Hiking with LF equipment

[Mike Delaney]

Hiking with LF equipment

I became interested in LF not so long ago while looking at a book of landscape photographs and realizing that the ones I liked best were 4x5s (or larger). Largely thanks to the information on this website and in the forums, I’ve already been able to learn a lot. However, now that I want to get some equipment I would be grateful for some advice.
I live in the East of Austria and above all want to do landscapes of various kinds, perhaps a little bit of architecture, but that’s not very important. I also want to be able to do a day’s walk with my equipment and go up some large hills to get good vantage points. I’m fairly fit, but only slightly built. There doesn’t seem to be much in the way of used equipment around here, and even if there was I don’t think I’d be in a position to judge its condition, so I tend to think I’ll buy new. My questions are:
1) Which cameras might be suitable? I’ve been considering a Tachihara, but the comments about wooden cameras possibly being destroyed by a fall are rather worrying. The Discovery sounds good, and doesn’t seem to weigh much more than the Tachihara (around 5lbs compared to 3.8), but how much bulkier would the whole package be? What about the Wista VX?
2) Roughly, what sort of total photo equipment weight might I be carrying with me with the above (or alternative) set-ups with a not-too-generous lens selection?

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Mike

[neil poulsen]

On backpacks, I've found those with large cloth rectangular interiors to be the lightest, versus those with a bunch of compartments, heavy padding, made for camera gear, etc. I cut a large piece of black coarse foam rubber to fit inside with holes cut out for lenses, camera, etc. I use a 1" thick piece as a base, and a 6" thick piece with the holes cut out.

My 4x5 pack is about 50% larger than my Domke pack that's made for photo gear and which I use for medium format. Yet the 4x5 pack is lighter in weight.

[steve simmons]

Before buying any equipment may I suggest some reading

books

Large Format Nature Photography by Jack Dykinga

Using the View Camera that I wrote

User's Guide to the View Camera by Jim Stone

Articles

Getting Started in Large Format which is a free article on our web site

www.viewcamera.com

steve simmons

[Eric Leppanen]

With regards to cameras, I think the Toho FC-45X is arguably the most versatile lighweight camera around, if you don't mind using a monorail. See Kerry Thalmann's review at www.thalmann.com/largeformat/toho.htm (http://www.thalmann.com/largeformat/toho.htm). The Toho provides quite a bit of capability while weighing less than 3 pounds.

With regards to lenses, this recent thread has some good suggestions: www.largeformatphotography.info/lfforum/topic/503278.html (http://www.largeformatphotography.info/lfforum/topic/503278.html)

[Amund BLix Aaeng]

I hike with a Shen-Hao 4x5, a couple of lenses, 10 filmholders, darkcloth, litghtmeter ect...
It`s not really much more than a serious 35mm shooter brings, two camera bodies 17-35, 70-200, 300mm, 200mm macrolens, flash ect... My lightweight 4x5 pack I can carry as long as I want to, and I`m in pretty bad shape physically :-)

[Eric Biggerstaff]

I think Steve gave you some sound advice above.

In terms of the Tachihara, I have used and abused mine for 10+ years and it keeps going. Any LF camera if dropped is going to get a bit messed up. Seriously consider what you like to photograph and build your kit around that. What I use may not be right for you. Also, if there are photographers whose work you greatly admire, drop them a note and ask their opinion, they are usually happy to assist.

In terms of backpacks, I have used them all I think. For many many years I used a LowePro Super Trekker but lately have switched to a nice light day pack and put my camera in the Gnass Gear cases ( they have them made for cameras and lenses). Often I will just wrap the camera in my darkcloth, put my 150mm lens in a pouch, grab a few film holders and head out the door. Very light.

