Show off your Large Format camera!

[Andrew Plume]

Richard, Hi

welcome to the (excellent) Forum, that's a lovely Graphic View - Minor White used one of these

regards
andrew

[mdarnton]

Karsh used a Graphic view on the road, too. Many of his industrial shots were done with one. I was given one, and keep thinking about selling it, but it's too nice of a camera to get rid of. They certainly don't sell for their intrinsic value as cameras! Some of the 70s vintage Japanese view cameras are direct rip-offs of the design, too.

It's small and very sturdy, and I take it on car trips by pushing the ends together and dropping it into a messenger bag, rail up sticking out the ends of the bag. Two or three small lenses and two Grafmatics, and I'm off. The hood on the back is handy, too; protection and light hood, both. Plus, the thing is gorgeous. The ONLY thing it doesn't do well is wide angle lenses, since the board is small and the original sunken boards will only take the smallest shutters. Really it was made for the 90mm Raptar and not much else.

Rskura, if the standards move (straighten up and change focus) when you tighten the locks, slide something under the loose trapezoidal plate that is the next thing from the bottom on the bottom of the standards, underneath. This will lift that plate against the bottom of the rail and take the slop out. Very thin stiff plastic or card stock, and cut a slot for the focus mechanism to go through, so you can push it all the way in--once you get it in, it will stay. You want to take out all the slop that you can without making the focusing stiff, so don't just jam in as much as you can fit. This really helps, fixing the one single weakness of this camera.

[Ken Lee]

Sinar P with old Tessar
January 2015

[IanG]

You like your Tessars Ken I have to admit to having a few as well.

Ian

[rskura]

Rskura, if the standards move (straighten up and change focus) when you tighten the locks, slide something under the loose trapezoidal plate that is the next thing from the bottom on the bottom of the standards, underneath. This will lift that plate against the bottom of the rail and take the slop out. Very thin stiff plastic or card stock, and cut a slot for the focus mechanism to go through, so you can push it all the way in--once you get it in, it will stay. You want to take out all the slop that you can without making the focusing stiff, so don't just jam in as much as you can fit. This really helps, fixing the one single weakness of this camera.

Thanks for the great advice! Right now there doesn't appear to be too much play in the standards, but I can see by the design how this could be a problem. It's great to know there is an easy solution for that. I'm sure I will run into some other issues along the way to learning this camera. Great to have help! Thanks!

[moltogordo]

I'm really only a dabbler in 4x5. I went though a time when I was getting into it, and then a move and job kept me from much serious work.

Here's my one and only large format camera at present. Started off with a 4x5 Calumet and a 150mm f5.6 Nikkor. Kept the Nikkor and bought a Toyo 45A. Preferred the Calumet, in fact. Can't say why, but I just liked the monorail. Now have what I consider a compromise, and I'm pretty happy. Use the 56x72mm back frequently as well. Pretty much only use HP5 with both the back and large format film, and use HC110 at 1:63 for 12 minutes as a standard development in both formats. A shot from a number of years ago shows the tonality I get with this combination. This was taken with the Toyo. I have unfortunately only 56mmx72mm format pictures from my Linhof, which is in fact a fairly recent purchase. It's shown with the 90mm Schneider, which is why I put the camera forward on the rail - I don't have a recessed lens board. I also have a 150mm f5.6 Linhof select, which is on the camera right now.

I'm also pretty interested in doing some contact printing with a 5x7, which I don't own. I know the 8x10 would be the preference of most, but I just simply have this bug in my bonnet to do 5x7. Maybe I'll find an old Cambo with both backs on day! I do have a 5x7 pinhole camera (unused at this point) and six 5x7 film holders, so I'm partway there! Might try the pinhole soon. I just bought it because it was there and cheap . . .




A scenic near Cache Creek, BC.

[Luis-F-S]

A pair of V5's, one from 1951 Ser # 122 on left refinished by Ken Hough in 1992 & one from 1987 Ser # 220x on right purchased new from Jack & assembled by Ken.

[Larry Kellogg]

Beautiful, Luis. Those are Specials and can shoot 5x7, right?

[Ari]

I love these cameras; very nice example.


A scenic near Cache Creek, BC.

Do you process HP5 for 12 minutes? I use the same dilution of HC-110, but I process for only 7.5 minutes.
Very good photo, all the same.

[Tin Can]

I'm really only a dabbler in 4x5. I went though a time when I was getting into it, and then a move and job kept me from much serious work.

Here's my one and only large format camera at present. Started off with a 4x5 Calumet and a 150mm f5.6 Nikkor. Kept the Nikkor and bought a Toyo 45A. Preferred the Calumet, in fact. Can't say why, but I just liked the monorail. Now have what I consider a compromise, and I'm pretty happy. Use the 56x72mm back frequently as well. Pretty much only use HP5 with both the back and large format film, and use HC110 at 1:63 for 12 minutes as a standard development in both formats. A shot from a number of years ago shows the tonality I get with this combination. This was taken with the Toyo. I have unfortunately only 56mmx72mm format pictures from my Linhof, which is in fact a fairly recent purchase. It's shown with the 90mm Schneider, which is why I put the camera forward on the rail - I don't have a recessed lens board. I also have a 150mm f5.6 Linhof select, which is on the camera right now.

I'm also pretty interested in doing some contact printing with a 5x7, which I don't own. I know the 8x10 would be the preference of most, but I just simply have this bug in my bonnet to do 5x7. Maybe I'll find an old Cambo with both backs on day! I do have a 5x7 pinhole camera (unused at this point) and six 5x7 film holders, so I'm partway there! Might try the pinhole soon. I just bought it because it was there and cheap . . .




A scenic near Cache Creek, BC.

I think those Linfofs are very pretty, almost un -German as they have Italian style.

I have the baby Kardon Color which shoots native 6x9/6.5/9.

It looks just like yours, but the rear standard is smaller.