Identifying the mysterious Cambo on my tripod

[f/stopblues]

I bought this Cambo 4x5 from a nice fellow on rangefinderforum.com a couple years ago, just to get my feet wet in LF. I wasn't too sure what I was buying, but it seemed a reasonable price so I went for it.

Long story short, despite having used it somewhat often for the past two years, I still don't know what the heck I own. There's no model badge anywhere other than the Cambo on the lens board. I've browsed the web and can't find a definitive answer. With the advice of an RFF member (Ash), I came to bug the experts here

As we all know, pictures speak louder, so maybe these will help:




And here's the lens, which I actually have read a bit about on apug, etc. 150/6.3


Let me know if there's any info that would help. Thanks so much guys!

Chris
itty-bitty flickr gallery

[Huib]

Hi,

it's a SC-II

used to be on the www.cambo.com website

huib

[Marko]

This looks exactly like my Calumet 540, only it's missing the four rubber tips at the top of the standard posts. They screw in/out and are easy to loose.

It is essentially a rebranded Cambo, but the main difference is in the bellows/monorail length - it should be 18" for Calumet and 22" for Cambo.

[David Karp]

There are so many varieties of this camera it is hard to tell which one it is. It is certainly one of the varieties of Cambo SC. Various versions of this camera were, and are, sold in the U.S. under Calumet's brand name. The current version is the Calumet 45NX-II.

Your's is certainly an older version. The newer versions are all black.

Its a good solid camera that lots of photographers have used for years and years.

[Martin Courtenay-Blake]

Definately a classic SC-ll (or SC 2). Cambo used a really simple naming system for years...
SC1 - 6X9cm
SC2 - 5X4in
SC3 - 5X7in
SC4 - 10X8in
Standards for the SC2 to the SC4 models were fully interchangable making it easy to put together a multi-format system.
Cheers
Martin

[Greg Lockrey]

The SC II I had in 1971 had lever lock downs for the front and rear swing/shift and not those thumb screws....if that makes any difference?

[f/stopblues]

Excellent, thanks guys.

I've been toying with the idea of letting her go to a more suitable home. I fear I'll regret it, but I've gravitated towards my tripodless (is that a word??) cameras, 35mm rangefinder and 6x7 MF. Work and college are getting the best of my quality camera time (and my wallet!)

But alas! the LF bug will bite again. This thing taught me a whole lot about patience, visualization, and accuracy by skill, not volume. It's definitely pulled me even further away from the digital-phooey than I already was.

I'll be hanging around here though. I've looked at a lot of the photo threads and the quality is outstanding. The "arquitecture" thread and view camera portraits were really nice! Keep up the impressive work!

Chris

[Alan Davenport]

I have virtually the same camera, 'cept mine is all black. I've always thought mine was the Calumet 540, but it's got a 22" rail so according to Marko that makes it a Cambo SC. Confused more am I now...

I use a field camera most of the time, but I made an adapter board not long ago so I can use Linhof-style boards on the monorail, so it's getting some tripod time, especially when I want to get close to my work.

The market for 4x5 monorails is awfully soft right now. IMO you may as well pack it away carefully and keep it safe until you're ready to use it again.

[Harold_4074]

Seconding the recommendation to keep the camera: it isn't worth a lot on the market, and you may someday find that being able to make just one or two exposures at a time, develop them, and make contact prints, makes the effort of storing it worthwhile. Especially if kids can be involved in the process.