VDS 8X10 camera first impressions

[koh303]

Layton L-45A:Attachment 146952Attachment 146953Attachment 146954Attachment 146955

a blast from the past - is this directly related to this thread?

[John Layton]

Relates directly...yes - to each entry above mine on the 2nd page of this thread. Perhaps not to the OP's question...but more in response to the questions and suggestions about the possibilities of creating something new and innovative, "raising the bar," etc.

[koh303]

Relates directly...yes - to each entry above mine on the 2nd page of this thread. Perhaps not to the OP's question...but more in response to the questions and suggestions about the possibilities of creating something new and innovative, "raising the bar," etc.

is this camera currently being made or offered for sale? Where? What is the price?
What is innovating about it not found in any other camera?
If not being sold, then this is a theoretical comment.

[John Layton]

There's nothing theoretical about the L-45A. It exists. Its patented. This and the previous model have received industry awards (American Photographer's "Editor's Choice" Awards and Photo Plus Expo "Vision" Award). Nice Writeup in View Camera. Serious attention, with signed agreements, from both Linhof and Sinar (ultimately could not fit into either's "DNA" - so had to back out).

Very long, exhausting story about why its not currently on the market, but for now, I'm just trying to add to the general discussion about the possibility of something that's just a bit different than other offerings, by using my design as an example. So sorry if I have offended you in any way.

[koh303]

Very long, exhausting story about why its not currently on the market

Actually it seems its a very short one, i am not offended, but i do not see any innovation here, unless you can point them out, let alone, in something that never got made.
Many concept cars have very innovative aspects that never make it to market because of "reasons", none of which matters when you go to buy one and find none of those innovations are available.

[Laura_Campbell]

There's nothing theoretical about the L-45A. It exists. Its patented. This and the previous model have received industry awards (American Photographer's "Editor's Choice" Awards and Photo Plus Expo "Vision" Award). Nice Writeup in View Camera. Serious attention, with signed agreements, from both Linhof and Sinar (ultimately could not fit into either's "DNA" - so had to back out).

Very long, exhausting story about why its not currently on the market, but for now, I'm just trying to add to the general discussion about the possibility of something that's just a bit different than other offerings, by using my design as an example. So sorry if I have offended you in any way.

That's sad to hear. What about crowdfunding? I'm an optimist. I've seen others raise funds for new cameras. Have you considered a crowdfunding option?

[Andrew Plume]

Yes, I have the edition of VC where it was reviewed, very rigid and beautiful, from memory the price was a lot higher than what was around at the time, even though the rigidity was I'm sure far superior

andrew

[europanorama]

Drew - based on what I can find on the Catlabs site it looks to be $2,200 for the camera. That's a pretty impressive price point for 8x10.

While it's nice to see there's enough demand out there to warrant new camera entrants, I have to be honest and say I wish some of these would really offer something new or "better" from a design perspective. Looking at the various offerings, it really doesn't seem like there's much innovation or improvement besides the obsession with weight. A few newer materials used sparingly here and there, but mostly the same old same old.

price is almost identical to argentum II. it looks like its argentum inside. but i have no details. dont know difference to argentum. AII is custom-made. aka for catlabs.
look at the prices. 1990 euros only body. 2500 usd with lens and holders at catlabs. = good price.
vds-website still offline.

[Vaughn]

Very beautiful camera, John.

There have been a very large amount of innovation in design and in the use of new materials with view cameras. The Horseman "L" standards were a departure from the norm. Designing field cameras to easily and safely fold must be an interesting puzzle to work on! But form needs to follow function, so there is a limit I suppose on what can be achieved in a field camera.

I particularily like my simple Gowland PocketView (I just carried it around for 6 days backpacking). No bell or whistles. But weighs 2.5 pounds with the 150mm/5.6 on it. It does 'fold up', but certainly not into a safe shell-like configuration. And turning the camera on its side for horizontals is not everyone's cup of tea -- and there's no back shift or rise/fall on mine. But if weight and space in the pack were no issue, I would have taken the 8x10!

I'll be curious to see the VDS 5x7 if there is one.

[Oren Grad]

I'll be curious to see the VDS 5x7 if there is one.

There is an album showing the 5x7 model on the builder's Facebook site:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?...7840843&type=3