Toyo 45CX and wooden cameras

**Ralph Barker** · 5-Apr-2006, 08:24

A couple of points to which others haven't spoken: the monorail will certainly give you more flexibility than you'd have with a field camera, but "stability" is relative. The monorail design essentially becomes a teeter-totter on the tripod, and may require an additional brace in some situations. But, if most of your work will be in the studio, a monorail may be the best choice. You may also want to consider getting an additional shorter rail if you anticipate using shorter lenses. The 450mm rail that comes standard with the 45CX may prove to be a pain in the chest with shorter lenses, such as might be used for architecture. The rails are easy to swap, though.

Also, while the smaller, 110mm lens boards used on the CX will handle most modern lenses, the larger 158mm boards used on the 45C and other models adds the greater flexibility of accommodating larger (both modern and vintage) lenses. There is a 158/110 adapter board available, too, so if you "standardize" on mounting most of your lenses on the 110mm boards, as I have, it provides a nice platform.

I use a Toyo 45C and an 810G in the studio (or close to the vehicle), and a 45AX in the field. The modularity of the Toyo designs allows many of the components to be interchanged or used on the other cameras, which is another "plus" for the Toyo system. I've also adapted my Tachihara 8x10 wood field cam to use elements from the Toyo.

**steve simmons** · 5-Apr-2006, 08:56

"The monorail design essentially becomes a teeter-totter on the tripod, and may require an additional brace in some situations. But, if most of your work will be in the studio, a monorail may be the best choice."

Monorails are used on location all the time. Ask any architectural photographer.

steve simmons

**Brian Ellis** · 5-Apr-2006, 12:38

"I'm just wondering, is the Toyo 45CX more precise and stable in terms of movements and focusing compared to the wooden cameras."

Yes and yes. However, the real question is whether the benefits of the added precision and stability are worth the downside trade-offs to you. Wooden cameras in general are sufficiently precise and stable for most purposes, they wouldn't have been made for over 100 years if they weren't. While the weight of a monorail may not be a concern to you there are other considerations when using a monorail outside the studio, mainly their generally cumbersome nature and the time/effort involved in setting them up and taking them down. As a general proposition a wood camera will be more compact than a monorail camera and will be easier and faster to set up and take down. But whether that matters to you obviously depends on how often you'll be taking the camera out of your home/studio.

That's certainly not to say a monorail can't be used in the field, some people do it but it isn't something I'd do just to gain the extra precision and stability you mention. If I did it at all it would be because of the additional movements that, in general, are available with a studio camera as compared to a wood camera. As with the rest of this message, I'm speaking in generalities here, there are monorails with limited movements (e.g. the Toyo 45C or whatever the exact model designation is of the cheap Toyo monorail that doesn't have back movements) and wood cameras with extensive movements (e.g. some of the Ebony cameras). But as a general proposition most monorails have more movements than most wood cameras. You mention geared focusing with the Toyo. Almost all wood cameras have geared focusing but with many (including the two you mention) that's the only geared movement. But do you really care about having geared movements?