Phlips makes cameras from MDF and they are some of the best cameras around. I have a Gandolfi 8x10, gotten at a good price, but I would trade it for a philips in a second if I had the money. Gandolfis are good cameras, but have too many knobs and lever for my taste.
I know of no Phillips cameras using MDF. Both my 4x5 and 8x10 have bases composed of wood/fiberglas/epoxy sandwiches. The backs appear to be solid wood (species unknown to me; finished black).
epoxy/fiberglass/wood, isnt that the same as MDF? regardless, they are not all wooden cameras. I suspect MDF is not a bad choice either.
MDF is lots of fine wood chips/dust in a formaldehyde-based resin. It's dense and heavy. Phillips uses a sandwich of solid wood and fiberglas mesh bound by epoxy. It's light, rigid and I've never been able to detect formaledhyde outgassing.
Just to calibrate the sensitivity of my schnozz, when opening kitchen drawers in my eleven-year old house, I can still detect formaldehyde fumes from particle board below the plastic laminate finish surfaces.
Pete,
To answer your question: I own, and have owned many LF cameras, in three formats, made of several combinations of metal and wood. A rosewood Wista, a teakwood Shen Hao, a couple of mahogany Wisners, an Ebony wood Ebony, and several cherry wood Tachiharas. I love wooden
folding flatbed cameras. However, I have never owned a camera made of MDF or ABS. Perhaps someday I will.
Cindy (if you're still out there),
I don't know how we got off the subject of helping you choose a camera. But, if I remember correctly, in your original post a few weeks ago, you stated that you prefered a metal field camera over a wooden field camera.
Not to serve as a broker for the deal, but Scot Fleming has been trying to sell his Toyo AII for the past few months. He has advertised it for sale several times in the photo.net classifies. I'll bet you could get a sweet deal on that camera, if you really tried. Teamed up with a used Fuji 135W from Midwest, that combination of camera and lens would fill your needs and save you a bundle of money.
well, I bought MDF for my UV light box and it is certainly not wood chip particles. It is layers of birch glued together. It does not have fiber glass, but it would do a good job for a camera. Heavy, but it would be a good choice.
Jorge,
What you are describing (layers of birch glued together) is plywood. MDF is an abbreviation for Medium Density Fiberboard. Here's a link to a description of this material and a list of it's strengths and weaknesses.
http://www.design-technology.org/mdf.htm
Based on this thread, we have no idea what the original poster plans to photograph or how they want to photograph it. It seems a bit premature to discuss what brand or type of camera she should get, let alone what it's made out of.
Kerry
Kerry,
Click on Cindy's name. Her previous posts will appear, beginning with her original post on Sept. 29th. She mentions what she plans to photograph and what lenses her professors have recommended. She also states her reason for wanting a metal camera.
I am a professional woodworker and I am getting ready to build a 5 x 7 with a 4 x 5 reducing back out of Mahogany. I wouldn't even consider MDF. I don't know what kind of finish is on the Gandolfi to protect it but it had better be good. MDF, when moisture gets in is like a sponge. All finishes allow moisture to pass through, albeit at varying rates.
chris f
Chris, the MDF used by Gandolfi is a marine variant - as used in the hulls of ocean going yachts I believe...
Having said that, it *is* heavy and the Variant is also quite large compared to other similar field cameras, adding to the weight.
I would certainly prefer the wood version on aesthetic grounds, if nothing else.
Cheers,
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