8x10 field work

[Bartolomeo]

Hi

I'd love some practical suggestions on what field camera to purchase for 8x10 field work. I've been using a SINAR P2, (Mostly for portraits) Being geared it's just too heavy to lug around. How can I keep using the same lens in their boards though. Any ideas? (I think Phllipps is a horseman/sinar mount. Is Deardorff too?) I'd love to get something light and compact. Thanks is advance.

[Dave Langendonk]

The Tachihara uses the Sinar/Horseman lens boards. I have a Sinar F1 8x10 that I sometimes take on trips. It's a beast to carry very far from the car so I've been considering the Tachihara.

[Robert Skeoch]

The Canham 8x10 uses the sinar boards, while the 5x7/4x5 uses the smaller board. They're a great looking camera with a lot of movements.

-Rob Skeoch
www.bigcameraworkshops.com

[Steve Hamley]

Ebony also use a Sinar board.

You could probably have an adapter made if the camera uses larger boards.

Steve

[Oren Grad]

The Canham 8x10 uses the sinar boards

Keith Canham is now building his big cameras to accept Sinar/Horseman boards. Until recently, though, he built to the Toyo standard, which is important to know if you're looking to buy a used camera.

There is an adapter board offered by Toyo to allow fitting lenses on Sinar/Horseman boards to cameras that take the large Toyo boards. But it would be a good idea to check with Keith before making a purchase, to make sure this adapter will fit his cameras properly.

[Ralph Barker]

I also use a Tachihara 8x10 in the field. I picked the double-extension model to save weight and expense. I'm not sure of the match between it and the Sinar P2 board-wise, however. The Tachi uses conventionally-shaped boards of about 138mm square. It has ample tilts, but limited swings - typically fine for field work other than architecture. It has good build quality, particularly for the price. There are certainly more capable cameras, and ones that weigh less, but the price goes up rapidly from there. So, a lot depends on your budget. MPEX and Badger Graphics carry them.

[Eric Woodbury]

Ebony makes a beauty. I've ordered one in 4x5, but not received it yet. I did notice last week that there is a used Ebony 8x10 at Camera West in Monterey.

[Oren Grad]

I *think* that the Tachihara/Wista 8x10 accepts Sinar/Horseman boards, but the proprietary wooden and synthetic boards sold for these cameras by Tachihara and by Wista - including the Technika adapter boards from both vendors - are not backward compatible with all Sinar-type cameras. At least they won't fit on my Phillips - I've tried them both. The problem is the extra layer, typical of wooden boards, that makes the central section of the board too thick.

Best to check with the vendor to make sure any particular combination you have in mind will be OK, and, if possible, buy with a money-back guarantee.

[darter]

Buy a Calumet C-1 and save thousand's of dollars that you can put into lenses and consumables. If you get an earlier magnesium version the weight is only 14 lbs. Calumet C-1's are robust and capable field cameras.

[Brian Ellis]

The lightest, inexpensive (by large format standards), excellent 8x10 camera that I know of is the Wehman. It isn't a thing of beauty but it only weighs about 8 lbs and cost a little under $2,000 the last time I checked. I've never owned one but I spent a lot of time contemplating a purchase, including some phone conversations with Bruce Wehman who was very nice and very helpful which made me think that if service was needed it wouldn't be a problem. I ultimately decided against a purchase of it only because it's not a well known brand and I was concerned about being able to sell it if I abandonded 8x10. However, it looked to me like an excellent camera and the few reports I've read from owners were glowing.