Good luck and I hope you find large format photography rewarding and enjoyable.

www.ericbiggerstaff.com

[Scott Davis]

Second what Amund said - that's almost an exact description of me - Shen Hao, five (soon to be six) lenses, a dozen film holders, carbon-fiber tripod, meter, focusing hood, changing bag, in a photo backpack, and more spare pounds around the waist than I care to admit. It is quite doable, and no worse than dragging a proper 35mm rig around. In addition to a proper photo backpack that will fit your camera, I highly recommend investing in a pair of proper hiking boots.

Wood cameras are no worse durability-wise than metal cameras. If your camera decides to throw itself at the ground from the top of your tripod, metal or wood, it is unlikely to survive the fall intact. Even a metal camera is likely to come seriously out of alignment if it hits a rock, any lens you have on it is likely to be wrecked, and there is a good chance your ground glass will crack.

Look into the Shen Hao as a new camera - it is very durable (teak wood), has all the movements you would want in a field camera, is very reasonably priced, and is quite good looking to boot.

[Brian Sims]

In addition to the great advice above, don't forget to think through your non-photo gear. I hike with a Sinar, 3 lenses, quickloads, etc....about 25 lbs of photo gear and film. I'm usually going 3-4 days and 20-30 miles. Instead of buying a second, light weight view camera and saving maybe 5 lbs, I cut back on everything else: Hilleberg tent (watertight and only 4lbs), down bag (small and 2lbs), only one change of clothes (ok...it means a daily dip in the ocean or river....it stimulates the circulatory system [i.e. near heart attack]), only two meals a day (justifies the winter reserves I store around my waistline), a new pack (lighter with same capacity), and lastly, I no longer carry bottles of wine into the back country (now I decant them into waterbottles at the trailhead). I don't get crazy and rip the lables out of my clothes and drill holes in my toothbrush. But I was able to cut out more weight this way than any new configuration of photo gear. Good luck and happy trails.

[Bruce Watson]

I'm using the 5x4 Toho that Eric talked about. Also four mostly lightweight lenses (Schneider 80mm and 110mm SS-XLs, Rodenstock 150mm Sironar-S, Fujinon-A 240mm). I normally carry 12 film holders, Pentax digital spot meter, various filters, darkcloth, etc. For a tripod I'm carring a Gitzo 1227 with an Arca-Swiss ball head. I modified the Toho to use the Arca-Swiss quick release plate. All of this goes into an Osprey Eclipse 42. For long hikes I then add three or four liters of water. Total weight in the range of 16 to 17 Kg.

With this kit I can comfortably cover 15+ Km in a day, including a 800-1000m altitude change. I have run out of film on a day like this - but what a day it was!

Finally, I'm not a big guy either - 1.75m, 75Kg.

To work like this, I think the most important single piece of equipment I have would be my hiking boots. But that you'll have to figure out on your own ;-)

[David A. Goldfarb]

For day hikes I don't feel that I have to trim every ounce. I'd say I'm in okay shape, and like you a person of slight build. I carry my Technika with 6 lenses and 3 or 4 Grafmatics and the usual accessories in a Crumpler Fux Deluxe (a messenger style bag), and a Tiltall on a strap over my shoulder.

With 8x10" I carry an ultralight Gowland and 6 lenses and maybe 3 or 4 filmholders in a knapsack made for laptop computers. I can get away with the Tiltall, because the Gowland is so light, but I usually carry a heavier Bogen 3233 with a Gitzo M1570 low-profile head.

If you're backpacking and have to camp in the wilderness with a tent, water, food, and camping supplies, then there is more reason to look for an ultralight setup.

[Brian Ellis]

I don't think the chance of dropping and damaging a Tachihara should be a major factor in your buying decision. Any camera, wood or metal, can sustain damage if it's dropped. Linhof Technikas (very sturdy metal cameras) have a reputation of being almost indestructable. But I dropped mine a distance of maybe three feet onto soft dirt paths twice, both times a protruding knob that controls back movements broke and had to be replaced at considerable expense. So I don't think there's any such thing as a bullet proof camera, wood or metal.

