MicroPress 4x5 question

"Max Perl" wrote in message
...
On the MPP MicroPress 4x5 camera there is a FRONT - BACK
switch. It seems to be locked in the FRONT position but
the FP shutter works fine
in this position and I am not able to move the switch to
the BACK position. Anybody knows the secret behind this
switch?

The camera came with a Xenar 135/4.7 lens. Is this an OK
performer?

I think I have the International Back version. What does
this mean? ....that many suppliers of rollfilm backs can
be used on the camera? ....e.g. a Horseman 6x9 back?

Max
Left out the Xenar. This lens is of the Tessar type. They
can be very good, as are the Xenars in Rolleiflex/Rolleicord
cameras. I have had only one of the 135mm/f/47 lenses to
check, it was on a late 1950's Speed Graphic. This lens had
excessive smearing at the corners, probably oblique
spherical aberration which is inherent in the Tessar type,
but I am not sure. Like the Wollensak lenses for the Graphic
cameras it had to be stopped down too far to get the corners
sharp. This may have been a dog. You can test for this
easily by focusing the camera on a distant small, bright,
object or highlight at the corner of the frame. Its normal
for a Tessar type lens to smear such highlights when wide
open but the smear should be mostly gone by about f/8 and
completely gone at f/11. The old Wollensak Raptar has a
little left even at f/32. Both the Kodak Ektar and Zeiss
Tessar are clean at f/8 to f/11. This lens should be about
the same if its a good one.
Previous to WW-2 Schneider did not have a good reputation
for consistency, after the war the company turned this
around and began to make excellent lenses and have quite
good quality control.
I don't know much about MPP except that they made a good
clone of the Linhof Technika.
The "international" back is a copy of the Graflok back
originally designed by Graflex for the Speed and Crown
Graphic cameras. This back takes standard Graphic type film
holders but also takes a wide variety of accessories because
the ground glass spring panel can be removed easily. It has
two sliding strips to hold the accessory in place. Without
the spring back the it looks like the older Graflex back as
used on the Graflex SLR cameras but the dimentions are
differnent and the lock strip position is reversed from the
Graphic type back so the Graflok or International or
Universal back will not take Graflex holders or accessories.
Almost all roll film adaptors and other accesories made
after about the mid 1950's fit the Graflok/International
type back.
I repeat in case my first post got lost, that the slide
switch for the shutters probably needs to be pushed in a bit
to unlock it.


--
---
Richard Knoppow
Los Angeles, CA, USA

"Nicholas O. Lindan" skrev i en meddelelse
...
"Max Perl" wrote

It was just for fun I purchased this camera.......
as I got it for about $150 with lens

Old press cameras are lots of fun. And that's
a good price. The MPP's are well regarded.

Did you get it with a rangefinder? If you put
a 6x9 roll film back on the camera you lose the
ground glass for focusing. Though you can swap
backs all the time for focusing. At f22 you
can do all right with the scale on the camera
bed and a bit of practice judging distance.


Yes it has a rangefinder and there are cams? .....think it is
callsed for a 135 and 360 mm lens. The rangefinder optics
need a bit of cleaning to be able to show a very clear
double image.

I have the ground glass and it seems easy to swap between
this and a back......but of course it you use it hand hold as
a press photographer you can't do that.

It is the 2nd camera on this page. The newest version of
the MicroPress. They also did some Techical cameras which
looks quite nice.

http://www.mppusers.freeuk.com/micropress2.htm


The LF Nikkors are not too bad I think.....

I don't think you can buy a bad modern LF lens.
For lens test results:

http://www.hevanet.com/cperez/results.html

--
Nicholas O. Lindan, Cleveland, Ohio
Darkroom Automation: F-Stop Timers, Enlarging Meters
http://www.darkroomautomation.com/index.htm
n o lindan at ix dot netcom dot com

"Max Perl" wrote

It was just for fun I purchased this camera.......
as I got it for about $150 with lens

Old press cameras are lots of fun. And that's
a good price. The MPP's are well regarded.

Did you get it with a rangefinder? If you put
a 6x9 roll film back on the camera you lose the
ground glass for focusing. Though you can swap
backs all the time for focusing. At f22 you
can do all right with the scale on the camera
bed and a bit of practice judging distance.

The LF Nikkors are not too bad I think.....

