[LargeFormat] 11x14 Korona

[Clive Warren]

At 8:55 am -0400 14/10/03, Jim Hemenway wrote:
>Clive:
snip
>I need to clean out my "camera room" soon in order to photograph a 
>bunch of unneeded equipment which I want to sell.  I'll try to 
>remember to make some shots of the camera and lens for you.
>
>There is an 11x14 Korona currently on ebay.  The photos don't reveal 
>the scale of the camera but do show some details:
>http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2957683244&category=15248
>
>Unfortunately the two original wooden braces needed to prevent the 
>extension rails from breaking appear to be lost, as they almost 
>always are. You can see the resulting slight bend in the seller's 
>photo.
>
>I now know from personal experience that they are definitely needed 
>when shooting in situations where the rear extension rail is used to 
>support the heavier rear part of the camera.
>
>My Korona broke last Wednesday evening at the point where the rear 
>rail is attached to the center wooden camera base. I was trying to 
>catch the last light and in my haste, didn't use my homemade 
>aluminum support rails.
snip

Jim,

Thanks - look forward to the shots of the camera.

The main problem I have found with the Koronas is featured in the 
auction camera. Once the brass rail inserts open up it is a difficult 
job to close them up again. As soon as there is a lot of play between 
the brass rails and the standard runners, making the camera rigid 
again is a bit of a challenge. I had considered stripping out the 
brass rails and machining an insert that is thicker than the original 
but the woodwork involved would probably require the wooden rails to 
be completely disassembled.

Good to hear that your camera was repairable - bit of a nightmare scenario.

Cheers,
        Clive