.... not the political kind!

I am getting ready to make another 4x5 camera. I haven't been happy with the finish and fit of the Cherry wood camera (Aletta design) that I built last spring so I have some Maple for the next go-round and the Cherry camera will become the basis for my 4x5 enlarger.

Since I do "Old West Reenacting", I have been studying the cameras built before 1900 and will build something that "looks old" (though I am not about to give up modern film and chemistry - I am not safe around explosive or poisonous chemicals!). I wish to retain the EFFECTS of the movements of modern cameras.

When I look at the movements of modern LF cameras, most have up/down, left/right, and rotation for both the front and rear of the camera and everything uses front and rear standards to accomplish this.

When I look carefully at what these combinations of movements accomplish, it seems that the same effects could be obtained if the front and rear camera elements simply had tilt and rotation, tilting or rotating the bed to provide the vertical and horizontal offsets.

Am I missing something here?

I realize that rotating and tilting the bed would be less convenient but I can't see where any effects would be lost.

Comments?