For your purposes I think the Tachihara would be an excellent choice. It weighs about 4 pounds (2 pounds lighter than the Shen Hao), has all the movements you'll need for landscape photography and most other purposes, is well built, sturdy, and reasonably precise. It's very simple to operate and quick to set up and take down.

In addition to books already mentioned I'd recommend "View Camera Technique" by Leslie Stroebel. Many people consider it the bible of large format photography books, not light reading but very thorough.

[Eric Wagner]

I live in Colorado and hike in terrain that may be comparable to the area where you live. For 20 years I hiked with a Toyo-Field 45A with 6 holders, 3 lenses and a Tiltall tripod. The photo equipment weighed 21 lbs, the pack 5 lbs, raincoat and some survival gear added another 2.5. By the time I added lunch and water and an extra jacket I was usually carrying about 35 lbs. I have since shaved about 3 lbs off by switching to a Baby Deardorff and a carbon fiber tripod. I carry the photo equipment in 6-Pac coolers and use an external-frame JanSport pack. The Toyo is an excellent, rugged and very rigid camera. If I were starting from scratch today I'd probably get a Canham DLC-45.

[Steve McKinney]

Here's a link to a crude website (http://www3.sympatico.ca/stephen.mckinney/backpacking.htm) I threw together to outline my day hiking and backcountry backpacking kit.

Enjoy!

Regards,

Steve

[Dave Henry]

Hi Mike, I wish we lived closer as I'd invite you to go along on a trek. California is a long way from Austria. I backpack a lot. I'm usually out for three days because I can't carry more but as I age, I find myself equally making day hikes. I chose a Tachihara a few years ago because I count ounces. My pack varies but is usually between 50 & 60 pounds. I carry a body, 3 lenses, 40 b&w Readyloads and 20 EPP, spot meter, carbon fiber tripod and a few filters and small misc. items. I also carry a Canon 20D with a 16-35.

For a pack I use a commercial backpack as all the photo ones are way too heavy and don't fit properly. The two most important things to me are a properly fitting backpack and perfectly fitting boots. When I day hike I usually don't take a backpack but use a Tamarac belt system and sometimes a vest which enables me to be fast and light. I used to use holders and have 8 Grafmatics but prefer the cleanliness and lightness of Readyloads now.

I love my Tachihara and have put it through heck. It's the lightest on the market and might also be the least expensive. Whatever you decide, put lots of film through it and enjoy the outdoors. Austria is one of the most beautiful places on Earth!

[Alan Davenport]

Mike, you won't be unhappy with the Tachihara. It's lightweight and sturdy, not to mention a work of art in its own right. If your concern about possibly damaging a wooden camera is something you can't ignore, the Canham DLC is all metal and folds into a fairly compact package (though not as small (nor as light) as the Tachihara. And don't forget that you can buy three brand new Tachiharas (and most of a fourth) for the price of one Canham.

For your type of photography, I would suggest a normal lens of 150mm and a 90mm. You won't go wrong with 90mm f/8 Super Angulon, despite some folks saying you gotta have f/5.6 or even faster. With a good darkcloth, a loupe and a fresnel (standard on the Tachihara) an f/8 lens is easy to compose and focus. I don't think many will admit to shooting landscapes wide open anyway. If you get into lenses longer than 300mm you'll need telephotos with a Tachihara, though the company does make a bellows extension that will take you (I think) all the way to 600mm.

Overall weight: my entire camera bag (Lowe Super Trekker AW) weighs about 11Kg. That includes the Tachihara, 4 lenses (one of them a ridiculously heavy 254mm f/4.5 behemoth,) plus 4 film holders, darkcloth, filters, meter and the rest. That doesn't include the tripod, which in my case is a Bogen 3021 with 3030 head, another 3.4Kg. If I carry the entire kit, then, I'm packing about 15 Kg. Leaving a lens or two at home doesn't seem to affect the overall weight at all since I invariably refill the space in the pack with more film holders. Undoubtedly someone who is more disciplined than I would be able to reduce that. A lighter tripod comes to mind. :oD

[Mike Delaney]

A very big thank you to you all for going to the trouble to reply. Your answers and thoughts have helped to clarify a number of issues for me. I will also get hold of some books as Steve suggested.
Thanks again - it's wonderful and a great feeling to get such support and advice!

