Fanatic about weight

[David Richhart]

The weight of large format equipment can create a lot of headaches (and backache s) as well as a lot of discussion on this forum. I have a functional but well wo rn field camera that looks terribly overbuilt.

In an effort to reduce weight, has anyone been bold enough to literally dr ill and/or carve on the framework of a camera? Were the rusults what you expecte d? Is the name "Arca Swiss-Cheese" copyrighted?

[Michael Kadillak]

Maybe that Canham guy is onto something?

My 5x7 metal is as light as a 4x5.

[Stpephen Willlard]

I have also found that when you caring heavy loads all day, your are much less productive because shortly you become exhausted and too weary to see straight. This is why I use a llama. They can carry up to 90-100 lbs gear .

Be careful about drilling out your camera stock. It will increase the exposed surface area of the wood. Without proper sealing it could cause things to warp and then bind or bcome misaligned.

[Kerry L. Thalmann]

Oh boy, where to start. Weight is a bit of an obsession with me. Of course, th e camera is only part of the kit. If you're not already using a carbon fiber tr ipod with a lightweight ballhead, you can probably save a lot more weight there than by drilling holes in your camera.

Rather than drill holes in a wooden camera, you might consider getting a camera that is lighter to start with. The amount of weight you will save in materials won't be that much - a few ounces, and you might end up with a camera that is st ill heavier and less rigid than one that was designed to be lightweight in the f irst place.

My personal favorite lightweight camera for backpacking is the Toho FC-45X. As it came from the factory, it weighed 3 lb. 3/4 oz. That makes it the lightest 4 x5 camera currently available (Oh yeah, NEVER believe the specs on anything sold as "lightweight", be it a camera or a tent. Many maunfacturers are absurdly "o ptimistic" in their advertised weights. Weigh everything yourself - it's the on ly way to get an accurate weight). I made a few simple mods (replaced the foucu sing hood with a foam core ground glass protector, replaced the stock tripod mou nting block with a shortened RRS QR plate) that shaved 4 1/4 oz. to get the tota l weight down to 2 lb. 12 1/2 oz. This is for a monorail camera with full front and rear movements and over 15" of bellows extension. In other words, it's ver y light, but also very usable. It is also quite rigid - more so than many field cameras I've used that weigh 2 - 3 lbs. more.

I just looked at other ways I could shave some weight off the Toho, and there ar en't many. I could maybe save another ounce if I took a drill to it, but it's s o compact already, there really isn't a lot of excess metal to drill out. If I really wanted to save some weight, I could probably have a one piece rail made t hat would give me a little less extension, and not be as compact as the stock th ree piece telescoping rail. Other than that, there isn't a lot of weight to be saved.

I have a complete review of the Toho, along with a description of the modificati ons I made at:

http://www.thalmann.com/largeformat/toho.htm

I'm also a fanatic about lightweight lenses. When backpacking I generally carry a four lens set consisting of 90mm WA Congo, 135mm APO Sironar-N, 200mm Nikkor M and 300mm Nikkor M. The Toho handles all four of these lenses with ease, and they are all small, compact and multicoated. The two Nikkors take 52mm filters, the Congo 43mm and the APO Sironar-N 40.5mm. For the smaller two, I just leave 52mm step-up rings on them all the time with 52mm Nikon snap-on lens caps. I c an then use one set of 52mm filters for all four lenses.

If I want to go REALLY light, I carry just three lenses. In the past that has b een the same 90mm WA Congo, a 150mm f6.3 Fujinon W and a 240mm Fujinon A. I rec ently bought a late 9 1/2" Red Dot Artar that is in a factory Compur No. 1 shutt er that's a couple ounces lighter than the 240mm Fujinon, but like the 150mm Fuj inon, it's only single coated.

I also have some more info on lightweight lenses starting at:

http://www.thalmann.com/largeformat/lightwei.htm

Be careful. Once you start thinking about this stuff, you too may become obsess ed. I can tell you down to the nearest 1/4 oz. what every piece of gear I carry weighs. Once you get the weight and size of the system down, it also means you can get by with a lighter smaller pack. See what I mean about obsessing? Stil l, it is a joy to have enough energy left at the end of a long hike to actually look forward to some photography. I have a heavier general purpose outfit, but the light weight of the Toho system can be very liberating. I can cover more gr ound in less time and still have plenty of energy and enthusiasm for photography. I've met other photographers i n the backcountry who are stunned whan I pull a 4x5 system out of that little bo ok bag I'm carrying on my back. They are even more amazed when my 4x5 system we ighs less than their 35mm or medium format kit. It will never be as small and l ight as a compact point-n-shoot, but a 4x5 kit doesn't have to weigh 40 lbs. eit her.

Kerry

[scambug]

Kerry, I'm also heavy into weight loss. At the moment the sore spot is my tripod head. I'm using a Giotto MH-1000, which seems to be overkill and overweight on my carbon fiber tripod. What do you suggest?

[Kerry L. Thalmann]

Arthur,

You don't mention what camera you're using, so this may not apply. With my ultr alight Toho, I'm currently using a Velbon PH-253MG. This is a REALLY lightweigh t (less than 6 oz.) magnesium ballhead that I would never consider using with a camera weighing much more than 3 - 3 1/2 lbs.