I don't think you can buy a bad modern LF lens.
For lens test results:

http://www.hevanet.com/cperez/results.html

--
Nicholas O. Lindan, Cleveland, Ohio
Darkroom Automation: F-Stop Timers, Enlarging Meters
http://www.darkroomautomation.com/index.htm
n o lindan at ix dot netcom dot com

"Richard Knoppow" skrev i en meddelelse
...

"Max Perl" wrote in message
...
On the MPP MicroPress 4x5 camera there is a FRONT - BACK switch. It
seems to be locked in the FRONT position but the FP shutter works fine
in this position and I am not able to move the switch to the BACK
position. Anybody knows the secret behind this switch?

The camera came with a Xenar 135/4.7 lens. Is this an OK performer?

I think I have the International Back version. What does this mean?
....that many suppliers of rollfilm backs can be used on the camera?
....e.g. a Horseman 6x9 back?

Max
Left out the Xenar. This lens is of the Tessar type. They can be very
good, as are the Xenars in Rolleiflex/Rolleicord cameras. I have had only
one of the 135mm/f/47 lenses to check, it was on a late 1950's Speed
Graphic. This lens had excessive smearing at the corners, probably oblique
spherical aberration which is inherent in the Tessar type, but I am not
sure. Like the Wollensak lenses for the Graphic cameras it had to be
stopped down too far to get the corners sharp. This may have been a dog.
You can test for this easily by focusing the camera on a distant small,
bright, object or highlight at the corner of the frame. Its normal for a
Tessar type lens to smear such highlights when wide open but the smear
should be mostly gone by about f/8 and completely gone at f/11. The old
Wollensak Raptar has a little left even at f/32. Both the Kodak Ektar and
Zeiss Tessar are clean at f/8 to f/11. This lens should be about the same
if its a good one.
Previous to WW-2 Schneider did not have a good reputation for
consistency, after the war the company turned this around and began to
make excellent lenses and have quite good quality control.
I don't know much about MPP except that they made a good clone of the
Linhof Technika.
The "international" back is a copy of the Graflok back originally
designed by Graflex for the Speed and Crown Graphic cameras. This back
takes standard Graphic type film holders but also takes a wide variety of
accessories because the ground glass spring panel can be removed easily.
It has two sliding strips to hold the accessory in place. Without the
spring back the it looks like the older Graflex back as used on the
Graflex SLR cameras but the dimentions are differnent and the lock strip
position is reversed from the Graphic type back so the Graflok or
International or Universal back will not take Graflex holders or
accessories. Almost all roll film adaptors and other accesories made after
about the mid 1950's fit the Graflok/International type back.
I repeat in case my first post got lost, that the slide switch for the
shutters probably needs to be pushed in a bit to unlock it.


The BACK - FRONT switch seems to be stocked. It could
look as it was locked from the factory as I have difficult to see
what the purpose is if it could be set at the BACK position. It
is not possible to push it either.
The camera could be from about 1960 and I guess the Xenar
followed the camera. It has a "modern" shutter....Compur Rapid
which has 1/400 sec. as fastest exposure time. So maybe I am
lucky that the lens is OK. I have only tried one Xenar which was
on a Rollei 35 camera. This lens was very good. Able to make
very sharp Chromes.

"Max Perl" wrote in message
...

"Nicholas O. Lindan" skrev i en meddelelse
...
"Max Perl" wrote

It was just for fun I purchased this camera.......
as I got it for about $150 with lens

Old press cameras are lots of fun. And that's
a good price. The MPP's are well regarded.

Did you get it with a rangefinder? If you put
a 6x9 roll film back on the camera you lose the
ground glass for focusing. Though you can swap
backs all the time for focusing. At f22 you
can do all right with the scale on the camera
bed and a bit of practice judging distance.


Yes it has a rangefinder and there are cams? .....think
it is
callsed for a 135 and 360 mm lens. The rangefinder optics
need a bit of cleaning to be able to show a very clear
double image.

I have the ground glass and it seems easy to swap between
this and a back......but of course it you use it hand hold
as
a press photographer you can't do that.

It is the 2nd camera on this page. The newest version of
the MicroPress. They also did some Techical cameras which
looks quite nice.

http://www.mppusers.freeuk.com/micropress2.htm


The LF Nikkors are not too bad I think.....

