Littman versus other Polaroid Conversions

[Richard Johnson]

Is there a reason these Littman Polaroid conversions are so expensive compared to the Razzle or Alpenhaus cameras?

https://www.facebook.com/Littman45Si...ArteCollection

Who buys these things? Isn't it still just a wonky old plastic Polaroid underneath?

[Daniel Stone]

Brad pitt was given one by Angelina a few years ago, IIRC...

I have an Alpenhause, it works great. Steve put a 150W Fujinon on the front for me(I supplied the lens), and made a custom focusing cam for that specific lens. I've used mine with regular film holders, grafmatics and even a Polaroid 405(6x9 packfilm) instant back. Works great with all of them, since it has the low-profile spring back.

-Dan

[vinny]

yes. Have you seen what attorneys are charging per hour these days?

[HeinrichVoelkel]

cool, it starts all over again.

[Drew Bedo]

Richard:

Please , PLEASE read the thread(s) on just this subject, both here and on photo DOT net, from 2003 through maybe 2010 before persuing this thread any further.

[jnantz]

Lol

just look for all caps!!!!!

[Len Middleton]

Interesting the OP's choice of subject line line "Littman versus..."

[richardman]

There must be a billion threads on this. To save you the trouble, the executive summary is that Littman has some kind of patent and of course claims that his mods are the best etc. and he had supposedly threatened to take other converters to court. I have not seen any evidence that any case that actually gone to court though. The facts that anyone can buy from Razzle Dog, Alpenhause, Polaconversion and a few other handful of converters today should speak to the effectiveness of that campaign.

As for quality, any of the "known converters" seem to do quality jobs. The difference seems to have to do with certain features and the paint job.

[Drew Bedo]

Richard:
There was a guy in the far-east (Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Cong?) who did a really impressive job of remanufacturing these cameras. He went by the name of Bryon for marketing here. He had two clips on YouTube showing the lens mounting system and the film loading system. Don't know if he is still around.

The "Saber" camera from Chamonix in China is also a remanufactured Polaroid and seems to be a solid camera.

The market place niche for these cameras is definitely there to be filled. Photographers want, buy and use these cameras. But it is a relatively small part of the LF arena of photography; which is, itself a specialty market. If there was real demand, someoe would be making a completely new camera based on the X-Pan, Mamya-7 or Leica-M designs, but blown-up and specifically designed for 4x5. I even think that a 4x5 based on the Polaroid SX-70 SLR could be designed as anew camera. . . .but the demand is just not there for a new camera.

[photonsoup]

Who buys these things? Isn't it still just a wonky old plastic Polaroid underneath?

I bought an Alpehause. If you think the old Polaroid roll film cameras that are used in these conversions are wonky plastic, you've never hefted one! They are solid metal and heavy, I haven't weighed mine, but it's probably heavier than my Crown Grafics. I definatly like the rangefinder/viewfinder better on the Polaroid 900 or 110b. If you base one one any other model, stick with the Graphics. They are less money, more readily available, easier to change lenses on, and for me, slightly more ergonomically friendly.