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Thread: Hiking with LF equipment

  1. #11

    Join Date
    Dec 1997
    Location
    Baraboo, Wisconsin
    Posts
    7,697

    Hiking with LF equipment

    I don't think the chance of dropping and damaging a Tachihara should be a major factor in your buying decision. Any camera, wood or metal, can sustain damage if it's dropped. Linhof Technikas (very sturdy metal cameras) have a reputation of being almost indestructable. But I dropped mine a distance of maybe three feet onto soft dirt paths twice, both times a protruding knob that controls back movements broke and had to be replaced at considerable expense. So I don't think there's any such thing as a bullet proof camera, wood or metal.

    For your purposes I think the Tachihara would be an excellent choice. It weighs about 4 pounds (2 pounds lighter than the Shen Hao), has all the movements you'll need for landscape photography and most other purposes, is well built, sturdy, and reasonably precise. It's very simple to operate and quick to set up and take down.

    In addition to books already mentioned I'd recommend "View Camera Technique" by Leslie Stroebel. Many people consider it the bible of large format photography books, not light reading but very thorough.
    Brian Ellis
    Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes. That way when you do criticize them you'll be
    a mile away and you'll have their shoes.

  2. #12

    Hiking with LF equipment

    I live in Colorado and hike in terrain that may be comparable to the area where you live. For 20 years I hiked with a Toyo-Field 45A with 6 holders, 3 lenses and a Tiltall tripod. The photo equipment weighed 21 lbs, the pack 5 lbs, raincoat and some survival gear added another 2.5. By the time I added lunch and water and an extra jacket I was usually carrying about 35 lbs. I have since shaved about 3 lbs off by switching to a Baby Deardorff and a carbon fiber tripod. I carry the photo equipment in 6-Pac coolers and use an external-frame JanSport pack. The Toyo is an excellent, rugged and very rigid camera. If I were starting from scratch today I'd probably get a Canham DLC-45.

  3. #13

    Hiking with LF equipment

    Here's a link to a crude website I threw together to outline my day hiking and backcountry backpacking kit.

    Enjoy!

    Regards,

    Steve

  4. #14

    Join Date
    Sep 2003
    Posts
    57

    Hiking with LF equipment

    Hi Mike, I wish we lived closer as I'd invite you to go along on a trek. California is a long way from Austria. I backpack a lot. I'm usually out for three days because I can't carry more but as I age, I find myself equally making day hikes. I chose a Tachihara a few years ago because I count ounces. My pack varies but is usually between 50 & 60 pounds. I carry a body, 3 lenses, 40 b&w Readyloads and 20 EPP, spot meter, carbon fiber tripod and a few filters and small misc. items. I also carry a Canon 20D with a 16-35.

    For a pack I use a commercial backpack as all the photo ones are way too heavy and don't fit properly. The two most important things to me are a properly fitting backpack and perfectly fitting boots. When I day hike I usually don't take a backpack but use a Tamarac belt system and sometimes a vest which enables me to be fast and light. I used to use holders and have 8 Grafmatics but prefer the cleanliness and lightness of Readyloads now.

    I love my Tachihara and have put it through heck. It's the lightest on the market and might also be the least expensive. Whatever you decide, put lots of film through it and enjoy the outdoors. Austria is one of the most beautiful places on Earth!

  5. #15

    Join Date
    May 2002
    Posts
    1,031

    Hiking with LF equipment

    Mike, you won't be unhappy with the Tachihara. It's lightweight and sturdy, not to mention a work of art in its own right. If your concern about possibly damaging a wooden camera is something you can't ignore, the Canham DLC is all metal and folds into a fairly compact package (though not as small (nor as light) as the Tachihara. And don't forget that you can buy three brand new Tachiharas (and most of a fourth) for the price of one Canham.

    For your type of photography, I would suggest a normal lens of 150mm and a 90mm. You won't go wrong with 90mm f/8 Super Angulon, despite some folks saying you gotta have f/5.6 or even faster. With a good darkcloth, a loupe and a fresnel (standard on the Tachihara) an f/8 lens is easy to compose and focus. I don't think many will admit to shooting landscapes wide open anyway. If you get into lenses longer than 300mm you'll need telephotos with a Tachihara, though the company does make a bellows extension that will take you (I think) all the way to 600mm.

