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View Full Version : Similarity between Zone VI and Wisner cameras



Rider
10-May-2007, 19:40
Can someone explain why Zone VI and Wisner cameras appear to be similar? Is there a common history?

Brian Vuillemenot
10-May-2007, 19:56
Ron Wisner made the cameras for Zone VI before he established his own company. There was a falling out between him and Fred Picker of Zone VI and then he established the Wisner Company to make his own cameras. Zone VI cameras from before then are pretty much identical to the Wisner Traditional Field camera.

Louie Powell
11-May-2007, 09:18
The original Zone VI cameras were private-labeled cameras manufactured in Japan. Later, Wisner did supply them for a few years. Unfortunately, Picker was far better at selling cameras than Wisner was at making them, and the backlog of sold but undelivered cameras got out of control. (Seems to be a consistent pattern with Wisner.).

Picker was astute enough to recognize that when you outsource, you are at the mercy of your suppliers, but if you vertically integrate, you have total control over your destiny, and so he opened his own fab shop

There was an extended history of the Zone VI in View Camera a few years ago. It has been posted on the View Camera web site. Unfortunately, it only went as far as the sale to Calumet. It would be nice if someone could complete the story through the recent decision by Calumet to discontinue the Zone VI camera line.

Rider
11-May-2007, 09:27
This is very interesting. Is the article still posted on viewcamera.com? I did not find it there.

Mark Sampson
11-May-2007, 12:56
The first Zone VI 4x5s were made by Wista, and modified slightly for Z-VI.
Ron Wisner's version of the Wisner/Zone VI story used to be on his website, maybe it still is.
Richard Ritter was the camera guy at Zone VI through it all. IIRC he wrote the VC article.
A few data points; the 1995 Z-VI(Calumet) catalog showed the cameras with gold-plated hardware. By 1999 Calumet was advertising the "Lightweight" models with satin finish and black hardware. I wasn't aware that Calumet had discontinued them.

Louie Powell
11-May-2007, 15:54
I suspect its still there, but in the protected "subscriber's only" portion that you have to have a password to access.

Unfortunately, I can't check to see if its there. Steve issues a new password with each issue of the magazine. The "current issue" was mailed a couple of weeks ago, but I haven't received my copy yet, and the password from the last issue no longer works.

I really wish he would come up with a better, more subscriber-friendly system.

Ted Harris
11-May-2007, 17:14
Louie, there is a new simplified much friendlier system in the works for unveiling with the July-August issue perhaps.

Dave_B
11-May-2007, 18:53
Louie, there is a new simplified much friendlier system in the works for unveiling with the July-August issue perhaps.


As a general business practice, letting un-authorized people sneak into a web-based system with zero incremental cost of goods delivered is a much better thing to do than annoying the hell out of the folks who actually pay you money for access to the same system. If Joe Schmoo gets un-authorized access, it costs you nothing. If the same system is a pain for me to use, a paying customer, and I walk, it costs you something. Err on the side of easier access. It's not like there are six billion folks out there who are trying to hack into your LF photography magazine web site. Make it easy for us, your customers, to use. The others won't break you. Just my $0.02.
Cheers,
Dave B.