Here are two photos of the Hermagis Eidoscope #5 mounted on my Canham. The Hermagis is on loan to me from the Washington School of Photography. Mounting it on my camera required multiple customizations. First, I had to have the front standard on the Canham swapped out, as the original one was made to handle Linhof lensboards. The Linhof Technika board is just a little too small to take the flange for the lens. Fortunately, the Canham design will accommodate the larger Toyo 110×110 mm board, and now comes standard in that format.

I called Keith Canham and spoke with him about this. One of the great things about calling Keith is that when you call to discuss a problem, he answers the phone himself. You speak directly with the man who built your camera! He suggested that I pull the front standard off the camera, ship it to him, and he would re-use the hardware on a new wood panel the required size. I followed his instructions and popped it in Priority Mail. I had the new panel with all the hardware installed plus the original should I ever want to convert it back in my hot little hands within four days. Talk about customer service!! This is why I will be a loyal Canham customer as long as they remain in business.

I took the Toyo lensboard out to my folks’ place where I have my drill press and, after hunting around a bit to find the proper tools, drilled the hole in the lens board that would let the flange fit. Typically, I slightly oversized the hole, but not so big it caused any problems. I’d wish for a laser lathe but I don’t do this kind of stuff often enough to justify such a thing. For now I’ll live with my cheap Ryobi drill press and my variable diameter circle cutter.

In addition to mounting the lens, I made a lens cap from the cardboard insert that came in a package of Bergger VCCB fiber paper. The lens cap top was traced from the lens hood then cut out with an Xacto blade. The edge was made from a strip of the same board bent into a tube. There was a small gap in the side of the tube because it was too short, but that worked out to my advantage- otherwise the cap would have been too tight and therefore too hard to take off and put on efficiently. The tube is attached to the body with black bookbinder’s tape, the same tape I use for repairing hinges on light traps for film holders.

I’ll be using the lens cap as a shutter for now, until I get around to making a mount for a Packard shutter. You can see the lens cap in the first picture, on the lens.