that the dropped bed just clears a 90mm. Has anyone mounted a 65 on a Crown Graphic? That would help answer this question.

 

I guess I read the question as "can I get by using this combination" and my answer is that even if not then you could make something happen by spending $100 on another camera to make it work. If you were buying a $1000 lens I guess I figured another $100 wouldn't matter. And you could just try it on your camera you have now before you bought anything other than a lensboard. Having a dedicated camera and lens would be kinda nice although you will have to reach into the box to operate the lens - which might be a bit clumsy. The real answer is to mount the lens, shoot some film and see. I'll let Dave handle that if he decides its worth a try. ; >)

[John Crowe]

I have an ancient Speed Graphic (pre-1940), the arms that hold the bed in place are completely detachable from the body allowing the bed to drop away as far as your tripod will allow. The 65mm f8 SA when mounted is pulled out of the body to a point where it just rests on the body rails. I suspect a 58mm XL SA would be the widest that could fit with this old body. I think the space taken up by the shutter and the bellows would be too much for a 47mm XL although I would love to try it!

[wayne_firth3]

I just now put my 58 SA on my Crown Graphic with the bed dropped. The bed is not visible in the field of view. I hope this helps until someone tries a 55mm for you. Remember that you could have the hole drilled slightly off center on the board if you need a little extra help with your 55mm.

[jnanian]

dave:

 

i used to use a 55mm brass barrel lens on my speed graphic ( pacemaker ) all

the time and the bed was never in the field of view when it was in its "down"

position. i know the body of the speed is a little different than the crown,

because of the shutter mechanism, but i don't think you will have any

problems ..

 

good luck!

 

- john

[wayne_crider4]

Isn't there a little room available for a slight amount of lens rise inside the

body? If you need more you can take the sports finder frame out.