Want a monorail - which one?

[John Layton]

For a monorail that is (somewhat) old and historic, while still booting it out of the park and then some, you should really look at a Sinar Norma.

[Drew Wiley]

The sheer abundance of Sinar gear, interchangeability of components, and great versatility of the cumulative system makes it awfully tempting. Just realize the P and X cameras will be much heavier than F's, and that condition is everything with old gear. Don't buy the old entry level F+ because it has an inferior front standard. But I must confess that I've been converted to the original Sinar Norma, which does accept all my later Sinar accessories. I prefer the way it handles in
the field, but it does not have the yaw-free features of the F, C, and P series which came afterwards, which can indeed be useful with tabletop studio applications
where there camera is pointed downward in relation to an even plane.

[Luis-F-S]

Hard to beat a Sinar F2. I have three; two for parts and extra bellows! L

[moltogordo]

Hard to beat a Sinar F2. I have three; two for parts and extra bellows! L

A real concerted case has been made for a Sinar F2 - I'm definitely interested. Now all I need is the patience!

I have two lenses and only need to purchase a 210, so I guess saving up a couple of hundred extra would be the thing to do. What I find attractive about this idea is that I wouldn't mind trying my hand at 5x7 or 8x10 one day!

Thanks for all your input, guys!!

[Peter Lewin]

I was curious, so I looked over on the KEH.com website. They have a Sinar F body for sale for $149 in what they call "excellent" (ex) condition. I have seen the number of posts warning against the early "F" (as opposed to the later F1 and F2) bodies because of the weaker front standard. On the other hand, I owned an early "F" and never had a problem, but admittedly I bought it new, and sold it before I may have had problems (an earlier post mentioned the plastic failing). On the other hand, since parts are reasonably available, it would be one way to get into the system, and upgrade/replace parts as needed. Understand that I have no connection with KEH, nor do I know anything about the particular example they are selling. My point is that the cameras come up with some frequency, and it is up to you what model you hold out for. I also looked (you know, curiosity!) at eBay, and they had quite a few F2s available, but all at much higher ($600-$800) prices.

[Ari]

You are already set on the Sinar, but I'd like to point out that the Toyo G/GII series are fully modular as well, offering easy 5x7 and 8x10 compatibility.
That said, you can't go wrong with either system, the important thing is to get out there and burn film.

[Old-N-Feeble]

Yes, the Toyo 45G series are built like armored tanks, have all geared movements and are completely modular. If you find a nice 45GX or Robos in your price range you can't go wrong. If you don't need base tilt then a 45G or 45GII are fantastic too and are usually less pricey.

[moltogordo]

You are already set on the Sinar, but I'd like to point out that the Toyo G/GII series are fully modular as well, offering easy 5x7 and 8x10 compatibility.
That said, you can't go wrong with either system, the important thing is to get out there and burn film.

Not set on the Sinar - the Toyo G also has gone up a step with the 5x7 or 8x10 conversion possibilities.


While I'm saving up for the right time and deal, I'll certainly be burning up film!! As a matter of fact, I present to you my first large format shot in over 8 years. The negative is excellent, but this is a very poor scan from a flatbed scanner. I did a couple of shoots this week in both my music studio and in a wilderness area. I've developed the negatives (all shot on my Linhof shown in this post, with the Super Rollex 6x7 rollfilm back). I almost always scan a print (I'm an avid printer, and simply like doing it that way), but haven't had any darkroom time this month. So I made this lousy scan - had problems with contrast and dirt on the scanner, and it's not my best processing job, but I was pretty excited to finally get some images from the Linhof after 8 years on the darkside.

While I'm saving dough, this should be a great time to get to know the Linhof, my Rollex and 6x9 Horseman backs, and the 10 Fidelity holders I have in the basement, eh? After all, this is good equipment and I'm lucky to have it. I'm also waiting on a box each of Foma 200 and 400 film, although I do have about 20 sheets of TMax 100 and about the same of HP5 buried in the freezer somewhere.

This is Gladys, my trombone student, and the Principal Trombonist in the Northern Orchestra of British Columbia, which I conduct. The picture was shot on my Linhof Color Kardan, 150mm Zeiss f4.5 Linhof Select, Linhof Rollex 6x7 back, HP5 film in HC110 at 1:63, 11 minutes. 1/10th at f5.6

[Jim Jones]

Moltogordo -- If a 5x7 or larger camera is a possibility, starting with a modest 4x5 and adding the larger camera later seems more practical than starting with a camera that can be converted. Anyone who may own more than one LF camera should consider what lens boards may be used directly or with adaptors on all their cameras.

[Dan Fromm]

Jim, some monorail systems, for example Cambo, use the same front standard for 4x5, 5x7, and 8x10. To convert, say, a 4x5er to a larger size replace the 4x5 bellows with a tapered bellows (one end fits a 4x5 standard, the other fits the larger size) and one and the 4x5 rear standard with one of the larger size. All sizes use the same boards, same compendium hood, same rails, same tripod mounting block, ... I don't know whether the Sinar system does the same.

In theory this approach gives economies but I'm not convinced.