Help! Sinar F2 or Toyo 45gx?

[greenberg]

Hi, I have the opportunity to buy a LF camera to shoot in the studio and outside, for potrait, still life, landscape. One is a Sinar f2, the other is a Toyo 45gx (Im not sure if its a 45gx or a 45gII).
They are all about the same price. What would you guys suggest?

Thank you

Julia Greenberg

[IanG]

Julia, do you specifically want a monorail camera? I have 2 monorails but never use them now, much preferring my Wista field camera.

Yes monorails have far greater movements and flexibility but I've never run out of movements with my Wista since I bought it 30+ years ago, and the major advantage of the Wista or a similar field camera is the portability and ease of use in the landscape.

The F2's are great camera's I've used one for commercial studio work, if it's in excellent condition it's probably a better buy than the Toyo.

Ian

[vann webb]

I have the Sinar F2 and like it a lot. It is still portable enough for field use and I find the focusing aids that Sinar incorporates to be useful. The other thing about Sinar is that their system is modular so you can change things around as you need without starting over all the time. There is also tons and tons of used Sinar parts available on Ebay as their cameras are ubiquitous. Those were my reasons for purchasing the F2 and I have not been disappointed. Good luck.

[Gene McCluney]

I have a Sinar P-Expert system, and a couple of Toyo monorail cameras. By far and away, the Sinar is more capable. I only use the Toyos as location (factory) cameras.

[Joshua Dunn]

Another vote for the Sinar. Its versatility is only limited by your imagination.

[Armin Seeholzer]

Sinar for sure!

Armin

[Bjorn Nilsson]

There are lots of things in favour of the Sinar. The focusing aids not only gives you hints about the "correct" aperture setting. It will also help you with tilts and swings, so that you can use the camera and lenses at their best. (This is all described in the camera manual, which you will get with the camera with some luck.) A lot of practice at home doing still life will build up speed and confidence for doing portraits and landscapes.
I don't think the Toyo cameras have these simple but clever devices.
There are cameras that are much lighter and more compact, but the Sinar (F2 in this case) is very stable and once you get it upon the tripod, it's probably quicker to operate than most other cameras (, again due to the clever focusing devices).
There are endless possibilities with the Sinar system and all of these parts often show up on the auction site. (You know the one we shouldn't mention... :) )

//Björn

[greenberg]

Thank you all for your precious answers. :)

I see Sinar is probably the best choice. The focusing tables seem to be really helpful. I wonder if it is possible to make it for a camera that doesn't have it.

thanks,

Julia