Topic: Help re: Aero Ektar & Speed Graphic

[Lucy Telford]

Hi, sorry if this is on the wrong board.  I suspect it is too simple a question to count as "technical" so hope it's ok on here.
A very kind guy has just gifted me an Aero Ektar lens which was in turn given to him by the son of a Canadian pilot from whose plane it came.  I want to stick it on my Speed Graphic and found the Jo Lommen website which offers special lensboards just for this purpose, however they are a little pricey.  The lens is heavy so I wondered if anyone had any experience of using alternatives?  All my other LF lenses are mounted on normal metal boards or, I'm embarrassed to admit, cardboard & gaffer tape :-)

[Sandeha Lynch]

The graphic does have a very particular shape, but it shouldn't be too difficult in hardboard or a thick plastic sheet (if you can cut it safely).  Just how big is that lens?

[Paul Mitchell]

Just how big is that lens?

... and how much does it glow in the dark! Some of these Aero Ektars were quite radioactive I believe...

[tkmedia]

there are several different aeros ektars, I had one that weigh 7kg!

[astrobeck]

My husband has one of those lenses too and we used to keep it in the house, but after he had it "tested" at the Atomic Museum in Albuquerque, now it lives out in the shed.

[LT]

Some of these Aero Ektars were quite radioactive I believe...

wasn't there a chap with a geiger counter (or similar) at Photographica last year offering to measure the radioactivity of people's Kodak Lenses? Madness!

Lucy, I can't help you, other than to say there is nothing wrong with cardboard and elastic-band constructed lens boards!

[original_ann]

Lucy my Aero Ektar is not in a Jo Lo lensboard, but I'm not sure who made the mount (I bought it years ago already mounted).  I know that others have built their own mounts.  You may find some info from the Dancing with Speeds website http://www.johndesq.com/graflex/ or better yet, the Facebook page - good group of folk and immediate feedback.  Good luck. 

[Keith]

Hi Lucy, my SG/AE combo uses a standard Graflex lensboard with a custom mounting plate which came with the lens when I bought it. My lens also has had the rear brass section with the thread on machined down 1mm or so to allow it to fit into the SG. This balances the lens better, but is not necessary if a good lensplate/mount is used.

The JoLo stuff is pricey, but the quality is very high. I got a JoLo lens hood for the AE and it's really well made and fits superbly onto the notched outer lens ring.

There has been heaps written about the radioactive element in the AE. Radioactive thorium oxide was used extensively in lenses from the 1940s until the 1970s until more modern glasses were developed with high refractive indexes. Just don't sleep with it under your pillow 

[Lucy Telford]

Thanks very much everyone for the replies.  Plenty of food for thought. 
I knew about the potential radioactivity but my husband is a scientist and has assured me it is ok...
I think it will be too heavy for the blank lensboards I have and certainly my lovingly made cardboard standbys will not be up to the job.  A lens hood is a good plan, it doesn't have one of those.  Aaaah...the money pit that is large format photography :-)

Thank you all, I will follow some of those suggestions up.

[Francois]

I actually made a lensboard for my Crown Graphic... but not for that lens in particular. But the way I made it could be helpful.

I simply cut a piece of thin wood from an old drawer to the shape of the recess in the Graflex mount. But since this doesn't allow for the clamps to hold on to the board, I cut a piece of formica to the dimensions of the outside of the mount (so that the clamps will hold it) and glued everything with contact cement. You could do something similar with thin stainless and use pop rivets and washers on the back to prevent the wood from crunching under the pressure (these rivets hold incredibly well).

[kenny]

Hey Lucy, check this link out, it's got some details on how he DIY his own lensboard for the Aero Ektar:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rawhead/4236950965/#

Though I do wholeheartedly recommend Jo Lommen's lensboard. I bought mine from him and it is really well made and reliable. Jo is very friendly and helpful as well.

I really love the Petzval pictures in your flickr. I'm sure you'll enjoy the AE and look forward to your uploads. 

[Sam Thompson]

I've been lusting after one of those lenses for a long time. 

Ask around if anyone knows a machinist.  Here, they'll usually just charge you for labor (or a case of beer) for something that small.

Hope this helps.

[Lucy Telford]

Thanks all very much for the help and advice.

@ Sam Thompson - yes, I bought the SG a year and a half ago and quickly came across other folk's photos using the AE and checked them out - decided they were too expensive for me so was completely blown away by this guy's generosity in giving me it to me, free, gratis and for nothing.

@ Kenny - great, thanks!  And thank you for the kind words.  I look forward to using it :-)

@Francois - Wow, that sounds amazing and thank you but I'm afraid my DIY skills aren't up to much...hence all the lenses mounted on cardboard held on with gaffer tape ;-) 

[Francois]

Not that hard to do. The way the Graflex is made, precision in the way the lens boards are made in not mandatory. As long as it's roughly square and roughly the right size, it'll fit.

Just a jigsaw and maybe a half hour should be plenty for even the clumsiest filmwasters to build one.

Since we always know someone with slightly better DIY skills, you can always ask around and find a willing participant

I don't have any original lensboards for my Graflex. One is even made from aluminum siding, cardboard, black tape and a piece of radiator hose!

[Nigel]

i bought some ABS sheet from ebay for a project, it's very tough but easy to cut with a heavy craft knife and you can smooth the edges with a file or glasspaper. It's also easy to drill unlike stainless steel.

I don't know those mount boards but I thin it would do the job and it's cheap!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1mm-Black-ABS-Pinseal-Textured-Sheet-297x420mm-A3-New-/260955579857?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item3cc22a25d1#ht_1471wt_956

[Francois]

Otherwise, if you're handy with CAD, you can get the parts laser cut at Ponoko and assemble them yourself. This is guaranteed to fit especially if you first do a paper cut test fit.