Hi! I am planning to purchase Rodenstock APO-Grandagon 55mm f/4.5, and mount it on my sinar F2. I like to know izzit necessary to have the wide angle bellows 2 for this lens. Will wide angle bellows 1 work as well? Or i can use the Horseman wide angle bellows to save cost? Also, do i need a recessed lens board for it? Thanx guys for ur help!

-- Tey Ge Wai (teygewai@hotmail.com), January 21, 2002

Answers

You will need a recessed lens board for this lens and camera combination. i don't know that the Horseman will be that much cheaper, and there is a trick you have to do to use such short lenses with a Sinar. The trick is to place the tripod block either in front of the front standard or behind the rear standard. You haveto do this because you cannot get the standards close enough to each other (unless you use a very deep recessed board) to focus to infinity.

-- Ellis Vener Photography (ellis@ellisvener.com), January 21, 2002.

Hi,

My experiences with the Sinar F2 is totally contrary to that expressed by Ellis and I have particular views concerning the recessed panels.

Wide-Angle Bellows:

If you can afford the W/A Bellows II then that is the way to go. The extra pleat makes movements for far more flexible and can be used with lenses up to 180mm. Before the pundits chime in with comments relating to the limited movements possible on 4x5 with the 55mm let me say that the 55mm is a fine focal length on RFHs for 6x9/6x12. A standard bellows with a 150mm can be too compacted to permit sufficient rise or lateral shift. The W/A Bellows I makes a fine viewing device.

Sunk Panels:

When I used a Sinar F2 for many years in architectural photography I used lenses down to and including 47mm on flat panels. Only the Apo-Grandagon had to be used in a sunk panel. I always had the mounting block between the standards (ie: normal position) and experienced no difficulties.

The Sinar recessed panels are very expensive and poorly designed considering the large area they had to play with. (Toyo, Arca & Cambo use square recesses which work with greater facility.) Access to the aperture and cocking controls is problematic and this worsens with the diameter of the centre-grad on front of a lens.

Good luck ... Walter Glover

-- Walter Glover (walterg@netaus.net.au), January 21, 2002.

Sorry,

I used the recessed panel only with the Apo-Grandagon 35mm lens.

Walter

-- Walter Glover (walterg@netaus.net.au), January 21, 2002.

Get Horseman bag bellows. You could use it with 47-150mm lenses on flat board. Use 6' rail. Good luck.

-- Andres (andres@suurkuusk.com), January 23, 2002.