I've been shooting LF from 4x5 to 8x10 for 25 years. I've used many different cameras and many different styles, including 3 different homemade cameras. Now I'm looking for a 4x5 that isn't such a pain to use. For my work, I figure all I need is front rise/fall, rear swing, rear tilt, rear fine focus, front coarse focus, bellows enough for lenses from 58mm to 450mm (about 500mm of bellows), about 4 pounds, strong, and non-folding.

I don't know about the rest of you, but folding a conventional field camera seems like a big waste of time. And because cameras fold, they have a hard time accommodating short and long lenses. Using a 58mm or 65mm lens requires major contortions from the camera. And using a 450mm lens is out of the question except for a few cameras.

I had a metal Canham that could handle many of these requests, but it is such a puzzle to set up that I find it troublesome to use. It is a nice camera and beautifully done, but it is not for me. I want to concentrate on the photograph and not assembling and contorting the camera.

I know the weight requirement seems tough, but I know too that cameras are over-designed in some ways and under-designed in others. I have an Ebony: a very nice camera with many features. Why do I need titanium knobs? This is wasteful and heavy. There are many places on these cameras where titanium is used to no advantage.

If the camera folds, maybe like a Kodak 2D, then that is okay, but unnecessary. Most any camera will have more movements, but maybe they could be removed for weight reasons. I you all have any ideas, I'd love to hear them. Thanks for your help.