[chris jordan]

I second the Tachihara. I've been using, banging on rocks, and otherwise abusing mine for 5+ years. It's a little beat up, but keeps on going. I suggest packing a replacement ground glass/fresnel, in case of accident. I pack 2-3 lenses...a 150, a 90 and a 210. Get as many film holders as you can carry. Be sure to acclimate your film 2-3 minutes before opening the shutter, esp. in higher humidity weather. I used ready-loads for a while, but found them too expensive. They do cut down on weight and dust potential, but can sometimes "flop and flitter" in higher winds. I use a Bogen metal tripod, which is a bit heavy, but okay thrown over the shoulder. It sometimes doubles as a walking/snake stick...very necessary in the tall grasses and brush of the Shawangunk Mountains, where I shoot. For a backpack, I've been using one designed originally for a laptop computer. Its cheaper ($) than designated camera backpacks. The camera fits nicely in the laptop "pocket", as well as my lenses, contained in lens wraps. I miraculously fit film holders, meter, filters, accessories and lunch into all the pockets. For longer trips, I use my big internal frame trecking pack.

I find that the journey of photographing on a hike is worth as much as the resulting pictures. Sometimes I find it hard to balance the two desires of getting to a particular goal (a summit, for example), or just hanging out in a beautiful spot and waiting for the light. My best images result when I go back to the same spot over and over and over again, not necessarily when I've walked the farthest. Yeah, what a good life! Hope you have fun.

-Chris
www.jordanphoto.com

[papercrate]

Here's a link to a crude website (http://www3.sympatico.ca/stephen.mckinney/backpacking.htm) I threw together to outline my day hiking and backcountry backpacking kit.

Enjoy!

Regards,

Steve

Digging up an old post here, but finding quite a bit of useful info. Thanks for the question to the OP and all the thoughtful replies. I know it's been quite a few years but any chance you still have the "horrible pics" of your setup for that webpage you linked Steve? I'd like to see different folks hiking setups. Or maybe if it has changed now, what is it like?

[gsinico]

I started backpacking an Arca F line, with bogen tripod, four lenses from 58 to 300mm: 17Kg the total gear equipment. Now I'm carring a Chamonix, some lenses at choice from 58XL,90/8,135, 180 and 300. the best part is the carbon gitzo with arca P0 ball head. I shoot BN and slides, up to 12 film holders, lee filters and shade, Minolta spotmeter, in a loewe AW.
I used to backpack a Wista, a Sinar F, my LF friend came whit a Shen Hao, but I found the Chanonix lighter and whit longer bellow than the other foldings.
Now I carry more o less 8/9kg .

[Drew Bedo]

Hiking with LF equipment

. My questions are:
1) Which cameras might be suitable? I’ve been considering a Tachihara, but the comments about wooden cameras possibly being destroyed by a fall are rather worrying.


.

Mike

If you fall in the mountains I would think that the camera would be the least of your worries.

When it coms to backpacking your gear consider the PhotoBackpacker system. It allows you to costomize about any serious technical back pack to protect photo gear.

Another thought: Many compositions of mountain scenes do not require m ovement or focusing much closer than infinity (Pleaseeveryone; I know that this statyement is not an absolute!) With that in mind, consider one or both of the soon to be released Wanderlust Travelwide cameras to start off with. Loght weight, simple operation and inexpensive.

[Jim Graves]

"Backpacking" is a little different for everybody. If you're a minimalist who cuts your toothbrush handle off ... or an over-niter it's a pretty big difference.

