Calumet C1 - This camera actually scares me...

[Kino]

I think I finally overstepped my abilities. I bought a "Black Beast" a week ago and it arrived today.

It's the first camera that actually made me a bit apprehensive when I unwrapped it and wrestled it onto a tripod.

Other than being dirty from storage and a few tiny pinholes in the bellows, it's in remarkably good condition. I'll need to buy a lens, lens board (Deardorf compatible I believe) and a couple of holders to make it functional.

I pinched a large blood blister on one finger using a Calumet 4x5; this one could take off a leg if I am not careful.

Really beginning to wonder if I could ever take it out into the field beyond a few feet from the car, but I am willing to try (on a very calm day).

Any tips from dedicated users of this monstrosity will be appreciated.

I feel it's presence in the case next to me as I type this; hope it has good intentions toward me...

[Tin Can]

It is a Studio camera

I sold 4 of them 10 years ago

BUT still use the very good backs on my huge copy camera

[Duolab123]

Very industrial beasties. Quite quintessential American metal. I believe like the Calumet 4x5 this was originally an Eastman Master camera.

[j.e.simmons]

In my 50s, trekked one all across Florida swamps and prairies. I used a modified baby stroller as a cart. Brett Weston carried one all around the desert. Its a great camera. It requires a substantial tripod.

That said, when I hit 64, I traded for a lighter Wehman and the lighter tripod it can use.

[AJ Edmondson]

I back-packed a C-1 for thirty years along with one of the old Gitzo aluminum tripods. I am not "large" (5'8", 140 lbs) but I always managed the camera, tripod, Pentax spot-meter (analog), 4 film holders and 10" Wide-field Ektar or 210mm f6.8 Angulon. Up and down the Appalachian Trail and Chatooga River as well as North and South Carolina and Tennessee. I finally sold the C-1 about ten years ago when I hit 71 - only because I moved to south-central Georgia and there didn't seem to be much to photograph - no white-water, scant waterfalls. Just not my chosen subjects. I "auditioned" a Wista 810D but was not as happy - the Calumet C1 was always my Camera of choice after my first exposure to it while producing a GS catalog at Redstone Arsenal. I hope your experience mirrors mine!
Joel

[Kino]

Hats off to those who hiked with this camera into the Wilderness!

Starting late at 63, I doubt I will be doing much of that but we will see.

Maybe if I don't get too far off the road on the Blue Ridge Parkway...

[j.e.simmons]

Do some strength training - weights, bands, etc.

[AJ Edmondson]

Best training - load up the camera and equipment into a back-pack and set off on a short excursion with a specific (and, yes, attainable) goal. For years the only camera I owned was the C1 and still today it would be my camera of choice. If you plan carefully and remember that it is not a race you will be fine and won't amputate any digits. Seriously, I envy you and if I were fortunate enough to be back in my chosen haunts, this would be my weapon of choice. Lot of great memories from Europe, California, Texas, Alabama - maybe I was a glutton for punishment after all. Good light Kino!
Joel

[Mark Sampson]

I used the magnesium (green) version on the job in the '80s and '90s, although that was industrial and studio work.
Don't be intimidated by the C-1 (a Calumet design btw). It's a fine machine.
I'll say that the key to using any 8x10 in the field is having a comfortable outfit for it... backpack, baby jogger, cart, whatever works. And the right tripod for both you and the camera.
Also recall the well-known (if often misquoted) saying from Brett Weston- "if it's more than fifty yards from the car, it's not photogenic."
Best of luck!

[Ben Calwell]

I had a black version years ago when I was younger and stronger. It was definitely a load to carry around. The weight of it, for me, inspired naps, not photos.