I Joined The Club- Brand 17

[spleenrippa]

Thanks, everyone!
My brother has measured the opening in the included lensboard and he claims it is (exactly) 1.5 inches.. Hmm... Doesn't seem to match any of the sizes listed here. Any ideas?
Another question (sorry, haha). Very few listings for lens/shutters on EvilBay give the required lensboard size. Is there a 'rule of thumb' for determining what you need, or is it a case of hunting down the data for each lens as you go?
LF hurts my head. Maybe I should go out and play with the GS645S that came in the mail earlier

[pgomena]

That's a new "brand" to me, but it certainly looks like a sturdy user/starter camera. The 1.5-inch lens size seems a bit odd, but who knows what the previous owner had on there anyway. It computes to a 38.1mm hole, which is somewhere between the current standards. Older shutters and lenses varied in size a great deal more. Fear not, new lensboards can be made, and old lensboards adapted. Good luck and have fun!

Peter Gomena

[John Koehrer]

1.5"=38.1mm The hole should be 34.7mm. That presumes no tolerance for error. If the lens you're buying has a flange, that's going to take up 1-1.5mm so you're right in the ballpark.
I've seen some that are more than 1/8" over & were still usable even though the lens would have been slightly off center.

[Wade D]

I was looking at ebay listings last night. In the 5x7 & smaller category there is a Brand 17 that was just listed. Not much in the way of description though.

[Rick A]

I found a thread about a "Brand 17" 4x5 view camera on LFPF. Seems the camera was made by the Brand Company in Los Angeles Ca., and the 17 refers to the bellows length.

[Bruce Watson]

Apparently, I'm now a 4x5 shooter!

Welcome to the club!

You'll find a wealth of information on LF here. Everything from getting started to how to load a film holder to how to focus, and much more. The forum is, dare I say it, about as good as this one. Lots and lots of knowledgeable people who freely answer questions.

[Merg Ross]

Welcome to the club!

You'll find a wealth of information on LF here. Everything from getting started to how to load a film holder to how to focus, and much more. The forum is, dare I say it, about as good as this one. Lots and lots of knowledgeable people who freely answer questions.

Also on that forum, you will find comments from one whose first view camera was a Brand 17. That was in 1954 and, as they say, the rest is history. That camera launched my career as a photographer.

I recall the Brand 17 having all of the movements that my later, more sophisticated and expensive cameras offered. My lenses with the Brand were a 150mm B&L and a 210mm Tessar. I used the latter as my primary lens.

The one thing this camera would not be well suited for is wide angle work. although designed to accommodate WA lenses, the rear standard had to be moved forward for such use. This entailed unscrewing the rear standard and attaching to a central point on the block. The camera has a revolving back which is very handy. I think you have a winner.

Most of the work on my website prior to 1963 was with the Brand 17. The exception would be a few 8x10 camera images.

Have fun with the Brand, I believe that you will.

http:www.mergross.com

[LyleB]

Here's thread with some info on this camera:

http://photo.net/large-format-photography-forum/00Dgoc

[spleenrippa]

Thanks for all the info, everyone. You guys are great!
Also very cool to actually have someone here who used a Brand professionally :-)
Will keep y'all appraised of the lens situation... Still lots of looking and bargain hunting to do...

[leighmarrin]

Here's a crummy scan of a tiny Brand-17 ad in the 1949 US Camera Annual. I saw one of these cameras a few years ago in a local store: seemed to be pretty well made. I remember reading somewhere that they are made partly of a magnesium alloy which might BURN quite hot in a fire.

--Leigh in Santa Barbara, Calif.

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