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View Full Version : Shen-Hao TFC-45, news and/or opinons?



Erik Sundstrom
5-Nov-2003, 09:51
Hi all,

Some time ago (a year or so) Shen-Hao came up with a copy (?) of Ebony SW45 called TFC-45 (http://www.shen-hao.com/11.htm). The French supplier Galerie Photo (http://www.galerie-photo.net) once had it on their site, but not any more. And I have not seen any other suppliers carry it, for example Badger Graphics.

The non-folding large format camera attracts me due to its light weight, wide-ange capabilities and easy to set up. But the price of the Ebony SW45 does not attract me... Therefore when I heard/read of the TFC45 I got quite excited, but where to get hold of one, or read about it? Have anyone of you seen a review or a store that stocks them? Or maybe some of you owns one and can share your opinions about the camera?

With best regards

/Erik Sundström

David Karp
5-Nov-2003, 11:00
The manufacturer still shows the camera on its website (www.shen-hao.com). Perhaps try contacting Jim at Midwest Photo Exchange or Jeff at Badger Graphics. Perhaps they can get one for you. I seem to remember someone mentioning once that they were getting a Shen Hao 8x10 from Midwest, but have not seen it advertised on their website, so maybe this is a possibility.

Marc Genevrier
5-Nov-2003, 13:25
Erik, I own a TFC-45 and will be pleased to answer all your questions. I was in the same situation as you and bought the TFC-45 right away. All in all, I'm very pleased with the camera, this really is the concept that fits my need. Build construction is fair, but not impressive, rigidity and robustness seem to me to be comparable to other brands. The bellows could be of greater flexibility, but since my shortest lens is a 75mmm, I can't tell whether that implies some limitation with shorter lenses or not. I use the camera with rollfilm holders and had no problem with it until now.

I recently had the opportunity to try an Ebony (another model, of the folding type), and except for the beauty of the materials and craftmanship, I was not impressed at all by the purely technical features (the ones that really matter when you take a picture...). In particular the rigidity of the back (quite a critical issue with the somewhat heavier rollfilm holders) was by no way better than with my camera.

By the way: Galerie-Photo still carries the TFC-45 but, as they wanted to list also Ebony cameras on their site, Ebony asked them no to offer Shen-Hao's TFC-45 publicly at the same time. But you can call or e-mail André Mouton (taos@wanadoo.fr), he had one on stock until recently. (André speaks and reads english)

Feel free to ask for more infos.

Marc

Erik Sundstrom
5-Nov-2003, 15:57
Thanks for the input both. Marc, good news! I was in contact with Galeri-Photo last winter, and thought it was strange when I looked at their webpage recently that the TFC45 was not listed. Could it be that Ebony demands that different stores are not "allowed" to sell Shen-Hao at if the want to sell Ebony? I have read the forum att f32.net (http://www.f32.net/) where they say that Robert White also stock and sell Shen-Hao, but the cameras are not listed on their website.

I will get back to you if I have a specific question about the camera.

Best regards.

Brian Ellis
5-Nov-2003, 16:43
I doubt very much that Ebony has the sales power to tell a retailer like Robert White that they can't list other competing cameras on their web sites. Usually the reason you can buy something from a retailer who doesn't advertise it is because the retailer doesn't carry the item in inventory. In other words, they can obtain it for you but they don't typically stock it.

e
5-Nov-2003, 23:53
Maybe it is because the Shen Hao is starting to look a little bit too much like the Ebony with the titanium and all. Seeing the cameras together on the same website... the customers might think ...whats up with the Ebonies pricing structure? Good chance given time, that the Shen Hao cameras might eventually cut real deep into Ebonies sales. Especially if the quality keeps going up at those reasonable prices which is certainly not outside the bounds of imagination. The Chinese are certainly capable of producing the high quality of the Ebonies products. It really is just a matter of time when they wish to go to that level.

Rob Barker
6-Nov-2003, 00:20
Robert White have a demo model of the non-folding Shen Hao.