Linhof Technika 96x99 to Arca-Swiss 6x9 110x110 adapter?

[torger]

Is there such a thing as an adapter lens board to attach Linhof Technika 96x99mm lens boards (as used by Linhof Techno m679cs etc) and then to an Arca-Swiss 6x9 camera with 110x110mm lens boards (such as an F-Universalis)? It's only 11mm difference in height so maybe it's not even possible to manufacture.

I'd like to try out some of my Linhof lenses on an Arca-Swiss MF-two without having to remount them on arca lens boards...

[torger]

Uhmm, found it:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Arca-Swiss-6x9-110mm-110-to-Linhof-4x5-technika-lens-board-adapter-/360558217348?hash=item53f2f1c884:g:ZmMAAOxyA4FR6NFy

[tjv]

Are you thinking about jumping to Arca-Swiss, Anders?

[torger]

Are you thinking about jumping to Arca-Swiss, Anders?

Heh, don't worry I'm not cheating on Linhof

I've just lured a friend of mine into the wonderful world of tech cameras. He's got a second hand Arca-Swiss MF-two, which can be had for quite good prices nowadays with the F-Universalis out. The MF-two with a few bellows + a Kapture Group sliding back with the right adapter for his V-mount digital back was about $3800. He had some technika plates and a couple of decent analog lenses since earlier and of course with the adapter he can try out my lenses (I have quite a few).

Getting into tech cams has become significantly cheaper nowadays than it was back in 2012 when I started. The F-Universalis and Cambo Actus are economical even new. Of course as the Actus can't take a sliding back it's not ideal when using CCDs, but the F-Universalis is a great entry level camera, half the price of a Linhof Techno. He opted for a second hand MF-two at a sligthly lower price though. A thing I don't like with the F-Universalis is that the swing is not geared, not a show-stopper, but it does make MF-two look a bit better in comparison.

Personally I still think the Techno is the best of the field view cameras, better form factor, and I'm glad I have it, but had I bought today I would probably have got an Arca-Swiss simply due to the lower cost.

But when I see these things on ebay:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Linhof-Techno-medium-format-digital-camera-body-/141833641115?hash=item2105f19c9b:g:BiQAAOSw585WT9QW
I start thinking that maybe I need to have another Linhof body... same guy is selling a short sliding back if anyone's interested by the way, but there's already 8 bids on that.

[tjv]

Wow, that's a good price so far on the short sliding back!
I've come to like the longer sliging back though and I'm glad I got that instead of paying the extra for the short version.
I don't know much about the Arca-Swiss rail cameras, but when I was first investigating digital field camera options I looked at them and thought they looked to cumbersome to use in the field compared to the Techno. The look awesome for architecture and interiors though.

[torger]

Yes the big problem for field use is that it's bulky, takes a lot of space in the bag. I think the key for efficient field use is to have a bag large enough so it can be stored with front and back mounted on the rail, so you just get two parts just like the Techno - camera and (sliding) back - when you mount it to shoot.

The price of the F-Universalis is so attractive so I think for those looking into budget systems it's hard to ignore. If you have a $30k digital back it does not matter much if the camera costs $4k or $8k though...

The ideal field camera for me would be a slightly modified Linhof Techno. I think the rise/fall gearing is unnecessarily slow on the Techno, and lens lateral shift range is a little bit too small, +/-15mm instead of +/-10mm had been enough for me (there is the sliding back workaround so you can do large shifts, but with +/-15mm on the front I wouldn't need use the back). I also think the swing knob should equal size as the tilt knob, although it would make the camera look less good it would work better in sub -20C where the oil gets stiff, swing is almost impossible to operate in those temperatures. A redesign of the front standard fastening to avoid the need of infinity stops to guarantee parallelism would also be nice. I'm afraid the Technika legacy is too strong for them to change that though.

[tjv]

The ideal field camera for me would be a slightly modified Linhof Techno. I think the rise/fall gearing is unnecessarily slow on the Techno, and lens lateral shift range is a little bit too small, +/-15mm instead of +/-10mm had been enough for me (there is the sliding back workaround so you can do large shifts, but with +/-15mm on the front I wouldn't need use the back). I also think the swing knob should equal size as the tilt knob, although it would make the camera look less good it would work better in sub -20C where the oil gets stiff, swing is almost impossible to operate in those temperatures. A redesign of the front standard fastening to avoid the need of infinity stops to guarantee parallelism would also be nice. I'm afraid the Technika legacy is too strong for them to change that though.

Yes, I think the Techno is quite near a perfect filed camera save for a few small details. All brands and styles of technical / view cameras have compromises here and there. For use with a CMOS back and live view, I think the Techno is brilliant as it is and certainly better than other options of similar style (budget willing.) Linhof make the short sliding back for stitching with CMOS live view backs, and +/- 10mm of lateral shift on the front is good enough for most tasks on the smaller CMOS sensor. However, like you there are a few things I wish the Techno did have. You've mentioned a few of them (slow gearing of back rise/fall, size of swing knob and design of front standard lock), but I'd also like a precise zero detent for lateral shift on the front standard. I wish too that the sliding back had detent stops for 15 and 20mm instead of just 17mm, and the bright GG had greater coverage and markings to help one better previsualise stitched compositions. I love my Techno and wouldn't be without it–I use it often in situations where a pancake camera would be an absolute pain–but these modifications / refinements would make it even better to use.