bad back = get a light weight 4x5" camera

[AtlantaTerry]

I have been having bad back issues that do not seem to be getting better as I approach my 70th birthday.

I am thinking of getting a smaller / light weight field design 4x5" camera to add to my Cambo system.

Pair the back pain with the theft of my 4x5" Crown Camera kit that needs to be replaced. (Camera, 135mm f/4.7 Wollensak, 150mm f/5.6 Fujinon and 240mm f/6.8 TeleCongo + some sheet film holders and dark cloth in a beat up old Graflite case.)

The lenses I still have are a 75mm f/6.3 Komura Super-W, 90mm f/4.5 Nikkor-SW, 210mm f/5.6 Schneider Symmar-S and 300mm f/5.6 Rodenstock Sironar-N.

I like the majority of my lenses to be mounted on Crown Graphic lens boards so they will fit directly on the Graphic body or the Cambo with an adapter. The only lenses not mounted on Crown boards are the very wide (75mm and 90mm) or very large/long (300mm), those three are on Cambo boards.

The main work I use a 4x5" camera for are portraits, products (advertising) and architectural in that order.

I'm thinking of getting a light weight camera for the out of studio work (which would mainly be portraits) using the 210mm and 300mm lenses along with replacements for the 150mm and 240mm lenses.

To lighten my load out of the studio, I would carry the camera, Sekonic meter + dark cloth in one case, film holders in a second case and the lenses in a third. Right now I have the Cambo with a regular and bag bellows, compendium, right angle finder, 90mm, 210mm, 300mm, cable releases and Sekonic meter all in one large case that is now almost impossible for me to lift. (Gee, I wonder why?)

A lighter weight camera would also allow me to use my normal Gitzo tripod instead of the heavier video tripod with fluid head that I currently use with the Cambo. So that is some additional weight saved.

So I'm asking the church assembled to testify as to what I might want to be looking for in way of a decent light weight 4x5" camera. Names I have read around here include Tachihara, Wista, Shen Hao, Chamonix, etc. Wing's Camera here in Atlanta has a used Sinar system which if was just the camera might be interesting but this particular kit includes a bunch of lenses in DB shutters so the total cost is more than I want to spend.

Or maybe I should just find a replacement Crown/Speed Graphic and use that. I was thinking of the Speed to replace the stolen Crown because I have been building some soft focus lenses for my portrait work and the focal plane shutter would be put to good use.

I would also like a Speed Graphic because sourcing an Aero Ektar is on my bucket list. But the AE might go on an unused 4x5" R.B. Super D Graflex (circa 1947) that is sitting on a shelf waiting for a lens.

BTW, I do own another Crown lens board adapter that I could attach to the light weight camera's regular lens board.

Do any of the light weight cameras have interchangeable bellows if I need a bag bellows or extra long one? What about a compendium?

Your thoughts and opinions, please.

Thank you.
Terry

[Old_Dick]

Hi Terry,


I realize you are looking for a lighter camera, but have you given any thought to a lighter tripod? I believe many people here have lighten their load with a carbon-fiber tripod. Just one step on making things easier.

[AtlantaTerry]

Hi Terry, I believe many people here have lightened their load with a carbon-fiber tripod.

I had not considered a carbon-fiber tripod as part of a lighter kit. Thanks, I may look into that.

[djdister]

A Crown Graphic is lighter than a Speed Graphic (no focal plane shutter), so that could work except when using lenses longer than 300mm. In addition to some of the lightweight wood 4x5 folders, there is the Canham DLC.

[Alan Gales]

Terry, I have owned a Tachihara. They are extremely lightweight and have a really bright screen. The thing is that for the price they are going for, you could buy a used Chamonix which is also lightweight but sturdier. You could also look at a Shen Hao but again I think the Chamonix is more for your money.

I've also owned a Crown Graphic which is a fine camera but a little heavier and lacks back movements. It all depends upon what your needs are.

I feel for you. I had a back fusion back in December of 1994. Over the years it slowly gets worse. I shoot a Wehman 8x10 but I don't go far from my Jeep. If I do very much walking I'm carrying my Fujifilm X-100s.

[Alan Gales]

I had not considered a carbon-fiber tripod as part of a lighter kit. Thanks, I may look into that.

My buddy Harold owns a Gitzo carbon fiber tripod with Gitzo pan tilt head. He uses it with his Toyo 45A and his medium format cameras including a Pentax 6x7. I've picked the thing up and it is feather light!

[Old_Dick]

I forgot to mention, helium filled bellows . I believe someone had mentioned that one already, Drew maybe?

[Alan Gales]

Drew maybe?

You know it!

[Alan Gales]

This is my camera bag. http://www.amazon.com/Klein-Tools-55...eeled+tool+bag

It keeps the weight on the ground and not on my shoulder or shoulders.

[Peter Lewin]

Amateur bicycle racers used to calculate the $/ounce of weight savings; the equivalent in photography is to figure out how much it would cost to save a pound of tripod versus a pound of camera (I don't know the answer, but it is relevant to the decision whether to get a CF tripod versus a lighter folder). I have owned a Wista (the ZoneVI modified version) and currently a Canham DLC. The Wista had fixed bellows but was lighter; the Canham has interchangeable bellows (although the bag bellows is very costly ) weighs a bit more, but is in my opinion a better all-around camera (but like everything, at a cost). A different option which has popped up in the For Sale section twice recently is a pocket Gowland, a super-light monorail. Of the cameras I have handled but never owned, the Chamonix seem very nice.

But as an aside, at 68 I have also become more conscious of weight, and even with my light Canham, a CF Gitzo, the pack with all of the necessary items feels pretty heavy; my hunch is that even playing the weight-saving games we all try, each saving is a relatively small percentage of the whole, or phrased differently, LF is never going to be really light weight.