I don't think you can buy a bad modern LF lens.
For lens test results:

http://www.hevanet.com/cperez/results.html

--
Nicholas O. Lindan, Cleveland, Ohio
Darkroom Automation: F-Stop Timers, Enlarging Meters
http://www.darkroomautomation.com/index.htm
n o lindan at ix dot netcom dot com


The cameras shown on the MPP site above appear to be
clones of the late Pacemaker Speed Graphic and Crown
Graphic. More about these cameras can be found at
http://www.graflex.org
There was also a curious camera built briefly by Busch in
the USA. This was evidently intended to meet the military
specification for the Speed Graphic and had a focal plane
shutter. Unlike the simple FP shutter used on all Graphic
and Graflex cameras the Busch shutter was self-capping and
had much better speed regulation. I think it also had a
revolving back but am not sure. The standard Busch models
certainly did.
I have only ever seen one advertisement for this camera
and have never seen an actual example. Busch cameras were of
very high quality and were an alternative to the Graflex
models for press photography.


--
---
Richard Knoppow
Los Angeles, CA, USA

"Richard Knoppow" skrev i en meddelelse
...

"Max Perl" wrote in message
...

"Nicholas O. Lindan" skrev i en meddelelse
...
"Max Perl" wrote

It was just for fun I purchased this camera.......
as I got it for about $150 with lens

Old press cameras are lots of fun. And that's
a good price. The MPP's are well regarded.

Did you get it with a rangefinder? If you put
a 6x9 roll film back on the camera you lose the
ground glass for focusing. Though you can swap
backs all the time for focusing. At f22 you
can do all right with the scale on the camera
bed and a bit of practice judging distance.


Yes it has a rangefinder and there are cams? .....think it is
callsed for a 135 and 360 mm lens. The rangefinder optics
need a bit of cleaning to be able to show a very clear
double image.

I have the ground glass and it seems easy to swap between
this and a back......but of course it you use it hand hold as
a press photographer you can't do that.

It is the 2nd camera on this page. The newest version of
the MicroPress. They also did some Techical cameras which
looks quite nice.

http://www.mppusers.freeuk.com/micropress2.htm


The LF Nikkors are not too bad I think.....

I don't think you can buy a bad modern LF lens.
For lens test results:

http://www.hevanet.com/cperez/results.html

--
Nicholas O. Lindan, Cleveland, Ohio
Darkroom Automation: F-Stop Timers, Enlarging Meters
http://www.darkroomautomation.com/index.htm
n o lindan at ix dot netcom dot com


The cameras shown on the MPP site above appear to be clones of the late
Pacemaker Speed Graphic and Crown Graphic. More about these cameras can be
found at http://www.graflex.org
There was also a curious camera built briefly by Busch in the USA. This
was evidently intended to meet the military specification for the Speed
Graphic and had a focal plane shutter. Unlike the simple FP shutter used
on all Graphic and Graflex cameras the Busch shutter was self-capping and
had much better speed regulation. I think it also had a revolving back but
am not sure. The standard Busch models certainly did.
I have only ever seen one advertisement for this camera and have never
seen an actual example. Busch cameras were of very high quality and were
an alternative to the Graflex models for press photography.


This graflex page was quite usefull. Now I found out what "drop bed"
means :-) and also why the camera can tilt the lens board back.
If MicroPress is a clone then maybe it uses the same lens boards as the
Pacemaker and it may be eassier to find one to mount a lens with or
without built in shutter.

"Max
The cameras shown on the MPP site above appear to be
clones of the late Pacemaker Speed Graphic and Crown
Graphic. More about these cameras can be found at
http://www.graflex.org
There was also a curious camera built briefly by Busch
in the USA. This was evidently intended to meet the
military specification for the Speed Graphic and had a
focal plane shutter. Unlike the simple FP shutter used on
all Graphic and Graflex cameras the Busch shutter was
self-capping and had much better speed regulation. I
think it also had a revolving back but am not sure. The
standard Busch models certainly did.
I have only ever seen one advertisement for this camera
and have never seen an actual example. Busch cameras were
of very high quality and were an alternative to the
Graflex models for press photography.


This graflex page was quite usefull. Now I found out what
"drop bed"
means :-) and also why the camera can tilt the lens board
back.
If MicroPress is a clone then maybe it uses the same lens
boards as the
Pacemaker and it may be eassier to find one to mount a
lens with or
without built in shutter.