For trips when food and gear severely limit photo equipment ... and you still want to take a view camera ... it's hard to beat a Pocket View 4x5 (Gowland, Calumet) ... Ready Loads if you can find them ... a 90mm Angulon (not Super Angulon) and a 203mm Kodak Ektar (both small, light, and capable) ... and either a carbon fiber tripod or an attachment for your hiking pole ("Monopod") to mount the camera.

[Vaughn]

My LF pack would be very light if I had not gone up in format. If I did want to use my tiny 4x5 (PocketView) more while backpacking, I'd need to invest in a CF tripod. My 4x5 with the 150mm/f5.6 on it weighs 2.5 pounds, so if I can keep the rest of the gear to a minimum, it might be 20 pounds of photography-related items -- including daypack, tripod, 5 holders, changing bag, one lens, Pentax digital spot meter. That stuff adds up fast! I could be up to 25 lbs! The thing is, I'd love to take the 5x7, but nothing about my 5x7 system is light. And the 8x10 is a full pack just by itself, and definitely not a light weight model either.

[Jody_S]

I have a small backpack that holds my B&J 4x5 folding view camera, 7-8 holders, 3 lenses, spotmeter, etc. The entire kit is about 15 lbs, and I have to carry the tripod on a shoulder as well. This is about as much weight as I am comfortable carrying anywhere now, so no more backwoods trekking for me. In my younger days, I used to go canoe-camping with 40 lb backpacks (including a Rolleicord) and a canoe perched on top of that, but arthritis is slowly taking over.

For the larger cameras, I have a couple of lawyer's cases for legal briefs, on wheels with luggage-style retractable handles. I carry the same tripod on a shoulder, and pull the case, and of course I can carry it for short distances if a path gets a little rough. I'm looking to change out the wheels on one of the cases for 3-5" ones.

[swmcl]

Bear in mind that a 'universal' camera that can use a larger variety of lenses and film sizes will be bigger. In my personal journey I started with a Shen Hao TFC45-II which is a compact 4x5 with a bag bellows. Then I thought I might try a 6x17 back. Problem is that lenses around 150-170mm and above couldn't focus at infinity (let alone anything closer) because the body of the camera would vignette the image. This is the same for almost all the 4x5 camera bodies and 6x17. SO. If you want 6x17 then think seriously about a 5x7 body which will not cause vignetting at all. If you want only 6x12 then a 4x5 is good. Bigger cameras can't use shorter focal length lenses easily either. As you'll probably want wide and wider lenses this means a camera body able to take say a 47mm SAXL. Lenses sitting in recessed lensboards are a real pain to use (ones fingers cant easily cock the shutter nor turn the aperture settings etc).

My pick ?

Try a TFC57-A from Shen Hao. I've never seen it but if it were to carry the Sinar 140mm lensboard you could run a 48mm SAXL in a recessed lensboard (EBay) with the Shen Hao 6x17 back for the 5x7. If you run a 4x5 reduction back as well then you can do 6x12, 6x17, 4x5 and 5x7 with crazily short focal length lenses. It looks to be a fairly small setup.

If you don't want to go to seriously short (wide) lenses then go the HZX57-IIA which I have but I am limited to 72mm SAXL on the low end. I can go up to my 508mm though. All my lenses are used without vignetting.

Shen Hao are a pretty competitive product but I will admit to having to 'trim' everything. I've only just this last month discovered another reflective surface in the camera and have just flocked it !! I've also had to resort to sanding parts to get a better fit.

Cheers,

Steve

[Drew Wiley]

Choice of focal length is largely a matter of personal style and preferred angle of view. There are a lot of excellent lenses to choose from, but I'll just mention a few
distinct series that meet the demands of compact, lightwt, modern, and very crisp. You can choose from Nikkor M, Fujinon A, Fujinon C, and G-Claron. Almost impossible to go wrong with any of these.