Tachihara - Foldable with "normal" lens?

[vijaylff]

Hi,

Are there any Tachihara users who are carrying their Tachiharas folded with a lens in the 125 - 150mm range already mounted? If so, what lenses are you doing this with?

I am thinking of re-entering the world of LF, and would like a field camera that offers quick set up. My budget is under $1000 so the other candidates would be a Toyo 45cf or Shen Hao.

Thanks,
Vijay

[Gordon Moat]

Since you mentioned other choices in your budget, I thought I would relate my main set-up. I have a Shen-Hao HZX45A-II with a Schneider 135mm f5.6 mounted when folded. What I do to make it simpler is to reverse the lensboard in the front standard when closing the camera. The advantage of that is when I unfold it I can take off the rear lenscap first, then flip the lensboard around to get the front cap off. This Schneider will not fit in the closed camera without turning the lensboard around. So something you might want to investigate would be the size of the rear grouping, because you should be able to flip around the lensboard on a Tachihara just as easily as on a Shen-Hao.

Ciao!

Gordon Moat
A G Studio

[Jon Shiu]

Hi, there is not enough room for the lens when the camera is folded. When I first started with the Tachihara 10 years ago I thought about that also, but it is very quick and easy to mount the lens.

Jon

[Brian Ellis]

I don't mean to be critical of your question, you're far from the first person here who's asked it. But I've never understood why anyone would consider the ability to keep a lens on a camera a significant consideration in selecting a lens and/or a camera.

I estimate that under normal conditions it takes me about 10 seconds to remove a lens from my back pack and mount it on the camera (my lenses are in dividers in the pack so I don't have to spend time getting them out of a lens wrap or something similar). If was in a hurry I could cut a few seconds off that. Considering the time it takes to get the camera out of the pack and on the tripod, open it and set it up, remove the the dark cloth from the pack and put it on the camera, compose, tilt, swing, etc., recompose, focus, meter, set the aperture and shutter speed, get the film holder out of the pack, remove it from the Ziplock bag, put it in the camera, remove the dark slide, and trip the shutter (all of which occcur after I've spent anywhere from a few minutes to an hour or so figuring out exactly how I want to make the photograph, or maybe standing around for an hour or more waiting for the light to change) the 10 or 15 seconds I spend mounting a lens on the camera is the least of it. And if I have two or more lenses and the wrong one is on the camera I'll end up taking more time removing and storing it and getting the right lens on the camera than I would have taken if I had no lens on thge camera in the first place.

Obviously I'm suggesting that the ability to keep a lens on the camera shouldn't be a very important consideration in selecting a camera and lens. But if you end up ignoring my suggestion that's fine, what's important to me may not be important to you and vice versa. I hope you find a camera and lens that suit your needs. I owned a Tachihara and they're excellent cameras but I never tried to keep a lens mounted on mine so I can't help with your specific question.

[Eric_Scott]

I can fold my Tachihara with either a 125 or a 150 mounted. The 125 is a Fujinon W and the 150 is a Rodenstock Sironar-N MC. Post #3 really surprises me, because I just now mounted both lenses and the camera folds up just fine. No, I didn't mount them at the same time.

Oh. You must reverse the lens before you fold the camera up. Perhaps this wasn't done when poster #3 tried it.

[Gordon Moat]

Just to add to Brian's thoughts, the reasons I keep one lens on my Shen-Hao are not for convenience. Quite simply it takes less room in my backpack to keep one lens on the camera. The other reason is that it is the lens I want to use the most.

I have walked around with the camera out of the backpack, using the leather strap on the Shen-Hao, with the lens focused near infinity. Then the tripod is in my other hand, and the backpack carries the rest on my shoulders. While this can work okay in an urban environment to go from one set-up location to another, it is not a good idea when you need to walk further.

To be really fast with large format, you might want to look into getting a Crown Graphic, or a similar press style camera with rangefinder. You can shoot these handheld, which would be even faster than setting up a tripod. The downside, compared to the cameras you are considering, is less range of movements.

Anyway, large format is rarely about quickness. I have a viewfinder that I can use handheld that matches my 135mm Schneider; it is very useful for viewing a scene prior to getting the camera out of the bag and setting up everything. Something like this might save you more time than a camera that folds up with the lens.

Ciao!

Gordon Moat
A G Studio

[Brian Ellis]

Gordon Moat wrote:

"Just to add to Brian's thoughts, the reasons I keep one lens on my Shen-Hao are not for convenience. Quite simply it takes less room in my backpack to keep one lens on the camera. The other reason is that it is the lens I want to use the most."

Good points Gordon. I didn't mean that there was anything wrong with keeping a lens on a camera if you have a lens and camera with which that can be done. My point was just that I don't think the ability to do that should be a major factor in deciding which camera or lens to buy.

[Jon Shiu]

Hi, I did notice that my 127mm Ektar and 90mm Angulon do fit when reversed, but that is not "mounted" and ready for action.

Jon

the tachihara also has some tripod bushing sticking up from the bottom that might accidentally contact the lens element if the lens surface facing the bottom does not have a lens cap on.

[Maris Rusis]

My Tachihara 45GF folds up just fine with its "normal" lens. The lens is a Voigtlander Anastigmat Skopar f4.5 135mm uncoated Tessar (?) design in a dial-set Compur shutter. This lens looks about the same size as a modern 135 in a Copal shutter.

With the lens in place the camera is ready to use quickly. The lens standard is never wide open in the field so dust (and bug!) intrusion is avoided. The lens is protected inside the folded camera so I do not bother with front or rear lens-caps. Less to fuss with, less to lose.

My only gripe is that I have not figured how to fold the camera with a cable release screwed into the lens as well.

[Brian Ellis]

. . . With the lens in place the camera is ready to use quickly. The lens standard is never wide open in the field so dust (and bug!) intrusion is avoided. The lens is protected inside the folded camera so I do not bother with front or rear lens-caps. Less to fuss with, less to lose.

My only gripe is that I have not figured how to fold the camera with a cable release screwed into the lens as well.

Perhaps I don't understand your procedure but it's hard for me to believe that leaving the lens on the camera is saving you time or that your camera is ready to use quickly if you have to screw the cable release onto the shutter every time you open the camera and then remove and store it every time you close the camera.