Posted by Kent Staubus on June 16, 2006 at 12:05 AM
I've shot with my Shen Hao twice now and really like it. It's intuitive to use, very sleek, and dang it, it's beautiful! I glad I bought this instead of a Nikon D-something. I do have a couple of questions though. First, one of the lens boards has the hole off center. I'm pretty sure this was on purpose. When I put my Copal 1 Fuji lens into the board, the aperature indicator on the bottom of the lens would hit against the lens board clamp and not turn. So, I turned the thing upside down and used it that way. Seemed to work OK, but what is the purpose of those off center boards? I might just take one of my extra Copal 0 boards down to the John Deere dealer and have their machine shop cut the hole out to Copal 1 diameter. That way the lens is in the center.
Second question is about what A/S style QR plate to put on the bottom. I have a generic one about an inch & half long on it now. It's OK, but I wonder if a longer one would hold steadier? Is what I have good enough?
Finally, the Fresnel GG. Turns out it's not cracked, the matte glass that goes next to it is. This is not the Shen Hao fresnel like I first thought, but a really expensive Beattie Intenscreen. Man, did I luck out! I do need to replace that glass though. Where can I get just the glass? It's coated, apparently.
Dan Baumbach bought this camera and sold it to Matthew Cromer. Matthew Cromer sold it to me. This is turning into another NPN pass-around camera, LOL!!! Kind of an expensive one though. So, where has Dan been lately? What would he think if he knew "his" camera was now being used to photo abandoned farm houses, country churches, trains, and will be out in blizzards this winter?
Kent in SD
Posted by Mark Stahlke on June 16, 2006 at 12:44 AM
Hi Kent,
I'll take a stab at some of these questions.
I think the offset lensboards are for Linhof cameras but I don't know why. My Tachihara's front standard has an 'L' mark as well as a '0' mark so I can easily zero out lenses mounted on either type of board. I have one lens in an offset board and it's not a bother at all.
Does the Shen Hao have two tripod mounting holes? The Tachihara does and I use a plate from RRS. I think it's the P55 (or is that a Wimberly plate?) but I'd have to look it up. This plate has two screws - one is fixed and the other is in a slot about an inch long. I use both screws of course. If the camera twists on that set up, I have a big problem.
I ran into a similar issue with my Tachihara and a 300mm Nikor: The little f-stop indicator part was hitting the lensboard clamp at the bottom. My solution was to carefully file the clamp just enough to clear the lever. It took about five minutes, with no ill effects. You might take a look-see to check if a similar solution will work for the Shen.
I have an Arca-Swiss QR plate on my Tachi. It is plenty long enough, and I have no stability issues.
Give Jeff at Badger Graphics a call, he can probably line up a new GG for you.
The off-center hole is the standard Linhof board. My guess is they did it since front rise is easier to manage than dropping the bed on a field camera (so the lens is closer to the bottom to avoid having to drop the bed too far)... just a theory.
I have one of the generic 1" plates on my Wista. It never failed and never came loose. You may want to add some Loctite (whichever kind is not permanent) if you're worried about it.
Guy
Posted by Dan Baumbach on June 16, 2006 at 11:13 AM
Hi, Kent,
I used a generic small Kirk QR plate on that camera and it worked fine. I just found a track ball a PIA for a field camera and switched to a cheap Manfrotto pan head. I don't know about the off center board. That must be something Matthew acquired. And, I haven't gone anywhere. I'm just not particularly chatty unless I have something to say. I'm thrilled that the camera is getting good use. It's a great camera.
Discussion
5 repliesSecond question is about what A/S style QR plate to put on the bottom. I have a generic one about an inch & half long on it now. It's OK, but I wonder if a longer one would hold steadier? Is what I have good enough?
Finally, the Fresnel GG. Turns out it's not cracked, the matte glass that goes next to it is. This is not the Shen Hao fresnel like I first thought, but a really expensive Beattie Intenscreen. Man, did I luck out! I do need to replace that glass though. Where can I get just the glass? It's coated, apparently.
Dan Baumbach bought this camera and sold it to Matthew Cromer. Matthew Cromer sold it to me. This is turning into another NPN pass-around camera, LOL!!!
Kent in SD
I'll take a stab at some of these questions.
I think the offset lensboards are for Linhof cameras but I don't know why. My Tachihara's front standard has an 'L' mark as well as a '0' mark so I can easily zero out lenses mounted on either type of board. I have one lens in an offset board and it's not a bother at all.
Does the Shen Hao have two tripod mounting holes? The Tachihara does and I use a plate from RRS. I think it's the P55 (or is that a Wimberly plate?) but I'd have to look it up. This plate has two screws - one is fixed and the other is in a slot about an inch long. I use both screws of course. If the camera twists on that set up, I have a big problem.
I bet Dan's proud.
Cheers,
I never ran into a problem of the aperture scale hitting the lensboard clamp when I used copal 1 shutters with an off center lensboard.
I do not see why you can't put the hole in the center. It probably would just effect the amount of rise and fall a bit.
I ran into a similar issue with my Tachihara and a 300mm Nikor: The little f-stop indicator part was hitting the lensboard clamp at the bottom. My solution was to carefully file the clamp just enough to clear the lever. It took about five minutes, with no ill effects. You might take a look-see to check if a similar solution will work for the Shen.
I have an Arca-Swiss QR plate on my Tachi. It is plenty long enough, and I have no stability issues.
Give Jeff at Badger Graphics a call, he can probably line up a new GG for you.
-PB
I have one of the generic 1" plates on my Wista. It never failed and never came loose. You may want to add some Loctite (whichever kind is not permanent) if you're worried about it.
Guy
I used a generic small Kirk QR plate on that camera and it worked fine. I just found a track ball a PIA for a field camera and switched to a cheap Manfrotto pan head. I don't know about the off center board. That must be something Matthew acquired. And, I haven't gone anywhere. I'm just not particularly chatty unless I have something to say. I'm thrilled that the camera is getting good use. It's a great camera.
- Dan.