Prior to that, I was using a Slik Standard Ballhead II that I modified to add a Kirk Arca style QR clamp. The stock plastic platform on this head was junk, but after it was removed, this is a decently stable head and a great bargain (about $40 - $45). This combo weighs 13 1/4 oz., but it's also a little more sturdy t han the Velbon. It would probably be fine with a camera up to 4 - 4 1/2 lbs. Y ou can see a picture of this combo (and a few heavier heads) at:

http://www.thalmann.com/largeformat/heads.htm

I general, I find a 4x5 camera to put less stress on a tripod head than a profes sional 35mm system. With my little Toho, the camera is always centered above th e apex of the tripod head. It's never flopped on it's side for verticals, and w ith the telescoping rail, it's always balanced front to back as well. With the lightweight lenses I use, it puts less stress on the head than even a fairly lig htweight 35mm SLR with zoom lens. So, while these heads are perhaps undersized for most serious 35mm shooters, they work fine with my Toho.

Kerry

[Terry_2293]

Does anyone have any firsthand experience with the new acratech "Ultimate ballhead"? It looks promising but I've seen no user reports yet except on luminous-landscape.com

Company web site: http://acratech.net/prod01.htm

...

[Brian Ellis]

I'm not obsessive about weight since I don't go on overnight or even really long hikes but I used to carry the following very easily in a little Domke shoulder bag that is normally used by 35 mm people: Tachihara camera, three film holders, 150 mm G Claron lens, 300 mm Nikon M lens, BTZS dark cloth, loupe, glasses. The meter was strapped on my belt and the Bogen 3221 tripod with Arca Swiss B1 head was over my shoulder. I think I could have added a small 90 mm lens like the Angulon but I don't own one and my 90 mm Super Angulon was too large and heavy for this set up. This was a very nice setup for just walking around town or in a park or any kind of place where you didn't need the big back pack.

[Mike Mahoney]

Just got off a news site where they were describing the Marines going into Afghanistan with 100lb + packs - I'm sure some of them would get a kick out of us complaining about 10-20lb kits !!!

I used to help my friends bring quartered moose out of the woods ( 100lbs+, loose load )and got used to it.

My Arca Swiss Discovery kit went on many all day hikes with nothing more than the shoulder bag it came with. I am 6 feet, an unmuscular 175lbs, sit most of the day at a computer screen, smoke, and have made no attempt at physical fitness in my 46 years.

David, your time would be better spent in the field with your camera than home drilling holes !!!

[Kerry L. Thalmann]

Michael,

Funny you should mention this. I was up at Mt. Rainier for several days during the summer of 2000 shooting the wildflowers at Paradise. Every morning, a group of marines from Ft. Lewis would show up in the parking lot before sunrise, stra p on some REALLY heavy looking packs and start storming up the mountain at an in credible pace. I do a lot of hiking, I'm a big guy and I try to stay on decent shape. Most of the people that I hike with think I hike way too fast - especial ly uphill. Still, there is no way I could even begin to keep up with those mari nes. In terms of strength and stamina, they were just awesome to watch. It doe sn't suprise me to see them on the news lugging 100 lb. packs up the mounatins i n Afganistan. It's what they were trained for, and based on what I saw at Mt. R ainier - they are quite good at it.

WRT to pack weight. Even though I'm generally in pretty decent shape and capabl e of carrying a much heavier pack (I used to routiniely carry a 65 - 70 lb. back pack when backpacking), I still find the lighter pack weight beneficial. It let s me cover more ground in less time, and the less energy spent lugging a heavy p ack the more energy I have left for photography. By reducing the weight of both my camera gear and backpacking equipment, I've cut my total pack weight down to about 45 lbs. So, that's 20 - 25 lbs. lighter than what I used to carry. And, believe me, you will notice a difference after a long day on the trail.

Still, for most of my general purpose photography, I usually carry a much heavie r LF kit. I'm currently carrying a Linhof TK45S that weighs nearly 8 lbs., alon g with six lenses, etc. in a pack that weighs about 12 lb. empty. I've even car ried two cameras and a second tripod on several occasions. Sounds odd, but I on ly do it when I'm reviewing cameras or recently when testing several different f ilms (I wanted to be able to shoot multiple films at the same time, so it was ea sier with two cameras). Of course, often the second camera has been my little T oho, so that helps. I even did a couple fairly long dayhikes (8 - 10 miles) ear lier this year with both a 5x7 Lotus and a 4x5 Canham DLC (I was reviewing the L otus for a magazine article and shooting 4x5 with my Canham since I didn't have a reducing back for the Lotus).

So, even though I can, and do, carry heavier loads (but still not as heavy, or a t as brisk of a pace as the marines - hats off to 'em), I still enjoy the benefi ts of a lighter system when I can. Your last comment about getting out and taki ng pictures is very appropriate. On some days, when I just don't feel like I ha ve the energy to lug around a heavier 4x5 outfit, I just grab the little Toho ki t and hit the trail. It's so light that I don't even notice it's there. This n ear weightlessness occasionally helps me overcome the inertia of laziness and ge ts me out to take some pictures when I might otherwise be inclined to stay home. That alone makes the little Toho worth its weight in gold.

Kerry

[David Richhart]

Thanks for the posts guys. I know that I can buy another camera. If I wanted to go that direction, I would not be toying with an old wooden field camera. There is a lot of nice equipment produced these days...That was not the question that I posted.

I was just curious if there were any adventuresome fanatics who had seen fit to take the matter of weight into their own hands...

[neil poulsen]

I saw a Kodak Master 8x10 at a swap meet in which were neatly drilled scads of 1/4th to 3/8th inch holes, primarily in the front standard. The camera still appeared to be solid, yet it reduced the camera's weight by a significant amount.

Thinking at the time that I didn't need "another camera", and not realizing the value of these cameras, I opted not to purchase. The camera, in great shape with new bellows, with two backs (8x10 & 5x7), two 8x10 fresnals, and a reduction lens board sold for $500. (Aaarrgh.)

[Mat Nikon]

Where can I buy a llama? B&H dont seem to have them in stock.