Humping 8x10 more than 100 feet from the car

[BradS]

My mind is wandering this week. Lately, I've been thinking alot about an 8x10 field camera...

I wonder how many of you carry an 8x10 field camera into the field. How many lenses do you carry? It seems to me that the bigger the format, the fewer lenes one needs/carries. Is that reality?

I recently handled (fondled?) a 240mm Sironar-N in copal #3...does anybody actually carry one of these things? It seems huge!

What pack or...box or mule do you use to hump your stuff?

[Nick_3536]

Get a light weight 8x10. Mine is something less then 9 lbs. Some 4x5s are heavier then that. Add some light lenses. 450mm C Fuji. 300m F/9 Nikon or Fuji. Various choices in 210mm range.

The big fast lenses in #3 are not for the faint of heart. OTOH the 300 and 360mm fast lenses can be relatively cheap.

[reellis67]

I have a wooden 8x10 that is not all that heavy really. I also have a T.R. triple convertible lens for it that weighs almost as much as the camera! If you go with a lighter model they really are not all that bad. I really need to get a pack for mine - right now I'm kind of limited in how far I can go with it. As far as lenses go, I have two lenses, one heavy and one light, so I can't really speak to the issue of fewer lenses. For me, the limitation is cost rather than weight.

If you decide to go that route, I'd strongly suggest photobackpacker's new backpacks. They look like they would handle an 8x10 in comfort and safety. I'm saving up for one now if it's any consideration...

- Randy

[MIke Sherck]

When I had the Wehman (about 8.5 lbs for the camera,) last year I carried a Fujinon 420mm in copal 3 and a Fuji 210mm in copal 1. ALong with loupe, Sekonic meter, filters, etc. I stuffed it into a cheap Spaulding backpack. Seperately I had a tripod with a home-made carrying strap and a cooler bag with 4 to 6 film holders. I was very mobile for at least a few miles and that includes up sand dunes/ice hummocks, etc. I'm 50, so my 'leaping small chasms' days are over.

Mike

[David A. Goldfarb]

I carry my 8x10" Gowland PocketView in a knapsack made for laptop computers.

If I want to go really light, I'll carry just one or two lenses or a casket set, maybe only normal to wide so I can leave the extension rail at home, three wooden holders, BlackJacket, Digisix meter, a few gel filters and holder, and maybe even just a light set of tripod legs without a head, leaving the rail clamp attached to the tripod. I can get the whole kit down to 18 lbs that way, and it works pretty well for architecturals and cityscapes that I do around town.

More typically, though, I'll take about 5 or 6 lenses in the same bag (120/14 Berthiot Perigraphe, maybe a 168mm ser. iii Dagor, 8.25" Dagor, 10" WF Ektar, 12" Dagor, 19" Apo Artar--the 10", 12", and 19" all share the same Ilex 5 shutter), bring the extension rail, and use a larger tripod. This kit's more along the lines of 30-35 lbs including tripod. I tend to carry three or four holders and a half frame pano mask in my bag, but if I'm in a position to go back to the car at some point, I may have more holders loaded in the car.

[BarryS]

I've recently been carrying around my Deardorff V8, 240mm f/5.6 Symmar-S in a copal #3, 4 holders, darkcloth, tripod, and assorted stuff mostly in a large duffle bag. It's heavy. I've been waiting for the new Crumpler roller backpack, but I may break down and buy a Kelty Redwing before I drop dead. I still need to get a Deardorff to Technika board adapter so I can use my small lenses with the dorff, but I don't envision carrying more than two lenses at one time. I also have 300 and 360mm Sironar N lenses and they're massive, but they really light up the groundglass. I figure as long as I have the Deardorff, a couple of extra pounds in glass isn't a big deal.

[RichardRitter]

I take mine as far as 4 miles into the forest. I take one lens 6 film holders light meter and tripod. If I am going any distance or over rocky ground I will take a Bogen 3001 tripod. If I go down to the swamp/bog I will take the Ries tripod. The lens I take will depend on where I am going and what I am after. I sometime use a modified pack frame to carrier the equipment other wise I put the camera on the tripod and throw it over my shoulder. Lens is carried in the film holder pack.

[Dan Schmidt]

I walk all around towns and trails with my wehman 8x10 (strapped to the outside of the pack).

My fuji C450 usually gets folded up in the camera. Tripod gets slung around my shoulder.

Typically in the pack there will be:

5x7 reducing back

2-3 8x10 holders

4-6 5x7 holders

sekonic spot meter

24 " artar mounted in copal 3

dark cloth

dity bag with filters cable release etc..

strapping the wehman to the outside of the backpack , means that i don't need a huge pack.

[Jan Pedersen]

I carry my 810 Chamonix togther with 4 lenses, 3 film holders and the usual small stuff in a Tamrac Expedition 8. A Feisol 3472 in it's dedicated bag which is big enough to hold a few bottles of water. Altogether close to 35 pound. An 8 to 9 mile hike is about my limit at the moment.

[Vaughn]

My Zone VI/Ries pod combination, several lenses and 5 to 7 holders weigh about 60 pounds. I have a self-modified backpack it all (except pod) it fits into. I hike all day with it...a good workout, even if I don't make a good photo!

Don't hike as fast nor as far as I use to...in my younger days, I considered a 60 pound pack as a light one (I carried 85+ pounds for 11 day hikes down into the Grand Canyon with my 4x5). At 54, the 45 pound pack (and 15 lb pod) is not uncomfortable (I am 6'4", 240 lbs), but can be tiring. I just do not consider getting tired as a "negative"...some people actually pay to get workouts in gyms, etc! I carry the pod in my hand so when hiking I can plant the tripod on the ground...that way I am stepping up or down with only the 45 pounds of the pack affecting my muscles and my knees.

vaughn