I don't know the MPP camera well enough to know about
the lens boards. There are two series of boards for the late
Graphics, one for the earlier Pacemaker and another for the
later Super Graphic. The supers will work in the earlier
camera but not the other way around. Both of these are
stamped metal, probably aluminum, with folded in sides. I
think the dimensions are on the Graflex site. I see these
occasionally at local sales, usually for around $20 US. You
can also sometimes get them from Midwest photo supply at:
http://www.mpex.com/
One of the advantages of the focal plane shutter is the
ability to use barrel mounted lenses.
It would be interesting to know more about the FP
shutter on the MPP camera, i.e., is it just a copy of the
Graflex shutter or something more elaborate.
If its like the Graflex shutter you must remember to put
the dark slide back in the holder or adaptor before winding
the shutter or it will expose the film.


--
---
Richard Knoppow
Los Angeles, CA, USA

"Richard Knoppow" skrev i en meddelelse
...

"Max
The cameras shown on the MPP site above appear to be clones of the
late Pacemaker Speed Graphic and Crown Graphic. More about these cameras
can be found at http://www.graflex.org
There was also a curious camera built briefly by Busch in the USA.
This was evidently intended to meet the military specification for the
Speed Graphic and had a focal plane shutter. Unlike the simple FP
shutter used on all Graphic and Graflex cameras the Busch shutter was
self-capping and had much better speed regulation. I think it also had a
revolving back but am not sure. The standard Busch models certainly did.
I have only ever seen one advertisement for this camera and have never
seen an actual example. Busch cameras were of very high quality and were
an alternative to the Graflex models for press photography.


This graflex page was quite usefull. Now I found out what "drop bed"
means :-) and also why the camera can tilt the lens board back.
If MicroPress is a clone then maybe it uses the same lens boards as the
Pacemaker and it may be eassier to find one to mount a lens with or
without built in shutter.

I don't know the MPP camera well enough to know about the lens boards.
There are two series of boards for the late Graphics, one for the earlier
Pacemaker and another for the later Super Graphic. The supers will work in
the earlier camera but not the other way around. Both of these are stamped
metal, probably aluminum, with folded in sides. I think the dimensions are
on the Graflex site. I see these occasionally at local sales, usually for
around $20 US. You can also sometimes get them from Midwest photo supply
at: http://www.mpex.com/
One of the advantages of the focal plane shutter is the ability to use
barrel mounted lenses.
It would be interesting to know more about the FP shutter on the MPP
camera, i.e., is it just a copy of the Graflex shutter or something more
elaborate.
If its like the Graflex shutter you must remember to put the dark slide
back in the holder or adaptor before winding the shutter or it will expose
the film.


It is the same shutter as in the Graflex.
Just read that I can use Pacemaker Graphic lens boards on the
MicroPress so this it a good thing.

http://www.mppusers.freeuk.com/lensboards.htm

Today I got a used 6x9 Horseman back and I also
purchased a 90/6.8 Angulon which I now need a
lens board for. It is a nice little lens and give a bit
more wideangle on 6x9 than the 135 mm Xenar.
I know much better lenses are out there.....Super
Angulon's etc but the 90/6.8 was cheap and good for starting
up I think. It has a Synchro - Compur - P shutter which go
to 1/500. The Xenar is a Rapid which goes to 1/400 and
has no X/M switch. Do you know which type of flash
the Rapid shutter can synch. with?

The Compur shutter on the 90/6.8 has the usual little
knob which normally is used for the self-timer by pushing the
little knob a bit which allows the arm to go a little further.
But on this shutter version it seems to have another purpose?

"Max Perl" wrote in message
...

"Richard Knoppow" skrev i en
meddelelse ...

"Max
The cameras shown on the MPP site above appear to be
clones of the late Pacemaker Speed Graphic and Crown
Graphic. More about these cameras can be found at
http://www.graflex.org
There was also a curious camera built briefly by
Busch in the USA. This was evidently intended to meet
the military specification for the Speed Graphic and
had a focal plane shutter. Unlike the simple FP shutter
used on all Graphic and Graflex cameras the Busch
shutter was self-capping and had much better speed
regulation. I think it also had a revolving back but am
not sure. The standard Busch models certainly did.
I have only ever seen one advertisement for this
camera and have never seen an actual example. Busch
cameras were of very high quality and were an
alternative to the Graflex models for press
photography.


