Phillips 8x10

[Bill_5968]

I'm looking for a nice lightweight 8x10 filed camera and I've seen the Phillips model. It looks sweet but does anyone know how much they sell for?

[Oren Grad]

I think Dick's been selling them for around $2800, perhaps someone who has bought one recently will have current pricing. Unless you happen to catch him with an unsold one at the end of a production cycle, though, you can count on waiting about a year.

There is a nice-looking 8x10 Compact II up on eBay at the moment, item #7554554344. (No, I don't have any connection with the seller.)

[tim atherton]

that one seems to come with the fuji 250mm lens, which is sweet... (as is the camera) - that's a nice all round 8x10 starter kit :-)

[clay harmon]

The Phillips 8x10's are great. Simple, rigid and lightweight. Can't go wrong with one of them unless you are doing a ton of close-up work and need a whole lot of bellows extension.

[Michael Mutmansky]

Agreed,

The Phillips cameras are possibly the best field cameras on the market, unless you are a very long lens shooter, or a very wide lens shooter.

The camera is light, very rigid, well made, and well supported by Dick. There's a reason they often sell for as much used as they do new.

My Phillips experience has included the 8x10 Explorer, the 8x10 Compact II, and currently 7x17 and 4x5 models. I'm very pleased with them, and right now, I feel that I will be very satisfied with the cameras I have for a very long time to come. That's another reason they are very dear on the used market, as people just don't want to part with them much.

---Michael

[John_5572]

I think they were just over $3,000 for this year's cameras ($3,200?) Dick took orders starting January 1st. I was lucky enough to buy a used one (similar in style to the one on ebay-the focusing control is different for current ones)

I can use a SS110XL on mine with no problems, so wide angle isn't a problem unless you want to use a 75mm Hypergon. As with many Phillips owners, I love it. It's quirky, but once you get used to it, operating it is no problem at all.

[Bobby Sandstrom]

I'm going to be selling my Wehman 8x10 soon. I recently bought a 14x17 and love the thing. The wehman is very light and rock solid. Another great camera is the tachihara 8x10. A little heavier but a dream to use.

[Michael Mutmansky]

John,

That's not entirely correct. Because it does not have an interchangable bellows, if you are using a wide angle lens and try to apply more than a bit of rise, you can have difficulty gettingkeeping the bellows out of the picture, and it can limit the amount of rise you have to work with.

This is true with 210mm and 150mm focal lengths, and in my case applies mostly to architectural subject matter, where a good bit of rise is often desirable to correct keystoneing effects.

The 110XL does work with the camera, but you have to be careful to keep the front bed out of the picture, and I'm not sure you can do it when the back is in vertical position. Dick has changed the screw positions on the bed to facilitate the 110XL a bit better, so that may have eliminated that on some cameras.

---Michael

[robert_4927]

Bobby, What model 14x17 did you buy?

[Roger Richards]

I just got a new 8x10 Explorer from Dick Phillips three days ago and my first impression is that it one of the finest examples of camera engineering I have ever seen (I also own an Ebony 4x5 and the focusing mechanism of the Explorer is much smoother by comparison). The Explorer is horizontal-only and weighs only 5.9 lbs. The current model is designed to accept Technika and Walker lens boards.

I ended up with his camera by pure happenstance. The previous 8x10 I had purchased, a Tachihara double extension, while quite a nice camera, was a bit heavy for my intended purposes. I read Michael Mutmansky's review on the Explorer and decided to give Dick Phillips a call in late August. It turned out that he was finishing up working on a couple of Explorers that folks had dropped off the list, so were free to go to a 'new home', so to speak. I believe that Dick has an available Explorer now. The 8x10 Compact II's are all spoken for.

Let me also say that dealing with Dick Phillips was a pleasure. He is a real gentleman.