Just bought a C-1, need reccomendations

[Chris S]

Well I just bought me a Calumet C-1.The heavy aluminum black one.I work mostly out of the back of my Jeep with my 4x5 as it is, and after seeing Christopher Burkett's video of him and his wife lugging around their black C-1, I figured I'm alot younger and in better shape than him so what the heck :)So now I need a tripod and head, and a lens, something in the 300-340mm range.Any reccomendations?Would a Berlebach 3032 tripod be a little underated for this camera?How about a Gitzo with a Reis head.Thanks for any tips

Chris

[steve simmons]

The 305 G Claron, the 350 G Claron, a 360 Fuji A would be my choices. I would skip the 300/305 and go for the 350-360 as a normal. Then I would go longer or shorter depending on my needs. I like Gitzo and Ries for my tripods.

steve simmons

[Marko]

Chris, I have a Bogen 3246 tripod with 3047 head for my Calumet 540 with a big 210mm lens.

Very robust tripod, easy to set up and break down. Very easy to clean too, since the legs don't retract into each other.

I got the entire set used, but if I were to buy new, I'd consider 329RC4 head instead.

Regards,

[Percy]

Wow...scary.
I just bought the same camera about 5 months ago. It is a GREAT sturdy beast. I settled on a 300mm Fujinon W f5.6. It is a ridiculously sharp lens. Go to KEH, there service is impeccable, their bargain grades are like most dealers' G or VG grades, and I have yet to find better prices anywhere. If they promise delivery on a particular date, count on it.

I also tried a Berlebach tripod--don't do it; it will hold the camera up, but it will not be stable. I settled on an ancient Majestic tripod and head--works wonderfully. Welcome to the lair of the beast.

[Marko]

Haste makes waste. I realized it was 8x10 you're talking about the second after posting the previous message.

Please disregard.

[Ralph Barker]

FWIW, Chris, you may find your focal-length preference shifts with 8x10. For example, while I lean toward longer-than-normal on 4x5, I like somewhat wider on 8x10. A 240mm/f9 G-Claron is my fave on the 8x10. Your mileage may vary in either direction, of course.

[Alan Davenport]

Any reccomendations?

A mule. The four-legged kind, not the wife kind.

[Chris S]

Thanks for the tips so far guys.How about a Gitzo G1500 Mk2 Tele Studex with a Ries A250 double tilt head?The tripod specs out at holding up to 33lbs. and itself weighs 9.7 pounds.Badger has em for $450.00.I know Brett Weston used the 250 head on his C1.Also the Guy I bought the camera from threw in an apo-nikkor 480 lens with the deal.It has no shutter.Can this lens be mounted in a shutter like a copal 3?Thanks again

Chris

[John Kasaian]

Are you going to shoot color or b&w? Is your style similar to Burkett's?

Take a look at the G Clarons already mentioned. The 250 WF Ektar is also a favorite. The 165 Super Angulon is a great lens and your Beast can handle it---lucky you! The 450 Nikkor M is also worth putting on your list to consider. In the 12"-14" range all the usual suspects (Artars, Dagors, Raptars, Commercial Ektars etc...)would work nicely and 375mm Ilex versions of the Commercial Ektar are quite undervalued and I think if you can find one at a good price, a 16-1/2" Artar would certainly be useful alternative. For a lot of bang for your buck a Wollensak triple convertible would be hard to beat. Also as mentioned above, don't assume that an equivalant focal length as used on your 4x5 will "look" the same on your 8x10. IMHO those big 8x10 negatives do wierd things to perspective.

I started my 8x10 adventure with a 14" APO Artar, I put it on my 5x7 and replace it with a 14" Commercal Ektar and a 19" APO Artar barrel lens, in time I eventually added a 250 Wide Field Ektar, a 19" RD Artar, a 240 G-Claron, a 159 Wollensak WA and a 300 Dagor. I know the 240 and 250 and the 14" and 300mm are too close in length to differ much, but I'm a bit of a glass-a-holic and besides, it dosen't hurt to have a spare handy when it comes time for a cla.

Have fun!

[John Hoenstine]

I had a C1 and the Tripod head I really liked was the Ries. I still use Ries sticks and heads one 4x5. For most of my work I use a Gitzo G1340 with Acratech Ball Head but the Acratech doesn't work with the C1. One problem with the C1 is that you need a large flat platform to hold it. Ries and Stanford and Davis heads were the ones the worked for me. I really liked the Fujinon-w 250mm f/6.7 - still using it after 20 years. The C1 is a great camera but a bit heavy.

Enjoy!

[Henry Ambrose]

I'd go for a big ol' Gitzo or a Bogen 3046 with a heavy duty head like the 3039. You can save some big money buying used. You couldn't chase me down and make me take a Ries but some love 'em.

You really need a heavy duty head for that big ol' camera.

[Henry Ambrose]

And I'm thrilled with my Fujinon 300 CMW - great lens and not too pricey used!

[Marco Frigerio]

I have to disagree with percy, I use my C1 with a wodden Berlebach 9043 and never had any problems with stability...

I'm with John, with the C1 is not a matter of tripod (even if it's an heavy camera so you need a sturdy tripod, but I found the Berlebach more than adeguate), but mainly is a matter of having a large platform to hold it...recently there was an interesting discussion on APUG about modifying the C1 tripod mount, check it out:

www.apug.org/forums/showthread.php?t=25934 (http://www.apug.org/forums/showthread.php?t=25934)

Ciao

Marco

[Ralph Barker]

Chris - regarding your 480mm APO Nikkor, it looks like it will fit in a Copal 3 shutter. Check with SK Grimes to be sure of what is involved.

SK Grimes lens/shutter list (http://www.skgrimes.com/fits/index.htm)

[Matt Miller]

I got a quote from Grimes, about 6 months ago, for fitting a 480 APO Nikkor into a copal 3. It was over $400 to fit it, not including the shutter.

[Ralph Barker]

Matt - I got a similar quote for putting a 610 APO Nikkor into an Ilex #5, but wasn't sure if the 480 required the same extensive machine work to fit the shutter (essentially machining a new barrel that can be threaded into the shutter). From the quote you got, it sounds like the 480 is in the same boat.

[Pete Roody]

Mating a barrel lens to a shutter is not cost effective if machining is required and a similar focal length lens is readily available in shutter. Mounting a packard shutter to the lens is an alternative. Or better yet, sell the lens and buy a used nikkor 450M in a copal 3.

[Don Bryant]

Chris,

I have the green monster with all of the backs and a recessed lens board. The camera is capable of making good photographs but camera management can be a problem.

The first thing I would reccomend is to attach a sheet of 1/16 inch aluminum plate to the base of the camera. This will make it much more stable on which ever head or tripod quick release system you may choose. It is very eash to make. It took me about an hour to make the plate. There are 4 - 1/4x20 threaded holes at each corner of the mounting grid so bolting the plate on only requires that you drill holes large enough to accept the bolts. You will need to cut a hole in the center of the plate to allow the tripod mounting hole to be accessed but that was a piece of cake.

I sent a lens board to S.K. Grimes and had an adapter made that allows me to fit lens boards that fit my Wisner 4x5. That allows me to share lenses between the two cameras. I don't bother using the 4x5 back on the C1.

The recessed lens board also allows me to mount Wisner lens boards and with that I can put a 75 mm S.A. on and have an ultra wide lens for 5x7 or do circular images on 8x10.

Good luck,