This graflex page was quite usefull. Now I found out
what "drop bed"
means :-) and also why the camera can tilt the lens
board back.
If MicroPress is a clone then maybe it uses the same
lens boards as the
Pacemaker and it may be eassier to find one to mount a
lens with or
without built in shutter.

I don't know the MPP camera well enough to know about
the lens boards. There are two series of boards for the
late Graphics, one for the earlier Pacemaker and another
for the later Super Graphic. The supers will work in the
earlier camera but not the other way around. Both of
these are stamped metal, probably aluminum, with folded
in sides. I think the dimensions are on the Graflex site.
I see these occasionally at local sales, usually for
around $20 US. You can also sometimes get them from
Midwest photo supply at: http://www.mpex.com/
One of the advantages of the focal plane shutter is
the ability to use barrel mounted lenses.
It would be interesting to know more about the FP
shutter on the MPP camera, i.e., is it just a copy of the
Graflex shutter or something more elaborate.
If its like the Graflex shutter you must remember to
put the dark slide back in the holder or adaptor before
winding the shutter or it will expose the film.


It is the same shutter as in the Graflex.
Just read that I can use Pacemaker Graphic lens boards on
the
MicroPress so this it a good thing.

http://www.mppusers.freeuk.com/lensboards.htm

Today I got a used 6x9 Horseman back and I also
purchased a 90/6.8 Angulon which I now need a
lens board for. It is a nice little lens and give a bit
more wideangle on 6x9 than the 135 mm Xenar.
I know much better lenses are out there.....Super
Angulon's etc but the 90/6.8 was cheap and good for
starting
up I think. It has a Synchro - Compur - P shutter which go
to 1/500. The Xenar is a Rapid which goes to 1/400 and
has no X/M switch. Do you know which type of flash
the Rapid shutter can synch. with?

The Compur shutter on the 90/6.8 has the usual little
knob which normally is used for the self-timer by pushing
the
little knob a bit which allows the arm to go a little
further.
But on this shutter version it seems to have another
purpose?


The knob is for a "blade arrester" which allows you to
open the shutter for focusing or composing without setting
it on "time". Push the button over or down (depending on the
shutter) and trip the shutter, it should stay open. To take
the picture re-cock the shutter. Usually synch shutters with
blade arrestors do not open quite enough to trip the flash
contacts.
Most shutters with unmarked synch sockets are X synch
for strobe. You can check this easily by hooking up a strob
and seeing if the shutter is fully open when it trips. If
the shutter is set up for flashbulbs the synchronizer delays
the opening until enough time has passed for the bulb to
come up to full brightness, typically about 20 milliseconds.
By then a strobe flash will have flashed and gone back to
reading the paper.
The type of shutter makes the Angulon a fairly late one.
These are pretty good lenses. Some of the pre-war Angulons
were not good. You can date any Schneider lens from the
serial number charts on the Schneider web site.
The Angulon is essentially the same type as the Dagor
except the order of power of the cemented elements is
reversed. The outer elements are made extra large to reduce
mechanical vignetting. The lens should be stopped down to
about f/22 or smaller for best sharpness away from the
center. Even though the Super-Angulon is a much better lens
the older design remains popular because it is so small and
light in comparison and its performance is satisfactory.
If the MPP is the same as the Speed Graphic it will take
the 90mm Angulon on the regular flat lensboard.
Unfortunately, the bent metal design of the Pacemaker
type lensboard makes them difficult to make yourself unlike
the earlier Anniversary Graphic lensboards. However, there
were tons made so they are not too difficult to find.
If you get one with a hole too large for the Angulon
shutter you can always make a patch of sheet metal of
similar thickness cemented to the lensboard with epoxy
resin. A new hole is cut in the patch. Of course smaller
holes are simple to enlarge.
I think you probaby have a very good camera. I have five
Speed Graphics of various ages and they are among my
favorite cameras.


--
---
Richard Knoppow
Los Angeles, CA, USA

"Richard Knoppow" skrev i en meddelelse
...

"Max Perl" wrote in message
...

"Richard Knoppow" skrev i en meddelelse
...

"Max
The cameras shown on the MPP site above appear to be clones of the
late Pacemaker Speed Graphic and Crown Graphic. More about these
cameras can be found at http://www.graflex.org
There was also a curious camera built briefly by Busch in the USA.
This was evidently intended to meet the military specification for the
Speed Graphic and had a focal plane shutter. Unlike the simple FP
shutter used on all Graphic and Graflex cameras the Busch shutter was
self-capping and had much better speed regulation. I think it also had
a revolving back but am not sure. The standard Busch models certainly
did.
I have only ever seen one advertisement for this camera and have
never seen an actual example. Busch cameras were of very high quality
and were an alternative to the Graflex models for press photography.


