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Thread: CARBON INFINITY CAMERA 5"X4"

  1. #1

    CARBON INFINITY CAMERA 5"X4"

    Hi, is there anyone who can help me to find the company for this camera? On the Box is writet "CARBON INFINITY LIMITED in IPPLEPEN, NEWTON ABBOT, ENGLAN... but i can not find this kcompany.. It is a 5"x4"LRGE FORMAT CMERA anyone know anything about this Large-Format-Camera or about this Company? Any informations will be thanking...

  2. #2

    Join Date
    Aug 1998
    Posts
    89

    CARBON INFINITY CAMERA 5"X4"

    Hello

    As far as I'm aware, this company is no longer in business. They produced the Carbon Infinity around 5 years ago, but I think it was too expensive, and there is a limited market for this type of camera. If no one else can help, send me an eMAIL and I'll try to find out exactly what happened - I live in the UK and can speak to some of the previous dealers. I have seen one large format dealer advertising this camera recently.

    Regards

    David Nash

  3. #3

    Join Date
    Mar 1998
    Posts
    1,972

    CARBON INFINITY CAMERA 5"X4"

    It uses sinar/horseman lens boards and possiby bellows as well. It was an extremely well made and designed camera that is a hybrid field / monorail design. It was very expensive at the time. Ken Hansen Photographic in New York City was the last US distributor that I know of. Are you interested in selling or using?

  4. #4

    Join Date
    Nov 2001
    Posts
    2

    CARBON INFINITY CAMERA 5"X4"

    The Carbon Infinity 5x4 does not share anything in common with Sinar. All parts for the CI are unique. Since the company went out of business years ago, the camera and parts are extremely difficult to find. It has been rumored that less than 60 of these cameras have been manufactured and are extremely RARE!!!

  5. #5

    Join Date
    Mar 1998
    Posts
    1,972

    CARBON INFINITY CAMERA 5"X4"

    i was under the impression that it did use Sinar boards based on a distant memeory of seeing the Carbon Infinity at either the 1984 or 1990 Photo Expo in New York City. I must have been mistaken.

  6. #6

    Join Date
    Nov 2001
    Posts
    2

    CARBON INFINITY CAMERA 5"X4"

    I wish it did use sinar boards! I have the Sinar and the Carbon Infinity view cameras and the boards are totally different.

  7. #7

    CARBON INFINITY CAMERA 5"X4"

    Could anybody email me some pictures of a carbon infinity. I'm curious.

  8. #8

    CARBON INFINITY CAMERA 5"X4"

    If anyone wants a picture check out this one on eBay:

    http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1333532350

  9. #9

    CARBON INFINITY CAMERA 5"X4"

    Carbon Infinity the dream 4X5" view camera a technical, professional & personal assessment By Eduardo Castanho



    Imagine if Rolls Royce, Britain's iconic auto maker, had built only 60 cars in its entire corporate career, each totally state of the art and unsurpassed by any other maker - how much would each of these cars be worth? Such is the story of two gifted British designers, naval engineers and photographers as well, Adrian Thompson & Bruce Noble, who designed and built a grand total of 60 Carbon Infinity 4X5 view cameras... of which only twenty or so are not already in the hands of collectors and a few others. In 1989 Noble & Thompson, experts in advanced technological materials, titanium and carbon fiber among others, designed and produced a dream 4X5" view camera, and in September 1990 demonstrated their prototype at Photokina in Cologne, Germany. Three years later, only 60 Carbon Infinity cameras were built at their workshop in Devon, England by 3 skilled technicians plus the inventors themselves; and these 60 specimens of the ultimate in photographic high-tech were sold mostly in Japan, the United States, Germany, Italy and few other European countries, the price of this high-end camera - none higher - was in the first year of production - 1990 - nearly US $6,500 and after the second year US $4,750. Even today, nearly fifteen years after its introduction to the photographic market, little information is available about this extraordinary camera because Noble & Thompson went out of business in 1994 and, surprisingly, no other camera maker has attempted to outdo these British engineers at this game. Arca Swiss, a prominent 4X5 maker, recently launched its Misura Metal 4X5, which calls to mind - in appearance only - one of the Carbon Infinity's solutions: the self contained shell as part of the camera's body (probably inspired by the German made Linhof Technika). Although this latter camera's design was granted a design award in 2003, its outer metal shell is solely decorative and serves no functional photographic purpose; yet the Arca Swiss is much sought after by many photographers, who are not aware that Noble and Thompson designed the carbon fiber shell container for their Carbon Infinity in 1989, but integrated it into the camera's body, adding sturdiness to the camera and making an amazingly strong protective and even fancy case for it. We shall now describe this incredible 4X5" view camera in all its many avant-garde technical aspects. •

