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Old Panel release catch Linhof techno

Hi,
does anybody know the old panel relese catch of the linhof techno? There are some different releses of the techno on market. Do you know this?
thank you.
mueller
 

torger

Active member
What do you mean with "panel", do you mean the lens board release catch, or the back (sliding back usually) holder?

As far as I know there are three versions of the back release and two versions of the lens board release, but I don't know for sure.

I (think I) have a 2010 model, which has the second back release and the first front release. My back release is a wheel plus a safety button, two-hand grip required to detach it, I like the mechanism and it feels safe. I've heard that the first revision had a less safe fastening, and I think the current clip-lock is a bit smoother to work with, but I'm not sure.

On the front my lens boards is attached with a simple lever, no pressure on the board which requires very high precision of the board thickness to not cause micro-tilt precision errors. I've measured this and in the worst case it could lead to a less than 0.03 degree tilt error. I don't think that should cause a problem in normal photography, but the newer clip-lock is still better in that regard.

Below an image of the latest revision (2012?) of the Techno:



I did not find a rear view of that, but I think the back release looks about the same as the lens board release.

Here's my variant (2010 I think), note the wheel plus button to attach the back:



This is an image of the first variant (2008) (no safety button on back lock; no partial extension of rail):



I've heard some bad things about the 2008 back release and other possible issues, so I'd be a bit careful when buying that, perhaps ask Linhof Studio or Linhof directly if there could be problems and if it's possible to upgrade the problematic parts.

I have myself only used my own Techno so I haven't in person seen the others.
 
Last edited:
Thank you guys. i Think the first version is not a good alternative. because of security.
But what is that: ...no partial extension of rail...?

Are there some problems known with used Technos? Gear? Knobs? Rail?
Thank you
mueller
 

f8orbust

Active member
I'm not sure what you mean by 'partial extension' - the Techno can take any lens from 23mm up to 250mm and beyond (via the use of a 'top hat' style lens board).

I believe there was a focussing issue with the 1st generation Techno - but the current version is rock solid, with nice gearing, good knobs, smooth focussing action and a rail which is very steady even when fully extended.

Jim
 
Hi,
The wording: no partial extension of rail... Is from the threat above from torger..
I don't understand it too. :)
Thank you.
Mueller
 

torger

Active member
To be able to take longer lenses you need to extend the rail. With the first version there's only two click-stops, either fully compressed or maximally extended, while the 2010 and 2012 versions have four click-stops so you can extend it partially.

You can see this in my attached photos above, look at the round metal spring lever in front of the rail on the right side, only two dents in the rail of the 2008 version, and four in the 2010 and 2012.

I would not think that that is a big deal, but it is some advantage. I strongle recommend that you have two pairs of infinity stops, one for wides in the rear part of the rail and one for long lenses at the far end. This way you ensure parallelism of the front standard which otherwise is can be a bit shaky. Having only two fixed position of the front standard on the rail makes it more useful to have the four dents for rail extension, but I don't think it's critical.

The greatest drawback of the 2008 version is probably the lack of safety lock of the back release. I think you can buy the 2010 version (the one I have) without worrying though. I'm not sure but it looks like on the photo like the 2008 may be lacking the friction control of the focusing mechanism, if so that's a major drawback if you're shooting vertically or at angles with heavy lenses.

I guess you've seen my review of the Techno? If not it's here:
Review: Linhof Techno

Note that I look very critically at things as I want to inform the reader about both the good and the bad. Despite I have things to complain about I would still get the Techno today if I would start over with a tech camera again. I think it has a very nice large format shooting experience, it's very flexible and is more economical for us that like to build a system with many lenses. At some point we'll (afford to) get live view backs too and then it will become even better to work with.
 

tjv

Active member
I second what Torger has said above with regards to both the advantages of the newer Techno camera iterations, as well as the beauty of the system. I love my techno and can only see it getting stronger now we have an indication of backs that offer true, functional live view.
 

f8orbust

Active member
Hi, The wording: no partial extension of rail...
Ah, I see - these are basically the detents where the rail extensions lock in place. Of course, the rail itself is infinitely variable between its minimum and maximum extension and can be locked in any position via the brake just below the front focussing knob on the right / underside of the camera.
 
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