This graflex page was quite usefull. Now I found out what "drop bed"
means :-) and also why the camera can tilt the lens board back.
If MicroPress is a clone then maybe it uses the same lens boards as the
Pacemaker and it may be eassier to find one to mount a lens with or
without built in shutter.

I don't know the MPP camera well enough to know about the lens
boards. There are two series of boards for the late Graphics, one for
the earlier Pacemaker and another for the later Super Graphic. The
supers will work in the earlier camera but not the other way around.
Both of these are stamped metal, probably aluminum, with folded in
sides. I think the dimensions are on the Graflex site. I see these
occasionally at local sales, usually for around $20 US. You can also
sometimes get them from Midwest photo supply at: http://www.mpex.com/
One of the advantages of the focal plane shutter is the ability to
use barrel mounted lenses.
It would be interesting to know more about the FP shutter on the MPP
camera, i.e., is it just a copy of the Graflex shutter or something more
elaborate.
If its like the Graflex shutter you must remember to put the dark
slide back in the holder or adaptor before winding the shutter or it
will expose the film.


It is the same shutter as in the Graflex.
Just read that I can use Pacemaker Graphic lens boards on the
MicroPress so this it a good thing.

http://www.mppusers.freeuk.com/lensboards.htm

Today I got a used 6x9 Horseman back and I also
purchased a 90/6.8 Angulon which I now need a
lens board for. It is a nice little lens and give a bit
more wideangle on 6x9 than the 135 mm Xenar.
I know much better lenses are out there.....Super
Angulon's etc but the 90/6.8 was cheap and good for starting
up I think. It has a Synchro - Compur - P shutter which go
to 1/500. The Xenar is a Rapid which goes to 1/400 and
has no X/M switch. Do you know which type of flash
the Rapid shutter can synch. with?

The Compur shutter on the 90/6.8 has the usual little
knob which normally is used for the self-timer by pushing the
little knob a bit which allows the arm to go a little further.
But on this shutter version it seems to have another purpose?


The knob is for a "blade arrester" which allows you to open the
shutter for focusing or composing without setting it on "time". Push the
button over or down (depending on the shutter) and trip the shutter, it
should stay open. To take the picture re-cock the shutter. Usually synch
shutters with blade arrestors do not open quite enough to trip the flash
contacts.
Most shutters with unmarked synch sockets are X synch for strobe. You
can check this easily by hooking up a strob and seeing if the shutter is
fully open when it trips. If the shutter is set up for flashbulbs the
synchronizer delays the opening until enough time has passed for the bulb
to come up to full brightness, typically about 20 milliseconds. By then a
strobe flash will have flashed and gone back to reading the paper.
The type of shutter makes the Angulon a fairly late one. These are
pretty good lenses. Some of the pre-war Angulons were not good. You can
date any Schneider lens from the serial number charts on the Schneider web
site.
The Angulon is essentially the same type as the Dagor except the order
of power of the cemented elements is reversed. The outer elements are made
extra large to reduce mechanical vignetting. The lens should be stopped
down to about f/22 or smaller for best sharpness away from the center.
Even though the Super-Angulon is a much better lens the older design
remains popular because it is so small and light in comparison and its
performance is satisfactory.
If the MPP is the same as the Speed Graphic it will take the 90mm
Angulon on the regular flat lensboard.
Unfortunately, the bent metal design of the Pacemaker type lensboard
makes them difficult to make yourself unlike the earlier Anniversary
Graphic lensboards. However, there were tons made so they are not too
difficult to find.
If you get one with a hole too large for the Angulon shutter you can
always make a patch of sheet metal of similar thickness cemented to the
lensboard with epoxy resin. A new hole is cut in the patch. Of course
smaller holes are simple to enlarge.
I think you probaby have a very good camera. I have five Speed Graphics
of various ages and they are among my favorite cameras.

Thank you for the answers!
Can see there are some lens boards for sale on ebay.
It is a shame it is not at flat lensboard but I can see the
idea by benting the metal to make it light proof.
The Angulon goes to f/32 but for these LF lenses it seems
loss of sharpness caused ny diffraction is not at problem.