All good information. I think the 80 is the widest lens these cameras
can be set up for use with the viewfinder and kalart IF you can find
the right cam/scale. It is a very compact, light, and high quality
lens, but really must be shot at f/16 or smaller to get good
performance (by design, according to Kodak).

I did doubt check, and only some 65 mm designs can be used on some of
the 23 Graphics. I thought I remembered this finding when doing the
research a few years ago. The Busch Pressman Model C can easily handle
a 60ish mm lens and is a better choice for wide...

If you can handle Fuji lenses, their "Texas Leica" 69 with 65 mm lens
is probably the most practical choice but now we are talking a
different class of size and $$...


Eric Goldstein

--

On 8/31/07, Mike Bischof <nbg90455@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
  

Jan,
After all the technical discussions ;-), let me give you some perspectives
from a user's point, as I have gone that route in the last couple of years
-- and yes, it does lead to LF photography with no shortage of opportunities
to blows lots of cash. As a result, my current favorite weapon is an Arca
Swiss 4x5 Field camera with a Rodenstock Apo-Sironar S 210, but that's a
different discussion :-D

Back to the topic at hand. After considerable time with the 6x6 negatives
and slides from my Rolleiflex, I wanted to get something with a bigger (and
rectangular) negative, so my first choice was a Crown Graphic 23. Here are a
couple of notes on that camera (which I still own and love, but which
doesn't get a whole lot of use anymore, thanks to the Arca):

1) Relatively cheap and lightweight camera with good (and cheap) access to
multiple lenses. I still have the 101mm Ektar and the 80mm WA Ektar, both
are great lenses.
2) With the proper sets of infinity stops (and good calibration), neither
lens really needs the rangefinder for focusing _landscapes_ since they
_will_ be shot at infinity. Of course, other shots will require focusing.
3) For hand-held operations, focusing by groundglass is a PITA, but so is
composition. I always used my Crown Graphic tripod-mounted, but it is
possible to do handheld as well. For _landscapes_, I think the bigger issue
is composition, but if you are only using B&W, where you can crop during
printing (rather than slides, where that is less desirable), you could just
get the proper masks for the external viewfinder that is attached on top of
the (older?) Crown Graphics. They are not as accurate as in an SLR, but you
can just make sure that you are capturing the scene in general (also see
film flatness issues below).
4) If you do buy a Crown Graphic, make sure you get one with a Graflock, so
you can use rollfilm holders. Since you are interested in 6x9, you want the
rollfilm holder that generates 8 shots out of a 120 roll (I think it's
called RH-8???). There are (at least) two versions, the newer ones have
additional rollers to achieve better (but not perfect) film flatness, but as
a result, the image is really more like 6x8 (one of mine was as small as
56x72mm). The older ones do not have the rollers, are closer to 6x9, but
also have more film flatness issues. My approach was always to compose
generously, and then really only use the center 6x7 (or so) for printing.
5) There are wider lenses than the 80mm WA Ektar for 6x9, but they will all
require you to "drop the bed" to avoid it showing up in your picture. As a
result, IMHO, _handheld_ composition is practically impossible. I had a 65mm
Angulon and a 47mm (Super?-) Angulon for a while, but even tripod-mounted it
was a PITA, and they never saw enough use (for me) to warrant keeping them.

Incidentally, since I wanted to have a _handheld_ camera whenever I can't
use my Arca, I got a 6x9 folder about a year ago. Since I didn't want any
front-cell focusing camera (due to the well-known image quality issues, all
the Zeiss Ikons (unfortunately) were off the list. I ended up getting a
Voigtlander Bessa II, which had most of the things I wanted:
- good optics. I only got the Color-Skopar (=Tessar) version, but there is a
Color-Heliar and even a Apo-Lanthar version. although at _much_ higher
prices.
- coupled rangefinder
- not front-cell focusing -- the whole lens moves when focusing
I does have considerable film-flatness issues, but, again, the center potion
(about 6x7) is perfect, and the viewfinder isn't terrible accurate for
composition anyway.

Feel free to contact me offline, if you have more questions.

Cheers,
Mike
    

---
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