Arca-Swiss 171 vs 141...

[Don7x17]

Thanks to all for the replys, they have been very useful, and have alleviated any of my concern. I can't wait to get some hands on use under my belt...

Three things to think about

1) Is the rail that comes with your intended camera thick or thin profile? Thin flexed too much with heavier lenses -- I ended up upgrading my first arca and sold the thin profile rails and bridges.

2) 171 lens board will give you room for the larger lenses -- including older #5 shutters. But Some lenses have huge rear elements that won't fit at all into the 141...for example the 550 XXL fine art and 1100 XXL fine are won't fit 141 (Rear element of 550 barely fits through the frame on the camera ..I guess you could always unscrew the rear, decouple the bellows, screw it in, remount the bellows....its a pain this way though.

3) Older non-FC/F backs....be careful. I bought a couple of these and they were just a hair undersize, leaving gap between lensboard and frame. I sold them as I didn't like the fit, and bought the newer ones. Check them before you buy.

Good luck - - regardless of your choice of 141 or 171, you'll find it an excellent system (and you can upgrade to 5x7 or 8x10, or downsize to 6x9 (this latter one not easy with 171)

Don

[Scott Rosenberg]

i've owned the F-line in both 171-171 and 141-110 flavors... without hesitation i prefer the smaller model. initially i didn't think the difference would be significant, then i played with a 141-110 that my friend owned... bought one a few weeks later.

i've never noticed any flare with either (or a technica for that matter) arca body.

like they say, horses for courses... i tend to carry my gear distances, so some weight and bulk savings was high on my list of considerations.

functionally, i consider the f-line cameras, in all their various configurations, the finest cameras available. enjoy yours - it's definately a keeper!

[David Karp]

Yeah, I think I recently saw that same 141 Arca that Scott saw. I kept thinking about how nice and small it looked. Very tantalizing.

Then I thought about how much my Discovery cost and how much $ I saved by not buying the 141. I did not feel quite so bad.

[Scott Rosenberg]

Yeah, I think I recently saw that same 141 Arca that Scott saw...

yepper, sheldon's to blame!

[evan clarke]

Hello, new here, and new to LF, but I just got what I think is a very good deal on a mint F Classic 4x5. Despite what I was told, it is 171 and not newer 141. I think its a good enough deal that I should keep it anyway, but wanted to see if there are any disadvanteage besides the weight and size? Any advantages (less vignetting or more movement)? Also, it does have a Linhof lensboard adapter which is nice. It does not have GG or fresnel, so are there any better options than the OEM items? I think I will also get a WA bellows - what are the pros and cons of leather vs synthetic - I think the synthetic has more movement? I don't think I'll be going beyond 72mm to 180mm any time soon, so will these WA bellows have an easy time with this range of lenses? Much appreciate any assistance, learned a lot from this forum already...

I didn't think anything could be better than my 171 until I saw the 141 in person. I have been using the 141 almost daily for about 2 1/2 years and have zero issues with it. The bellows going past the frame presents no problems. Here is a snapshot of the two cameras side by side...Evan Clarke