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Thread: Tachihara history?

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  1. #1
    Dave Carroll
    Join Date
    Jun 2009
    Location
    Knoxville, TN
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    28

    Talking Tachihara history?

    Hi all,

    Yesterday I picked up a really nice Tachihara field camera for a ridiculously cheap price from a local Craigslist listing. I spent a couple of hours last night cleaning it all up, tightening screws, etc., and I'm really pleased with it.

    I know it's not very important, but I was trying to find out a little about the history of Tachihara. I realise they are not made any more, but I wondered if anyone has any more information on when they started building cameras, and possibly any details on determining the age of a '45 Feil Stand'? I found some references to a serial number, but the examples I have seen given were a date-type code, wheras mine is simply two digits. Also, photos I've seen of the same model camera appear to have a few minor differences to mine (it has a clasp type fitting to lock the camera closed, as opposed to a pin and hook type that I see on most others). I am guessing mine could be an earlier model. I also noticed that the fresnel is marked 'Wista', not Tahcihara.

    Anyway, if anyone has any thoughts, I would be grateful to hear them!

    Cheers,

    Dave

  2. #2

    Join Date
    Sep 2003
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    Massachusetts USA
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    Re: Tachihara history?

    The company is still in business. See their web site here.

    The site is in Japanese, but Google Translate will help with any text it finds there. Some of the links and buttons are actually image files, and it won't translate those.

  3. #3

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    Re: Tachihara history?

    I have both a Tachihara 4x5, circa year 1999 and a Tachihara 5x7, circa 2010. Both are fine, but very differernt cameras.

    The 4x5 is a competent camera, lightweight, and quite nice for backpacking. The bellows is on the short side and a 300mm lens, in my experience, is the practical limit for the camera. I use a 300mm Nikkor on mine but often with a short "top hat" extension tube to allow focus at less than infinity. When I plan to do some shooting any distance from the car, the 4x5 Tachihara is the camera that goes into the backpack.

    The 5x7 Tachihara, a rare bird it would seem, from the number of posts on this forum, is something else again. It is NOT a scaled up 4x5, rather, it is a scaled-down 8x10. It is relatively heavy, rigid, robust, and completely competent in the field. When I shoot a distance from the trailhead, I tote this camera on wheels with a Sherpacart - a heavyish tripod isn't a bad idea as well. The camera could use a longer bellows but, IMHO does most things quite well.

    A 450mm lens is about as long as I've found practical - a 19 inch Artar will work for a distant subject.

    I do note that the bellows on both the 4x5 and 5x7 Tachihara are prone to wrinkling (that is to say, mashing ) the bellows when the camera is folded.

  4. #4
    Moderator
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    8,640

    Re: Tachihara history?

    Ah, Ken beat me to it by a few seconds. Anyway, they've used the name "Fielstand" (フィルスタンド) for their 4x5 cameras for a long time, so that's not going to be much help in dating it.

  5. #5

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    Oregon now (formerly Austria)
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    Re: Tachihara history?

    ... and the Fresnel you have is from Wista, a different company that also makes field cameras. It should work just fine.

    Best,

    Doremus

  6. #6
    Octogenarian
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    Re: Tachihara history?

    Midwest Photo Exchange in Columbus, Ohio is a distributor for Tachihara cameras.

    See: www.mpex.com

  7. #7
    Dave Carroll
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    Jun 2009
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    Knoxville, TN
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    Re: Tachihara history?

    Thanks for all the info so far! I had read in various places about Tachihara not producing cameras any more. That'll teach me not to believe everything I read on the internet

    I really is a lovely little camera, and coming from a Speed Graphic, so light!

  8. #8

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    Re: Tachihara history?

    Quote Originally Posted by djcphoto View Post
    I really is a lovely little camera, and coming from a Speed Graphic, so light!
    Ditto - I had one and sold it - then got another one several years later.

  9. #9
    Land-Scapegrace Heroique's Avatar
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    Re: Tachihara history?

    Quote Originally Posted by djcphoto View Post
    ...so light!
    3.8 lbs. – great for lugging up your nearby Great Smoky Mountains!

    And I think the older version was even lighter.

  10. #10
    Dave Carroll
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    Re: Tachihara history?

    Quote Originally Posted by Heroique View Post
    3.8 lbs. – great for lugging up your nearby Great Smoky Mountains!

    And I think the older version was even lighter.
    Exactly what I have in mind!

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