Wista Imitation?

[adweed]

I saw this wooden field camera camera listed on eBay as a Wista 4x5 but it doesn't look like any Wista I've seen. Any ideas on what make this camera really is?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Wista-4x5-Field-Camera-Field-45-/140669478989?pt=Film_Cameras&hash=item20c08de84d#ht_500wt_1413

[Jason Greenberg Motamedi]

It is a Wista, just an older one.

[adweed]

Are you sure it's a Wista? I thought Wista always used brass metal parts, not chrome. Also the design that locks the camera together when it is folded is different than what I've seen on a Wista 45DX that is thirty years old. This camera's bellows extension scale is black with white markings, Wista engraves the scale into the brass.

[Kirk Gittings]

It looks like a rebadged Tachihara to me. Didn't Wista do that for awhile way back in like 1980?

[Jason Greenberg Motamedi]

I had a Wista like this about 25 years ago, and at the time it was about 10 years old, so Kirk may be correct...

[BradS]

As others have said. It is an older Wista. Note that the lens is also an older Sironar not the newer Sironar-N

[Brian Ellis]

In one of the questions and answers at the bottom of the listing there's an extensive answer from the seller about the camera make in response to a prospective buyer's question as to whether it's a Wista or not. He says it has a Wista decal on it.

[BradS]

In one of the questions and answers at the bottom of the listing there's an extensive answer from the seller about the camera make in response to a prospective buyer's question as to whether it's a Wista or not. He says it has a Wista decal on it.

It can be seen in the photo in fact.

[adweed]

The decal looks like it's attached to the film holder, which could have come from another camera. The letters a pretty fuzzy too.

[Jason Greenberg Motamedi]

It sounds as if you really think this is an imitation. If so, you should not buy it.

[BradS]

The decal looks like it's attached to the film holder, which could have come from another camera. The letters a pretty fuzzy too.

yeah, ok...I grant that it could be a genuine Wista back on a Genuine Tachihara camera body - I don't think it is and frankly, I don't see why it matters. Even if it is a Wista back on a Tachihara body....so what? What's the big deal? The photo shows the item...you can see what you're bidding on - right? Bid accordingly or, better yet, just do not bid.

[BrianShaw]

... and what an impressive seller. He and his wife can't be much more forthcoming with information than they already are. Disclosing tiny staple holes - impressive.

[Brian Ellis]

The decal looks like it's attached to the film holder, which could have come from another camera. The letters a pretty fuzzy too.

There's no holder in the camera and the spring back behind which a holder would be inserted is in the horizontal position, whereas the decal is on the top of the camera. So if we're looking at the same decal I don't see how you could think it's attached to a film holder. But like Jason said, if we're worried about it we can just pass on the camera.

In response to Kirk's question, I don't know whether Wista made cameras for Tachihara or vice versa or not. There seem to be so many different permutations of one Japanese company making cameras for others and different labels being on the same camera that it's hard for a casual observer to keep up with it all. I will say that if I had been guessing about the make independently of what the seller says I'd have guessed a Tachihara too. It looks exactly like the old Tachihara a friend of mine used to have, before Tachihara switched to the brass-looking finish on the metal parts.

[Mark Sampson]

Looks exactly like the Tachihara I bought new in 1982. A fine camera.

[BradS]

I'm now the high bidder. :)

[Brian Ellis]

I'm now the high bidder. :)

On the decal or the camera? : - )

[meerkat]

Are you sure it's a Wista? I thought Wista always used brass metal parts, not chrome. Also the design that locks the camera together when it is folded is different than what I've seen on a Wista 45DX that is thirty years old. This camera's bellows extension scale is black with white markings, Wista engraves the scale into the brass.

It's an older Wista. Just like car mfgs, camera mfgs do change things over time. And it's not a Wista DX, it's a Wista Field 45. You can't base what you know about your Wista on a different model altogether.

I used to own one. They look like this. And it is what the individual has for sale on eBay. Buy it if you want it. Or don't.

http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll269/mystoragebin/wista.jpg

[Michael Jones]

And to add to the mix, as I recall Fred Picker sold the Field 45 camera at Zone VI in the late 70's...

Looks like an older Wista (as I've owned).

My two cents...

mj

[Frank Petronio]

It could be my first camera, in which case the provenance alone would make it worth $20K.

[adweed]

When I started this thread I emailed Wista in Japan for the history of this camera. Here is their reply:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thank you for using our camera and inquiring us.

These cameras were OEMed to Wista from Tachihara long long time ago.
We are not deal with this items at present.
Unfortunetly , I could't expalin more details.

Faithfully Yours

Wista Co.,LTD.
K.R.Matsuse/Overseas Dep.

[cdholden]

Someone once said the best compliment is imitation. If this is the case, Wista did it right more than once.
I recall seeing a Korean copy of the Wista 45 (metal field camera) on Ebay about six months ago.

[BradS]

I think the OP maybe less concerned about buying the one offered on eBay than he is about the value of a camera he'd like to sell.
For background info see this thread... http://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?t=84343

[adweed]

I am planning on selling my Wista and I saw this camera listed on eBay. I don't want to buy it, but it piqued my interest on whether this Wista was authentic.

[Mark Tweed]

I'm coming into this late, but I'll add a resounding yes to the question as to its Wista authenticity. I've owned the very same Wista Field 45 since the early 90's, and have the original box and instructions it was packed in.

Wista did offer this classic in chromed hardware and I myself prefer the look of it to its brass counterparts.


Mark

[Brian Ellis]

From Wista's response quoted in adweed's post it sounds to me like it's a Tachihara with a Wista label. Kind of like the old Calumet Woodfields which were Tachiharas with a Calumet label that Calumet sold for about $300 more than a Tachihara.