Shen Hao vs. Tachihara

[draggingtheshutter]

I have been working with a zone VI 4x5 for the past couple of months and i am deciding that i am goin to move on to a different 4x5 system. However i cannot decide between the shen hao HZX IIA or the tachihara 45GF. the camera will be used for field and studio work. any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Fred L]

Curious why you're thinking of switching ? The Zone's are triple bed which I find very useful.

[Anupam]

It's a weight tradeoff but the ShenHao has about as much movements as you're likely to get without switching to a monorail. The back movements are awesome.

[Preston]

The Tachihara is ideal for field work because of its weight; a smidge over three pounds. It is fairly rigid for such a light camera, and is very well made. It's bellows extension is about 310mm, so if you plan to use a lens longer than 300mm (focused at infinity) you're out of luck, unfortunately. It lacks front and rear shift, but has all other movements. For studio work, where shift is highly desireable, they Tachi may not be a good choice.

I'll echo Fred's question? Why won't the Zone VI work for you?

[Fred L]

I can see moving to a lighter camera which my Wista DX is. The need for longer lenses was why I got a Zone VI. Preston is right though, the weight difference is noticeable between the Zone and Wista/ Tachihara.

For most studio work, I would think if you have a more current (triple bed) Zone, then that should suffice. Not seeing what advantage a Shen or Tachihara would have in controlled settings.

[Dave Parker]

Not to be controversial, but the weight question always amazes me! Of course I have spent the last 10 years in NW Montana, carrying cameras around in the back country, spent many years in Washington state, carrying cameras around, and the least of my worries has been the weight, I have always wanted a camera that does the job, and was willing to carry it, no matter the weight! With all the stuff we have to carry, to do the job we do, it seems weight would be one of the least of our worries.

Just my .02 I never expected photography to be comfortable!

[walter23]

Dave, agreed, and anyway the camera is kind of the least of your worries with a complete 4x5 setup. Okay, shaving a pound here and there helps, but it's not that big a deal. My shen hao isn't exactly a back breaker. Maybe scaled up to 8x10 there'd be a difference worth worrying about.

The movements on the shen hao are great; about as good as you get without going to a monorail. Exchangeable bellows is a bonus (I use the bag quite a bit). You might have to tweak the rear locking mechanism a bit, as I did - it came a bit loose so I had to add a washer to let it tighten up a bit more. The other option is to move the locking lever handle to a different hole in the locking nut, which makes it protrude out the back when locked down - a problem with folding it up and transporting it. I opted for the washer solution. Might be remedied in current generation shen hao, but mine's pretty recent (2 yrs or so). Very easy fix (can be done by hand and with no disassembly - just unscrew a nut, add a washer, and reassemble), but figured I'd mention it.

[draggingtheshutter]

the reason why i am switching is because when i bought the zone VI i was mislead by the actual workings and condition of the camera. the knobs seem to need extensive tightening to not move, one knob won't tighten, one of the screws holding in the ground glass just ripped out on me the other day. i enjoy the movements and the functions of the zone VI, however i think that i am going to just buy a new cheaper field and go from there, instead of putting the money into fixing it.

[Kevin Crisp]

If your Zone VI is the wisner-like one, and it needs some rehab, send it to Richard Ritter. What you are describing doesn't sound terribly difficult to fix. I wouldn't go from a zone VI back to a Tachihara. (Or a Shen Hao)

[Brian Ellis]

I've owned both, the Shen for only a short time (because it was misrepresented by the seller), two Tachiharas over a period of several years. It's mostly a trade-off between the weight of the Shen (a little over 6 lbs vs a little less than 4 lbs for the Tachihara) vs the extra back movements of the Shen and the ability to use a bag bellows, neither of which the Tachihara has. The Tachihara has back swing and tilt and that was enough for me, I didn't care about the other back movements the Shen has. The Tachihara has a very flexible bellows and can be used with a lens as short as 65mm without needing a bag bellows though the movements would be restricted. The Tachihara has a 13" bellows so you can use a 300mm lens with it and focus as close as about 10-12 feet. The Shen requires some PITA gyrations with front base and axis tilt to use a 300mm lens closer than infinity.

I think either camera would serve someone looking for a relatively inexpensive wood field camera equally well unless the weight of the Tachihara or the ability to use a 300mm lens easily led to the Tachihara or unless the back movements of the Shen or the availability of a bag bellows led to the Shen. Frankly I think the Chamonix, which I've also owned and which cost about $100 more than the Shen and the Tachihara, is a better camera than either of them because it combines the best attributes of both.