Shutters!?!

[Paramount bokeh]

Hi folks - I have been offered a Heliar lens with a no 5 shutter. However, the 5x4 camera i am thinking of buying (Horseman LE - are Horseman Japanese or German/Swiss?) according to a technical website, can only take lenses with 0 or 1 shutters.

Can somebody explain this pls - and would there be a way of adapting to take the 5 shutter?

Thank you.

[Steve Hamley]

Horseman is Japanese and the LE is a studio camera and can take the #5 shutter, it has 140mm lens boards. It's the folding technical/field cameras that have a small board.

http://www.jafaphotography.com/horseman_le45.htm

Cheers, Steve

[Paramount bokeh]

hi Steve, thanks for this. How does the Horseman LE stack up against say the Sinar X or an equivalent Arca Swiss?

[Steve Hamley]

I'm not a monorail expert, so I can't answer your question from a technical standpoint. I'm using a Sinar Norma to shoot large lenses on 4x5, but there isn't anything magic about it except it's a good looking camera that can be had for a reasonable price. If your looking for portability a Sinar F, F1, or F2 might be a good choice.

If you're wanting to do other things, Sinar is a good choice because it's a modular system and unlike the Arca there are a ton of used parts out there at reasonable prices.

Cheers, Steve

[sultanofcognac]

the Arca Swiss and Sinar cameras are both originally Swiss, and the older Arcas are fantastic cameras - I have a model A Basic that I've dragged to the field many a back-breaking time (actually, I use an Eckla Multi-Rolly). It's a great camera and parts are relatively easy to find - I've never had a problem - although not as prevalent as Sinar bits. You find more people jumping the Sinar ship than the Arca.

Oddly enough, I just bought a Shen Hao 4 x 5 for field work (and am awaiting its arrival) - I no longer have the lust to drag the big guns out as often as I used to (have a Plaubel 8 x 10 which almost requires a moving truck).

Arca Swiss is also a modular system - I'd suggest doing some web research to find what would fit your needs.

Then before you actually buy something, look into backpack/trolley systems. I have a few tamrac packs and a domke outpack, but often put them onto my Multi-Rolly if I'm not going too far from the truck.

http://www.eckla.de/english/multirolly.html

How you comfortably get your gear to the shoot is directly related to what you didn't bring to save weight/space.

Good luck,

Johnny

[Paramount bokeh]

Hi Steve and Johnny -thanks for the advice. I won't be using the camera in the field, purely for studio portraits. I use Hasselblad mainly, but want to make the jump to 5x4, with a view to 8x10.... so any camera i buy will be with this aim in mind.

I have found a good looking Horseman LE at a good price, but all my photographer friends (professional car photographers swore by Sinar in the good old film days before d****** came along).

I quite fancy a Norma, but am open to anything which will give me the flexibility. One dealer suggested i go straight to 8x10 as the cost of upgrading is about the same as buying a complete 8x10 - but i am not so sure. I think 5x4 would be quite a good starting point.

Anyone have any comments?

Thanks guys

[Lachlan 717]

If you've done little or no LF shooting, then the Horseman will do everything you could want.

Most LF cameras can do 90%+ of anything any user would want; the differences down to the very small things and simple aesthetics in my opinion.

Out of the Horseman, the Sinar and the Arca, I would suggest getting the cheapest. You'll need to put money into the other "stuff" like lens, film, film holders, cable release, dark cloth etc...

[Joshua Dunn]

Paramount Bokeh,

If you want to be able to do 8x10 someday then get a 4x5 camera that can be converted to 8x10. But in reality you just need to start with a 4x5 and see how it goes, you may throw out all of your other cameras, or the 4x5, depending on how you like it. I shoot 99% of my work with the Sinar system and highly recommend it. I have a Horseman LE and don’t recommend it unless you can get one really inexpensively. They are heavy, almost three times what a Sinar weighs. They use Sinar lens boards but that is the only accessory you commonly find for them. The Sinar F and P series are upgradeable to 8x10 should you ever go that route.

If I were you, I would start with a Sinar F2. They are fairly light, extremely versatile relatively cheap on the big auction site. They are well engineered and are capable of performing critical studio work. As others have mentioned there are always parts and accessories available for them at decent prices to meet your needs.

[Ken Lee]

Do Horseman and Sinar cameras take the identical lens board ?

[John T]

If you look at the video of Ansel Adams (I think it is the 4th one down) from:
http://www.anseladams.com/content/ansel_info/anseladamsvideos2.html#bbc1

You will see he is working with a Horseman similar to an LE-same L bracket support. Also to address Joshua's comments on the weight of the camera, it might actually be an advantage in the studio to have that excess weight since the OP is looking at some larger lenses-especially if he gets into the larger Veritos and other portrait lenses.


Do Horseman and Sinar cameras take the identical lens board ?

Yes. They may even take the same bellows.

[Jim Galli]

That Heliar is a grand lens. Make the camera fit the lens, and not vice versa. Lots of great cameras that can handle a No. 5 shutter easily.