    Camera makers declare: A good and precise view camera should be yaw-free, be made of strong, use-and-weather-resistant materials, reliably sturdy, covering at least from 50mm to 360mm of bellows lengths, portable and, above all, light in weight and easy to carry, all of which Thompson & Noble combined in their Carbon Infinity: a 4X5" hybrid-view camera that weights only 3.75 Kg. - seven pounds - encased like a turtle in a self-contained indestructible hard shell case, made of carbon fibre. Eighty-five percent of this camera is made of carbon fiber, the other materials are titanium and aluminum alloy. The two British designers were so confident of their product's durability, that they initially marketed their cameras with a 25-year guarantee on both materials and workmanship and than, after first year of production: a lifetime guarantee. As both titanium and carbon fiber are oxidation free, the Carbon Infinity - true to its name - shows an incredible out-of-box aspect even after fifteen years of extensive use. Photographers who are accustomed to operate other titanium-body cameras are proud of their always-new look; and after so many positive characteristics to ponder, this question arises: If this was such a flawlessly built camera, what went wrong for Thompson & Noble's survival and their Carbon Infinity dream? The sole reason for the failure of their operation was and remains economic; they wasn't prepared for so-called global industry, where most corporations are into built-in obsolescence, caring little if at all about quality, craftsmanship and product life, their only corporate concern being low production cost and mass-market distribution, while the Carbon Infinity is at same time a camera for the future but an old-fashioned concept, too well designed and produced for these business-model times, where most products enjoy a life measured only in a few years...if that long. Carbon fiber is unaffected by changes in temperature and humidity, absolutely stable from -50º to 125º Fahrenheit, in addition to which titanium is one of the hardest and most lightweight materials available, extensively used in aerospace industries. Add to these characteristics two specialists in naval engineering, where endurance, lightness and precision are ultimate objectives, and you can assess for yourself the incomparable quality of the Carbon Infinity 4X5" view Camera.

    technical specifications • Movements: Carbon Infinity commands virtually unlimited movement, exceptional range and smooth operation, totally yaw-free (as previously indicated), exceeding those of any other studio-based camera, let alone foldable field camera. • Ease of use, folds easily into its own carbon fiber case, virtually indestructible. • Quick and easy to set up, unique configuration with helpful scales and six spirit levels, one at the top of each standard and two each on the front and rear frames. • All controls ergonomically positioned for manual, quick and easy adjustment. • Lens and bellows changes with simple snap in locking system. • 135mm, 150mm or even 210mm lens can be keep in the camera case when folded. • Absolutely corrosion free, durable and lightweight. • Base tilt, axial tilts, swing and shifts on both standards, exceed virtually all other cameras and lock securely with titanium clutches. Axial swings and tilts on the film plane. • Course and fine focusing on both front and rear standard are positive and lockable (quick push-button). • Lens tilts on technically correct nodal point of any lens. • Nodal point adjustment: 18mm. • Total rise and fall: 100mm. • Base tilt: 180º. • Axial swings and tilts: 360º. • Quick and simple ground-glass screen removable and international back (Graflock system) designed to take most accessories. • Exceptional bellows maximum extension: 540mm, allows using of 300mm lens with standard bellows. • Standard bellows extension: 30-540mm. • Exceptional wide-angle capability gives high degree of movement even with extremely wide-angle lenses (58mm), 30mm minimum distance between film plane and lensboard. • Focusing rails run smoothly on precision rail bearings. • Carbon fiber is three times stronger than steel and 40% lighter than aluminum. • Titanium and carbon fibre are unaffected by sand or even salt water, totally stable over an extremely wide range of roughest thermal environments as in deserts or in high mountains, stable in a temperature range of -50º to 125ºF. • Carbon Infinity is packaged in a high-styled, thick English black saddle leather shoulder bag. conclusion The Carbon Infinity is unquestionably radical and eminently courageous departure in view- camera design, which made it a truly 4X5" dream camera, meticulously crafted, ingeniously built in an ideal combination of strength and rigidity at the lowest possible weight. Despite these superlatives, it's an incredibly simple product of pure creative mechanics, arguably the last vestige of a time when technology reach the high standards it merits. (copyright2004byeduardo castanho) P.S.: pixs available, send an email ###

  10. #10

    Join Date
    Mar 1998
    Posts
    1,972

    CARBON INFINITY CAMERA 5"X4"

    If this was such a flawlessly built camera, what went wrong for Thompson & Noble's survival and their Carbon Infinity dream? The sole reason for the failure of their operation was and remains economic; they wasn't prepared for so-called global industry, where most corporations are into built-in obsolescence, caring little if at all about quality, craftsmanship and product life, their only corporate concern being low production cost and mass-market distribution, while the Carbon Infinity is at same time a camera for the future but an old-fashioned concept, too well designed and produced for these business-model times, where most products enjoy a life measured only in a few years...if that long.

    Oh baloney and hooie! The company failed because they never figured out how to market the camera and didn't have enough financing, and for no other reason. Yes it is a great camera (I have used one -- once and a long time ago. But you can't pin the failure of the CI on anyone outside of the company. And there are Arca-Swiss and Sinar andd Linhof cameras built 30-40 years ago which are still going strong.And a lifetime warranty with no company to back it up is worse than no warranty at all.

    Having said that, should the camera be revived? Absolutely.

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