    Overall weight: my entire camera bag (Lowe Super Trekker AW) weighs about 11Kg. That includes the Tachihara, 4 lenses (one of them a ridiculously heavy 254mm f/4.5 behemoth,) plus 4 film holders, darkcloth, filters, meter and the rest. That doesn't include the tripod, which in my case is a Bogen 3021 with 3030 head, another 3.4Kg. If I carry the entire kit, then, I'm packing about 15 Kg. Leaving a lens or two at home doesn't seem to affect the overall weight at all since I invariably refill the space in the pack with more film holders. Undoubtedly someone who is more disciplined than I would be able to reduce that. A lighter tripod comes to mind. D

  6. #16

    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    eastern Austria
    Posts
    12

    Hiking with LF equipment

    A very big thank you to you all for going to the trouble to reply. Your answers and thoughts have helped to clarify a number of issues for me. I will also get hold of some books as Steve suggested.
    Thanks again - it's wonderful and a great feeling to get such support and advice!

  7. #17

    Join Date
    Mar 2001
    Location
    Seattle
    Posts
    633

    Hiking with LF equipment

    I second the Tachihara. I've been using, banging on rocks, and otherwise abusing mine for 5+ years. It's a little beat up, but keeps on going. I suggest packing a replacement ground glass/fresnel, in case of accident. I pack 2-3 lenses...a 150, a 90 and a 210. Get as many film holders as you can carry. Be sure to acclimate your film 2-3 minutes before opening the shutter, esp. in higher humidity weather. I used ready-loads for a while, but found them too expensive. They do cut down on weight and dust potential, but can sometimes "flop and flitter" in higher winds. I use a Bogen metal tripod, which is a bit heavy, but okay thrown over the shoulder. It sometimes doubles as a walking/snake stick...very necessary in the tall grasses and brush of the Shawangunk Mountains, where I shoot. For a backpack, I've been using one designed originally for a laptop computer. Its cheaper ($) than designated camera backpacks. The camera fits nicely in the laptop "pocket", as well as my lenses, contained in lens wraps. I miraculously fit film holders, meter, filters, accessories and lunch into all the pockets. For longer trips, I use my big internal frame trecking pack.

    I find that the journey of photographing on a hike is worth as much as the resulting pictures. Sometimes I find it hard to balance the two desires of getting to a particular goal (a summit, for example), or just hanging out in a beautiful spot and waiting for the light. My best images result when I go back to the same spot over and over and over again, not necessarily when I've walked the farthest. Yeah, what a good life! Hope you have fun.

    -Chris
    www.jordanphoto.com

  8. #18

    Re: Hiking with LF equipment

    Quote Originally Posted by Steve McKinney View Post
    Here's a link to a crude website I threw together to outline my day hiking and backcountry backpacking kit.

    Enjoy!

    Regards,

    Steve
    Digging up an old post here, but finding quite a bit of useful info. Thanks for the question to the OP and all the thoughtful replies. I know it's been quite a few years but any chance you still have the "horrible pics" of your setup for that webpage you linked Steve? I'd like to see different folks hiking setups. Or maybe if it has changed now, what is it like?

  9. #19
    Giovanni Sinico gsinico's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
    Location
    Italy
    Posts
    587

    Re: Hiking with LF equipment

    I started backpacking an Arca F line, with bogen tripod, four lenses from 58 to 300mm: 17Kg the total gear equipment. Now I'm carring a Chamonix, some lenses at choice from 58XL,90/8,135, 180 and 300. the best part is the carbon gitzo with arca P0 ball head. I shoot BN and slides, up to 12 film holders, lee filters and shade, Minolta spotmeter, in a loewe AW.
    I used to backpack a Wista, a Sinar F, my LF friend came whit a Shen Hao, but I found the Chanonix lighter and whit longer bellow than the other foldings.
    Now I carry more o less 8/9kg .

  10. #20
    Drew Bedo's Avatar
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    Oct 2006
    Location
    Houston Texas
    Posts
    3,225

    Re: Hiking with LF equipment

    Quote Originally Posted by Mike Delaney View Post
    Hiking with LF equipment

    . My questions are:
    1) Which cameras might be suitable? I’ve been considering a Tachihara, but the comments about wooden cameras possibly being destroyed by a fall are rather worrying.


    .

    Mike
    If you fall in the mountains I would think that the camera would be the least of your worries.

    When it coms to backpacking your gear consider the PhotoBackpacker system. It allows you to costomize about any serious technical back pack to protect photo gear.

    Another thought: Many compositions of mountain scenes do not require m ovement or focusing much closer than infinity (Pleaseeveryone; I know that this statyement is not an absolute!) With that in mind, consider one or both of the soon to be released Wanderlust Travelwide cameras to start off with. Loght weight, simple operation and inexpensive.
    Drew Bedo
    www.quietlightphoto.com
    http://www.artsyhome.com/author/drew-bedo




    There are only three types of mounting flanges; too big, too small and wrong thread!

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