Need 4x5 camera recommendations (for use with Linhof lens boards)

[Greg]

I've had and used many 4x5s ranging from a very old Calumet to a new Linhof Technika but always ended up liking the Sinar Norma best. They can be had for amazingly reasonable prices on EBay. Small systems seem like the best bargains. Used wide angle bellows are always available. I picked up an Arca-Swiss rigid reflex finder for little money and easily adapted it to the Sinar and later found a binocular Sinar reflex finder. Arca-Swiss for the road and Sinar for around the house. Sinar f series are compact and light but at a cost (still are excellent cameras). P variants work like a dream but not exactly portable. FYI: Fred Picker from The Zone VI Workshop used a Sinar Norma. Had many a conversation with him and he swore by (not at) it.

Also look for hidden bargains... Found one on EBay that was in a studio fire and I bought it for almost nothing. I looked very closely at the images of it and determined that it had only superficial smoke damage. Hint was that the bellows were undamaged by heat. 2 evenings of cleaning it up and it looked absolutely like new!!!

http://www.glennview.com/sinar.htm contains a whole lot if info about the system

Some things to look out for:
Bellows with pinholes are easily repairable
Chinese Linhof boards and board adapters vary in quality.
Make sure all the bubble levels are full of liquid.
Make sure the black caps on top of the standards (4 of them) are there. Those little caps, vertical extensions for the standards, and front lens hood pieces are getting to be rare and are demanding high prices.

Good luck and remember whatever camera you acquire, the lens determines the image quality and you frame the image... the camera body only is a light tight, hopefully rigid, box.

Greg

[Andrew]

Why is your lens inside the camera body? Isn't it mounted on the 001015 recessed Comfort lens board?

should have said that it's on a flat board [which is OK on another camera]

[Noah A]

As someone who also uses a Technika (I love my MT2000), I recommend you look around for a deal on a Technikardan S. If you're patient you can find a one for a good price. It's an amazing camera!

I sold mine a year ago, but I regretted it and I just bought a new (used) one. It's a great camera and it complements the Technika very well. Along with the lensboard, it also uses the same groundglass back, focus hood and other accessories.

They're easy to find for around $2k but if you're patient you can find one for $1100-1400.

[epines]

yes, but...
if you point the whole camera up then use the tilts to straighten up the front and rear standards you have effectively generated front rise without using the front rise function [same effect for front fall and lateral shift if you swing both front and rear standards to make them parallel after you point the camera at the subject]
you do the same trick with many wooden field camera so they don't really need dedicated movements for rise/fall/shift on both standards because you just use the tilt and swing to get the same effect
it's a bit clunky with the Technika, and esp with wide angles because the back has to come out away from the film to get the movements happening, so it depends on how much you think you need

Andrew -- thanks for the various posts. Yes, the Technika's rear standard can certainly be used for indirect displacement in this way, giving potentially more shift / rise / fall. The reason I need dedicated rear shift / rise / fall, where that movement happens only via the rear standard, is so I can stitch (while keeping the lens in one spot).

[Bob Salomon]

Andrew -- thanks for the various posts. Yes, the Technika's rear standard can certainly be used for indirect displacement in this way, giving potentially more shift / rise / fall. The reason I need dedicated rear shift / rise / fall, where that movement happens only via the rear standard, is so I can stitch (while keeping the lens in one spot).

There is a shift back from Linhof for the Master. If you are feeling flush and want to use roll film. In the past there was also one for 45 but it did not do stitching.