Dear All:
I feel much appreciated for your generous suggestions and advices. To be frank, my large format experience is very limited to a used sinar f1 4x5 monorail, which happened to be available from our local dealer. My longest lens on 4x5 is 240mm which brings no problem at all for a metal monorail 4x5, steadiness or bellow length.
I know 8x10 is a different story. And, my motivation for finding a wood foldable is that my f1 monorail is difficult to fit into a backpack without decomposing a bit. So, I actually carry it in a pelican case without decomposing it to prevent me from breaking parts while assembling them in the field. (Sometimes, I do envy the portability of my friend's 4x5 wood foldable in the field...)
I usually shoot not too far by my car, within 15-20mins of walk. Regarding the long lens, I am not sure if the APO-Tele-Xenar 600mm will actually benefit from the shorter bellows extension, better optical quality and brighter ground glass, compared with Fujinon-C 600mm. I also notice that the triple lens weight and double price will be essential issues to be considered.
According to your inputs, I guess a 8x10 wood foldable will need extra stablizing support with long lenses while a monorail 8x10 may not. So, the total weight might be almost no difference (wood + extra support vs. metal monorail). But 8x10 wood foldable benefits from backpack compatibility (is that true?)
I am trying to digest all the great info that you offered, thanks a lot!
Jeremy
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