Looking for a bigger format for contact printing, and with the idea in mind that "fewer, but bigger" reversal film pictures is not a bad thing at all, i have decided to buy my first 8x10 camera some time ago.
Unfortunately the project of adapting a Sinar/Copal shutter, and fixing a few smaller things, on my De Vere behemoth, is taking too long, so i realized that buying another cheap camera for outdoor use would be a nice idea. Doing so would also allow me to shoot some of the expired film i recently purchased before the winter comes!
Some of the films are color, and were kept refrigerated for a long time. Now i have no place for them in my frigidaire, so i think that shooting them soon would be better.
After some reading online, and after i watched a nice video about it on an italian LF site, i realized that one of the best options (within my budget) for outdoor shooting would be a Calumet C-1. In reality, i tried to acquire a Kodak 2D at first. Not so many movements, but it had the extension rail and was in very nice condition, with like-new red bellows, all the metal parts in good shape. Even the wood frame was in above-average conditions. Unfortunately i didn't win the auction, somebody else won by a very small margin
Unfortunately Deardorffs get sold for too much for my taste (and for my wallet), and most of the wooden cameras with extension rail, and front tilt and swing, aren't very cheap either. An additional problem for EU bidders like me, is to have to pay from 80 to 120 dollars for the cheapest trackable shipment option. That's why i settled for a 2D, it was nice and came from UK (not taxes and cheaper shipment).
Unfortunately i lost that bid, and after some further searching, i found a Calumet C-1, from a french ebayer.
The starting price was 250 euros, and no taxes to pay. So i decided that if nobody was willing to buy for more, i'd buy it for the starting price. So i did, even if the shipment was another 50 euros at least.
Strangely nobody else was interested, and i eventually won. A total of 300 euros for a Calumet C-1, not a present, not a bad deal either.
The camera is in black, so it's in aluminium, not magnesium. I'd be happier with a green one, cause the magnesium-made camera is still heavier than most wooden field cameras, but i wasn't given that choice, so i'll have to carry a weight that should be around 50% more.
The C-1 looks quite scratched in the black parts, but it looks not so beaten-up, and the owner assured that every part is still there (no missing knobs) and that every movement works the way it should. The camera is said to have no "play" on the extension rails, and it comes with two lensboards.
That's all i know, as i still have to get it.
Any general advice is welcome, but i am specifically asking if the camera has some weak spot, something to look for when i get it.
What i know already is that it allows for a lot of bellows extension, something good for close focusing with my long process lenses. Another thing i have read is that it's not very easy to use with wide-angles, because the focusing must be done only with the rear standard, and when it gets too far forward, the rear rail stands in the way.
From what i understand, it's not possible to avoid extending the back rail. If there is a way, or if there is some kind of setting that's not so easy to find out, please let me know.
I understand that the C-1 it's not the first choice for working with wide-angles (something i like to do), and that it doesn't fold as neatly as a clamshell-shaped wooden camera, but even with its substantial weight it's still a lot easier to carry than my De Vere!
Unfortunately the british camera has a one-piece rail, very heavy and very bulky, and the only way to carry it, is in a trunk of a car (disassembled, because if you want to carry it in a ready-to-shoot state, you should find first an extra-size case, probably only a custom made one would do).
In the end, the more i think about my new purchase, the more i think that there are good chances that i will eventually be satisfied with my new camera.
If i will not enjoy it very much, there are good chances that i will get back what i payed, or at least have a minor loss.
What makes me mad is that i am going to have another kind of lensboards
I have already some lenses that are still on Technika III boards, but most have already migrated to Technika IV "standard" lensboards, that are easy match for my Kardan 4x5 (the Bi-System came with the adapter). I am also making a similar adapter for the De Vere, as i have many De Vere/Sinar boards, and the ugliest is going to be "customized" in a way that reminds the Tech IV > Kardan adapter.
The Bi even had another home-made adapter, so the boards of my old Fatif 13x18 can be placed on the Linhof... at least until each and every lens will be on Tech IV boards.
Now i will also have a Deardorff-type, and that it's happening at the same time i am starting to experience the advantages of simplification: i have decided for big barrel lenses on Sinar boards, fine-tuned to be as close as possible to the Sinar shutter, and lenses in-shutter fitted to standard Linhof-Wista boards.
I suppose that the best way out would be to sacrifice one of the two boards that will come with the C-1, and have it transformed in a Linhof-Wista adapter.
That would not solve the problem with the big glasses. The nice thing about Kardan lensboards is that they are so big that any other kind of boards can be adapted, but Sinar's and Calumet-Deardorff's look very close dimensionally, so i guess that a Sinar > Deardorff wouldn't be so easy to make, with the possibility that they would be too close dimensionally to allow for an adapter (at least with my limited technical resources).
Maybe i am wrong, so i am asking for any advice, including plain old common sense.
To put it simply, any kind of suggestion, expecially by C-1 present/past owners, is more than welcome. ANY thing that comes to your mind, not only about the few subjects i have mentioned.
I am sure it would be of great interest for many, either would-be owners, or simply those that are trying to understand which second-hand 8x10" camera would suit their needs.
have fun
CJ
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