Oh I forgot. Kodak Retinas are pretty ghastly, with the interchangeable front elements and Gyro Gearloose mechanics....
Oh I forgot. Kodak Retinas are pretty ghastly, with the interchangeable front elements and Gyro Gearloose mechanics....
The worst one I ever had is coincidentally, the only brand new one I ever bought, and it was manufactured by my favorite camera maker...Toyo.
Back when the first came out, I jumped all over an Omega View 45D. I worked for Photomark at the time and there was a fairly substantial discount that Toyo offered to camera store employees. The ground glass didn't line up with the film plane and I never got a sharp picture from it. I had it back for service twice and they kept telling me it must be my eyes, there was nothing wrong with the camera. I tried a different camera, using the same film holders and got perfectly sharp negatives. I always used a Schneider loupe for focusing and a rather sturdy Gitzo tripod.
But that wasn't its only problem. The back was so stiff that you almost had to pry the thing open to get a film holder in. It didn't have interchangeable bellows and after only a few months the began to separate from the frame. I made so much noise that Toyo finally agreed to take it back. They gave me full credit toward a Toyo 4x5 which has been a wonderful camera.
My Gandolfi Variant II (composite, not wood) was terrible. Couldn't get rid of it fast enough, nor could I put it in the oven for Thanksgiving.
That gives me an idea. Anyone make a pinhole camera out of an oven? Ha ha ha ha
John, you're killing me.
I've never made a pinhole camera out of a turkey or oven, but, I did make one out of the cardboard tube from a roll of toilet paper.
Okay, I'll say it before anyone else does.... it was a crappy little camera.
My 4x5 MPP Press is badly built crap! What is worse I've still got the sodding thing, Really horrid.
Pete.
I'm happy no one mentioned Deardorff here.
Toyo 45E. The plastic parts are so brittle thay shatter if they are damaged.
You don't know nuttin' till you've pressed an RB with the prism on top...Originally Posted by Scott Davis
C
My first 4x5 was a Toyo 45CF. Even though I was new, operating it was very unpleasant. Fortunately, I moved on to real cameras.
I went out with a friend with a 4x5 made by Wisner. I looked at it pretty closely, and didn't like a thing about it. What a crude design in every mechanism. The wood was pretty but the camera was awful.
A Deardorff V8 - sorry SAShrubyA fine looking camera but a bugger to work with! Mine was an old (but pretty) camera that wobbled continuously in the slightest of breezes and after inserting darkslide?? Tried everything to get it to keep still but nothing seemed to work ... in the end I would have traded it for a turkey
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