OVERVIEW :
ACCESSORIES FOR
HORSEMAN TECHNICAL CAMERAS

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While Horseman-ia† doesn't come near those similar compulsions infecting Leica, Hasselblad and Technika owners, there are a goodly number of Horseman technicals accessories to lure the innocent.

Universal Zoom Finder. While this is probably inspired by the Technika finder, the Horseman version is a worthy competitor. It is bright, flexible and adjustable. It has a zoom range from 65 - 300mm for 6 x 9 use and 90 - 400mm for the 4 x 5 frame. A control switches between masks for 6 x 9 and 4 x 5 aspect ratios.

120 and 220 Rollholders. Horseman rollholders are made for 6 x 9 and 4 x 5 international backs in 6 x 7cm, 6 x 9cm and 6 x 12cm formats. Here are the Horseman types for each holder:

• 451 - 8  6 x 9 on120 for 4 x 5 mount
• 452 - 10   6 x 7 on 120 for 4 x 5 mount
• 453 - 16   6 x 9 on 220 for 4 x 5 mount
• 454 - 20   6 x 7 on 220 for 4 x 5 mount
• 612 - 6  6 x 12 on 120 for 4 x 5 mount

• 1 - 8   6 x 9 on120 for 6 x 9 mount
• 2 - 10   6 x 7 on 120 for 6 x 9 mount
• 3 - 16   6 x 9 on 220 for 6 x 9 mount
• 4 - 20   6 x 7 on 220 for 6 x 9 mount

Focusing Hoods and Viewers. Horseman offered a full line of viewing and compositional aids for the 6 x 9 and 4 x 5 technical cameras. A light weight, but rigid angle reflex viewer for 6 x9 fits the 6 x 9 international backs directly or when attached to the Rotary Back. The angled eye-piece rotated to support horizontal and vertical orientation. 6 x 9 cameras came with a folding focusing hood.

Horseman 4 x 5s could be fitted with a compact, folding 4 x 5 Binocular Direct Viewer that was mounted on a bellows and could be adjusted for magnification of the entire or parts of the frame. A folding Binocular Reflex Viewer provided a right-side-up image. Both of these finders were highly regarded, but both are no longer manufactured

Accessory Backs. 4 x 5 cameras live on 4 x 5 sheet film and 120 roll film; 6 x 9 cameras live on 120 film and only occassionally use 6 x 9cm or 2 1/4 x 3 1/4 sheet film. Design of the Horseman accessory backs reflected this reality. While other MF and LF manufacturers have used a sliding design to mount groundglass and reflex viewers and 120 rollholders in a way that allows users to swap between GG and film exposure, Horseman developed a Rotary Back§ that did functionally the same thing. In LF cameras (and this case MF field cameras) backs use two kinds of structures--the Graflok style and the Wista style. Graflok style backs attach the accessory backs to international G backs using the Graflok sliding bars. Wista style backs detach the international G structure and replace it with the accessory back. Sound like you'd like the Graflok style better? Yes, it is more flexible; for example, you could attach the 4 x 5 Horseman back to your Speed/Crown/Super Graphic as well as your Horseman HD. The cost is that by attaching the accessory back to the existing international G back, you create a structure that adds a 40mm extension to the film path. This is great if you are trying to mount a 360mm lens, but awful if you've already been having problems mounting your 55mm APO Grandagon to your Horseman FA. Horseman also made a 6 x 9 mount Rotary Back for the VH/VH-R/ER-1 models that works with most international G backs. Incidently, the added extension for the 6 x 9 model is about 25mm. The 6 x 9 model with the Angled Reflex Viewer makes GG focusing in 6 x 9 very tolerable, so long as you are willing to use nothing shorter than a 90mm lens. You still need to remove the reflex viewer for loupe focusing, but otherwise the experience is something like using a twin-lens reflex. The Horseman accessory backs have an auto dark slide, which engages when the rollholder position is not the one that is active. One other Gotcha with the accessory backs is that they are so large (though not overly heavy) that they block any possibility of using either the build in VF/RF of the VH-R or the Universal Viewfinder, if it is mounted in the accessory shoe.

Lensboards. All Horseman technicals share an 80 x 80cm lensboard design. In addition to flat lensboards, Horseman also offered lensboards with extensions for improved shutter access and for lengthening the extension of the bellows.

Extension Backs. Backs that support different sizes of sheet film were common when larger formats (now referred to as VLF or ULF) were the standard for studio work. Most 8 x 10 and 11 x 14 cameras could be fitted with 5 x 7 or 4 x 5 backs. We now tend to think of this only with rollfilm, but Horseman's penchant for lightness adopted this strategy to allow 6 x 9cm Horsemans to use 4 x 5 in film. While this combination is heavier than the Horseman FA, it does provide flexibility for the photographer who principally uses 120 film, but who does not want to rule out the use of 4 x 5 sheetfilm.

Horseman also made a longer version of this back for the 4 x 5 mount. I haven't seen one of these; an earlier Horseman catalog notes that these were designed exclusively for the 45FA, without further comment about the nature of this limitation.

Exposure Meters. Horseman made exposure meters for both 6 x 9 and 4 x 5 backs. These were full image averaging meters which will probably have limited interest to many LF photographers, but they do provide through-the-lens metering which can be helpful in some situations.