Sorry, the building material of the Toyo 45 CF isn't ABS. It's carbon fiber reinforced polycarbonate plastic. As used in racing cars etc.
Sorry, the building material of the Toyo 45 CF isn't ABS. It's carbon fiber reinforced polycarbonate plastic. As used in racing cars etc.
Jean-Marie,
If weight is your main concern, have a look at the Toho cameras (though these are not wooden field cameras, they are in fact monorails!). Kerry Thalmann, a regular contributor to this forum is a big fan of the Toho Shimo FC-45X which he claims weighs-in at 1385g as shipped from the manufacturer. After some modifications he was able to get the weight down to around 1261g. His review is posted at: http://www.thalmann.com/largeformat/toho.htm
Bonne chance!
Dominique, I'm well aware of the light weight of the Toho. But as far as I can read it does not have an international back which is an important feature for me. Bjorn, where did you find your info about this Toyo CF, can't see anything on this model.
Jean-Marie,
No, the Toho does not have a Graflok back. However, the back opens VERY wide an d will accept many film holders under the glass without removing the back. For 6x7 and 6x9, the Toyo roll film holders work very well. I have also used the 6x 12 Shen Hao back with my Toho with no problems.
The Horseman backs will fit under the ground glass of the Toho, but they (the Ho rseman backs) have an extra ridge that prevents them from seating properly. Acc ording to Roger Hicks' review in Shutterbug, he had a modification done (not cle ar from the article if the modification was to the Horseman back or the Toho cam era) to allow use of the Horseman 6x12 back with his Toho. In either case, the mod would be simple for any competent machinist (either shave off the extra ridg e on the Horseman back, or cut a mating groove on the Toho camera). It is unfor tunate that Horseman chose to add this non-standard ridge to their backs, but it can be "fixed" if you so desire.
The Shen-Hao is a GREAT value (I currently have one in my possession) and is an incredibly capable camera for the money. I'm sure the Wista is also a very nice camera, but quite a bit more expesnive (especially with the Graflok compatible back). The beauty of the Toho is the fact that it has a longer bellows (by over 3") than either of these other models, is considerably lighter (1/2 the weight of the Shen Hao - over 2 lbs. lighter than the Wista), has full movements on bot h front and rear standards, and is surprisingly rigid and very durable. It's no t the camera for everybody, but if the ONLY reason you are not considering it is the lack of a Graflok back, you may wish to reconsider. It can be used, withou t modifcation with many brands of roll film backs, or also with the Horseman bac ks after minor modification.
Kerry
About the Toyo 45 CF that I mentioned. It seems like it isn't released in the US. I found some info on this swedish website: http://www.dito.se/toyo.html<b r> which of course is in swedish, but I recon that the info comes through with some imagination anyhow. Else, feel free to consult the "swedish chef" :-)
</b> turning off bold... I intended a breakline tag.
Well!!!inserting the Horseman RFH under the ground glass of the Toho: could'nt imagine that this was possible. This may well change the story. Thank you very much Kerry for the info! Anything to do to prevent the groundglass from being scratched?
Jean-Marie,
I have not personally USED the Horseman back with my Toho. I was passing along info from Roger Hicks' Toho review in the December 2001 issue of Shutterbug. I have tried to insert the Horseman 6x12 back in my Toho and can verify that it do es fit (the Toho back opens REALLY wide), and as Roger Hicks mentioned, there is an extra ridge on the Horseman that prevents it from seating properly. I don't know if Roger Hicks has a current email address, but he used to be active on Co mpuserve. You might try to get in touch with him for more details on using the Horseman back with the Toho.
I have used the Shen Hao 6x12 back with my Toho and it fits quite nicely. Due t o the design of the Shen Hao back, it doesn't contact the ground glass when it i s properly in place. So, no worries about scratching the ground glass (as long as you aren't completely careless when inserting or removing it). As far as scr atching the ground glass with the Horseman back, one of the plastic ground glass protectors fron Calumet or Canham might work. These are designed to slip in th e back of the camera to protect the ground glass during transport. Both of thes e models cover both sides of the ground glass. So, unless they interfere with t he operation of the Horseman back, they should do a good job of protecting the g round glass. Other than that, a little foam core and some double stick tape wou ld probably do the job.
Kerry
Jean-Marie, I own both the Toyo AII and the Shen Hao. When I was searching for a light weight complement to my Toyo, I also limited myself to a camera with a universal back. The Tachihara did not have that feature. The Shen Hao had it, but was not much lighter in weight than the Toyo. Even so, I chose the Shen Hao. Dollar-for-dollar, and feature-for-feature the Shen Hao really shines. I also obtained an adapter lens board for the Toyo, so that I have the capability of using the Linhof-type lensboards( of the Shen-Hao ) on the Toyo. The camera that comes to mind as a lighter weight option is the new Wisner Flight. It can be ordered with a Universal back, and weighs under four pounds. (don't ask me to convert that to grams).
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