Low-cost, lightweight wide angle 4x5 P+S camera

[Ben Syverson]

Hi everyone!

I'm currently designing a very lightweight 4x5 P+S camera for my own use, and I thought I'd see if anyone else would be interested in it... I've already built a prototype, and now I'm beginning to do CAD on a custom body for it. The new body will be rigid, cone-like, and as compact as possible.

I love 4x5, but the existing cameras -- even light field cameras -- are all too heavy. I wanted to make a wide-angle LF camera light enough that I wouldn't think twice about traveling with it. Here are the specs:

• Weighs less than most MF cameras -- about half as much as a Mamiya 7.
• Designed around the 90mm focal length -- the f/6.8 Angulon is extremely light.
• "Scale focus" via a helical. 90mm is wide enough to guess the focus, but I also carry a pocket rangefinder.
• Shoe-mounted brightline viewfinder
• Shoe-mounted two-axis bubble level, visible from finder
• Custom body made from light and tough polymer
• Ergonomic grip
• Internal flocking for high-contrast images
• Standard 4x5 back takes just about any film holder

Thanks to rapid prototyping, I could offer this camera at:
US$700 with 90mm f/6.8 Angulon
US$600 without lens + shutter (for if you prefer the Super Angulon or have your own lens)

Would anyone out there be interested in such a thing?

[Schaubild]

It looks fatally close to the (low cost) Obscura: http://www.obscura-camera.com/

[Ben Syverson]

I can't find a price on the Obscura site...

My camera would likely be much lighter, due to the use of plastic as a body instead of metal. You wouldn't be able to change focal lengths on my camera, but as a consequence, the body is more of a cone, which makes the camera less bulky.

Also, my camera would be in English. j/k

[Ben Syverson]

Not to beat up too much on the Obscura, which looks like a cool camera, but it seems to have no markings on the focus mechanism. Which means you have to rely on the GG.

My camera is a true P+S, with real focus markings...

[Jack Flesher]

Sounds like you are describing a Cambo wide or Fotoman and building it in a simpler box?

[Ben Syverson]

Jack, yes, that's essentially it. The all-metal Fotoman 4x5 body is 1.0 Kg, which is far too heavy for my taste.

[Wayne Crider]

Jack, yes, that's essentially it. The all-metal Fotoman 4x5 body is 1.0 Kg, which is far too heavy for my taste.

I think I have a 35mm camera which weighs more then that.

I think it looks kinda nifty. What's the story on the back side? Got any parallax compensation on that viewfinder like the Graphics?

I think the one thing that is missing and which I had hoped for from Fotoman was some kind of movement. Rise would have been appreciated, and a much better GG arrangement for composition. Basic boxes with a slotted body film holder arrangement don't quite impress me, and the weight thing is a non-issue for me. Once I get up the gumption I'm gonna saw off my Graphics bed up to the supports and relocate the focus to the bottom of the body for a P&S with some movements.

[Ben Syverson]

Wayne,

There's no parallax compensation, but the bright-line finder has marks for 1m. I think the main uses for this camera will be street photography and landscape. Street photographers are already used to external finders (think Leica), and for landscape work, the parallax is a non-issue.

I'd like movements too, but that would have increased the complexity, cost and weight of the system, and would require composing on GG. I'd rather make a really great P+S camera than a severely limited field camera...

I have a Super Graphic, which serves as a perfectly good field camera with decent movements... but at 5 or 6 pounds, it doesn't actually make it out to the "field" that often. I started designing my camera because I wanted a 4x5 camera I could carry around my neck all day and all night.

[D. Bryant]

Hi everyone!

I'm currently designing a very lightweight 4x5 P+S camera for my own use, and I thought I'd see if anyone else would be interested in it... I've already built a prototype, and now I'm beginning to do CAD on a custom body for it. The new body will be rigid, cone-like, and as compact as possible.

I love 4x5, but the existing cameras -- even light field cameras -- are all too heavy. I wanted to make a wide-angle LF camera light enough that I wouldn't think twice about traveling with it. Here are the specs:

• Weighs less than most MF cameras -- about half as much as a Mamiya 7.
• Designed around the 90mm focal length -- the f/6.8 Angulon is extremely light.
• "Scale focus" via a helical. 90mm is wide enough to guess the focus, but I also carry a pocket rangefinder.
• Shoe-mounted brightline viewfinder
• Shoe-mounted two-axis bubble level, visible from finder
• Custom body made from light and tough polymer
• Ergonomic grip
• Internal flocking for high-contrast images
• Standard 4x5 back takes just about any film holder

Thanks to rapid prototyping, I could offer this camera at:
US$700 with 90mm f/6.8 Angulon
US$600 without lens + shutter (for if you prefer the Super Angulon or have your own lens)

Would anyone out there be interested in such a thing?

I would be more interested in a 5x7, 4x10, or 8x10 model.

Thanks,

Don Bryant

[Ben Syverson]

Interesting... thanks, Don!

An 8x10 model wouldn't be much heavier than the 4x5 model, because the only difference would be a little extra plastic...