Monorail in Field Conditions...

[Orgnoi1]

OK another newbie question from me

Is there anything special I should know when using a monorail in field conditions aside (of course) from the fact that the monorail takes up a TON more room to carry and such?

[Ash]

It's gonna be heavy, it's gonna need a strong tripod. Bout it

[Bruce Watson]

Is there anything special I should know when using a monorail in field conditions aside (of course) from the fact that the monorail takes up a TON more room to carry and such?

You must be joking. The lightest 5x4 camera commonly available is a field monorail from Toho.

I've been using a Toho for five years now. Excellent camera. Very stiff, very light weight, and full movements on both ends. I use it with a very light carbon fiber tripod.

I bought mine from Badger Graphic Sales.

[Ron Marshall]

Another vote of confidence in the Toho. I use 75 to 450mm lenses and a light CF tripod. Packs into two tiny packages.

[Harley Goldman]

I use a Toho and an Arca in the field. The Arca does not take up a whole lot more room than my old Wista wooden field camera, is much faster and easier to set up and way more rigid and solid. The Toho is quite compact and is also pretty easy to use. So I guess it depends on what monorail camera you have.

Nothing special to know about using one in the field, either.

[Orgnoi1]

Well the problem is... I HAVE a monorail already a Toyo-Omega 45D... certainly not going to go buy another...LOL...

And I wasnt joking... I only recently bought my camera so I am asking a legitimate question as to if I should be weary of conditions and such... I am a newbie to LF...but not to photography... =)

[Walter Calahan]

My Arca Field monorail folds up nicely. Very small package that is very very strong.

If you're not going to sell the Toyo-Omega, just go out and use it. All the surprises are for you to discover. Grin.

[Kerry L. Thalmann]

I'm not real familiar with the Toyo system, but I believe they make a short rail or short rail extension for their cameras (something in the 6" or 150mm range). If so, get one of those and run both standards onto it for transport and carry the longer rail separately in your pack. That should make for a much more compact system to be carrying around on your back.

If Toyo doesn't make a short rail, you could just pick up a used standard rail on eBay for cheap and cut it down to the desired length and use it specifically for transport and wide angle use and switch to the longer rail when needed.

Kerry

[Eric James]

You might get some ideas from this thread:

http://www.largeformatphotography.in...ad.php?t=17688

[Bruce Watson]

Well the problem is... I HAVE a monorail already a Toyo-Omega 45D... certainly not going to go buy another...LOL...

And I wasnt joking... I only recently bought my camera so I am asking a legitimate question as to if I should be weary of conditions and such... I am a newbie to LF...but not to photography... =)

It helps to get better answers if you give more complete information in your question I wouldn't have brought up the Toho except that's how I interpretted your question. Sigh... "Language is a virus" -- Laurie Anderson

There's no trick to using a monorail in the field. If you can use it in the studio, using it in the field isn't that much different other than you have to carry everything you think you'll need with you. That and the heavier the camera, the heavier the tripod.

Good luck with it.