Metal Field 8x10 Cameras?

[wm mitchell]

Does Phillips have website? BILL

[Andre Noble]

Thank you all for your input. I may just first upgrade my Toyo monorail to 8x10 (or 5x7), and see how I like that.

Wood is nice, but I'm very partial to metal and will definitely be looking at that wonderful looking toy, the Toho 8x10, in the future.

Kerry, you must be a true pioneer to have gotten the Toho 4x5. I considered it ever so briefly before I got the Toyo 45AII. I liked your extensive review of the Toho I read today on your site. Now if you and brother Bob could just get along...:>) Anyway, perhaps by the time I am ready to buy, you will have by then a review of the 8x10 Toho as well. I'm going to email Robert White to see if he is selling them. Toys, toys, toys!!

Andre

[Sal Santamaura]

Bill, no Web site, but you can contact Dick at:

rhphill@concentric.net

and see a Compact II writeup (in German) with an illustration at:

http://www.monochrom.com/MonoC/asp/rmiArt003.asp?b=n&artnum=00026001

[Kerry L. Thalmann]

Andre,

Not sure if it qualifies me for pioneer status, but I do have the first Toho FC- 45X ever brought into this country by Badger Graphic (there may have been one or two purchased by indiviuals while traveling to Tokyo, I don't know). Due to th e light weight and other desirable characteristics of the Toho, I was definitely interested in the camera, but was not willing to commit to buying one sight uns een (it is a unique design, and at that time an entirely unknown quantity).

When I learned that Badger was going to start importing them, I called Jeff to g et some info on the camera. He said he'd never seen one, but would be getting o ne in shortly and offered to send it to me for review - with no obligation to bu y if I didn't like anything about the camera. Long story short - I liked it eno ugh to buy it after I finished writing the review. I've reviewed several camera s since, but to date, this is the only one I liked enough to pay for out of my o wn pocket and keep.

I've had the camera for over two years now, and unlike many other cameras I've o wned, the longer I have this one the more I like it and the more I'm convinced t here is nothing better for what I use it for (hiking and backpacking). There ar e better cameras - no doubt. Weight being no object, I prefer my Linhof Technika rdan TK45S for the smooth operation, longer extension, and easily reversible bac k. However, often times for me, weight is an issue and that's where the little Toho really shines. I'd never dream of going on a long distance multiday backpa cking trip with the Linhof. With the Toho, I never consider going without it.

WRT to my brother Bob... I actually do have a brother named Robert, but he goes by Rob. We get along famously, thanks.

Kerry

[Kerry L. Thalmann]

Andre,

I know Robert White used to sell the Toho. I have a copy of his Pro-Photo Revie w from a couple years ago with a little two paragraph write up on the FC-45X. T hey used to be listed on his web site under "other", but last time I checked the y were no longer there.

Kerry

[Andre Noble]

Kerry, thanks. Andre

[Ed Burlew]

I have an old Eastman, that is a Kodak but instead of being wooden it is aluminum. It is about 90 years old , But it have very limited movements, only front rise. It is light at under 7 lbs without lense. I do have a 155 grandagon and it fits, once I hogged out the inside lense board cover , I put it on a flat 6x6x.125 piece of aluminum, polished, WOW! I rack the lense board out to the end and bring the back up and it focuses at infinity. The bellows does not move much but I treat it like a really big SWC. Yes the pics are Awsume!!! I use forte 200 rated at 100 and developed in Tmax developer. The tones just won't blow out!!

ED

[wm mitchell]

Thanks,Sal. BILL

[David Richhart]

Andre... Just to stray from the camera choice a bit...I'm not sure that 150mm would be my first choice for a lens. Maybe you already own one??? Just a thought... -Dave

[Brian Ellis]

If weight is important to you, I'd look seriously only at one of the Phillips light weight models or the Toho. I have a Deardorff, which is a great camera. But it weighs about 12 lbs, not too bad by 8x10 standards but by the time I pack and carry everything else it's too much for me to carry more than a short distance, maybe a mile maximum and that's a really uncomfortable mile for me. Those 8x10 holders are really heavy, as are the 8x10 lenses (I have three, one small, the other two fairly large) and the tripod needed for 8x10. In 4x5, I think the weight of the camera is often over emphasized. I think you have to look at the weight of the camera as a percentage of everything else you carry so to me the difference between say a 4 lb and a 6 lb 4x5 camera isn't enough to worry about since everything else - tripod, holders, etc. - can remain the same with either camera and the overall weight of the entire system isn't that great regardless of the camera weight (within reason of course). But with 8x10 you're really getting into everything being a whole lot heavier so a light camera such as the Toho or one of the Phillips models, combined with the lighter tripod that the lighter camera may enable you to use, can make a big difference. Just my thoughts. I don't plan to sell the Deardorff any time soon but if I had known how much I would end up liking the 8x10 format, and just how heavy an 8x10 system based on a 12 lb camera can be, I think I would have paid more attention to some of the lighter cameras.