INTREPID CAMERA 4X5 Gen 2 Users & Reviews

[seezee]

Hi Steven, thanks for the welcome,

We were not planning on having framed bellows, the way we do it now is completely light tight and whilst the fumes from contact glue can be a bit annoying its a small price to pay to keep the part count down! It is something we could look at though, is there much of an advantage to framed bellows?

As Steven noted, it would allow placement of a shutter (Sinar or Packard) behind the front standard so we could use with "in barrel" lenses.

[Steven Tribe]

Latched and framed bellows means you can use bag bellows for wide-angled lenses, sell extra bellows (especialy if the rear is the same as on the many, many Sinars around) sometime in the future. Remember your cameras will still be around in a hundred year - they are not use and throw away products.

I am sure you use all your energies on getting the camera right just now, but don't forget that many products can be good revenue earners in the accessories department. Especialy when you are keeping the first purchase price so low!

I can only see a single danger in your present project. This is the bellows. There is lot of experience here in LFPF about bellows that went wrong due to materials that just didn't stand up to use, damp, UV light or didn't exclude all light frequences that can register on the emulsion. Some of these were bought and some were homemade. But there has been complete agreement with the good performance of bellows (and materials used) from Custom Bellows ( i think that is the name?) in the UK.

If you stick (pun!) to glue, PLEASE use a water soluble glue. Contact glue is well nigh impossible to repair and remove.

[rfesk]

I believe a 5X7 Intrepid would be great and have more buyers that an 8X10.

[Fred L]

£500 is extremely attractive for a second lighter, less movements needed, camera. unfinished would be a good option.

[Max Grew]

I can only see a single danger in your present project. This is the bellows. There is lot of experience here in LFPF about bellows that went wrong due to materials that just didn't stand up to use, damp, UV light or didn't exclude all light frequences that can register on the emulsion. Some of these were bought and some were homemade. But there has been complete agreement with the good performance of bellows (and materials used) from Custom Bellows

We have had a quote from custom bellows before right at the early stages of our 4x5 production but it was something like 10x the cost of doing it ourselves, they do make great bellows though. Ours from a materials point of view are quite different, we have had a lot of compliments on the bellows from our 800 shipped 4x5s and you will be glad to hear the 8x10 ones use a similar design and the same materials, the outer layer is water resistant with a double light proof layer on the inside. We have had no reports of any issues with UV but I should have a tech sheet for the fabric somewhere that I can dig out and see exactly what wave lengths is blocks.

[januarys_v]

Hi!
a simple question from a potential newbie, would any 4x5 film holder fit the Intrepid just fine or some do better then others?
thanks!

[vnukov_pk]

Hello, sorry we have not got back to you, we have had loads of interest from people over the last couple of weeks which is great but it means we are behind on emails, the coating is OSMO Polyx Oil, its a very high quality and well regarded wax oil mixture. we have had no problems with it in damp weather and a lot of UK carpenters swear by the stuff.

Happy to stick around in this post and answer any questions people have about the Camera,

Best, Maxim (guy who started Intrepid Camera)

Maxim, thank you for the answer. Just had a chance to test the camera in windy/snow conditions. Have to say it withstood the weather without any problems. Dried it afterwards, jst in case.

[Max Grew]

Hi!
a simple question from a potential newbie, would any 4x5 film holder fit the Intrepid just fine or some do better then others?
thanks!

Hello! yes any 4x5 film holder will fit the Intrepid 4x5, personally I find the fidelity elite holders to be the best, you can also use instant film holders and roll film holders that work with Graflok backs

[vnukov_pk]

Hello! yes any 4x5 film holder will fit the Intrepid 4x5, personally I find the fidelity elite holders to be the best, you can also use instant film holders and roll film holders that work with Graflok backs

I even tried some 9x12 film holders, they also fit quite well.

[barnacle]

Maxim - a bit off the wall - but would you sell a set or two of the bellows alone? There are a number of us here building our own cameras (I'm a 4x5 type myself) and bellows are *always* the hard part!

Neil