Calumet C-1, any weak spot?

[D. Bryant]

It is a very nice sturdy camera. There are a few things about it: it has a long rail sticking out in the back, so that when using a short focal length lens, there is a rail sticking into your neck; the tripod base is such that it requires a large tripod plate, ie 4x5 inches, or a metal plate added to be stable; one time when pointing it down and tilting the back, I had a problem with not being able to open the back enough to get the film holder in because of lack of clearance; there are no zero detents for the tilts; the tabs that keep the rail up in a folded position broke off; I had the green magnesium model, but I found it a bit heavy to hike around with.

Jon

My experiences with the C1 mirror Jon's. Tail piece in your face or mouth. Front standard is fixed (which I really hated). I added an aluminum plate to the base to allow firm solid mounting to a tripod, I can't understand who would design the base the way it was.

I too had both models aluminum and magnesium. I did like having a geared front rise. I also owned the recessed lens board with the 100mm lens board opening. This was very fortuitous since I could use Wisner lens boards in it. This allowed me to used a 90 mm SA for use with the 5x7 back.

All in all I ended up hating the camera and was glad to see it leave (both copies). In my opinion it is a deeply flawed camera especially by modern standards. It is a a green monster.

Don Bryant

[Captain_joe6]

The only weak link I've found is with the mechanism that locks the rear extension track. The plates that clamp down on the extension track and the screws that go into them are different metals, and will tend to bind very badly under big swings in temperature. I had mine in a cooler in the car, where it had gotten warm, and brought it out into a cold fall day, and about 5 minutes later, both screws were seized.

I replaced mine with steel screws and plates after enough broken screws.

[Curt]

Well it was always a green magnesium model, and yes Jim I had no imagination when I decided to paint it. It was in the winter and cold in the shop, I remember thinking about the color but when I got to the hardware store I caved in and went for plain old back.

I thought to myself I can have any color I want as long as it's black. Private Joke here, right Ford? Red would have been great, now that I think about it I might even do that one day. Flames, who knows? Maybe some yellow flames?

Merg that's what I'm talking about, the rail locks, I still have them installed an probably will leave them alone. Otherwise the rail won't have any way to stay up until needed. In the video Brett lets the rail down so fast that I believe he took the locks off, I don't see him releasing them but it doesn't matter. It's just something I saw and wondered about. He must have been quite a man to put the C1 on a tripod then over the shoulder and carry it around. Do you do that, mount it and carry it around?

Yes it's now black and has always been magnesium. I have the 5x7 reduction back too and some cast lens boards along with some wood boards I've made. I have to agree about the base, I used a piece of aircraft grade aluminum plate to make a base plate that covers the original. I drilled and tapped the holes for 1/4 20 and 3/8 16. I can't imagine using the 1/4 20, that's too small but that's another story. With the base plate I feel it's more solid of a mount.

Other than it being a tailboard camera I don't have any major problems with mine. It has new bellows, I bought the camera used but someone got a new Calumet C1 bellows and put it on a kinda used and dirty camera, go figure. Now it's very easy on the eyes and fun to use, especially with the the 14" Kodak Commercial Ektar lens or my 19" Red Dot Artar or the TR convertible which I can actually convert, long bellows.

Some day I want to get a nice Petzval lens for it and have some real fun, maybe do some Carbon Transfer prints from Petzval negatives.

Curt

[Merg Ross]

Merg that's what I'm talking about, the rail locks, I still have them installed an probably will leave them alone. Otherwise the rail won't have any way to stay up until needed. In the video Brett lets the rail down so fast that I believe he took the locks off, I don't see him releasing them but it doesn't matter. It's just something I saw and wondered about. He must have been quite a man to put the C1 on a tripod then over the shoulder and carry it around. Do you do that, mount it and carry it around?

Curt

Hi again, Curt. I misunderstood your rail lock query and was addressing the 4x5 Calumet while you were speaking of the C-1. Yes, the rail locks on the C-1 did not work well and I use a strong rubberband instead. I think that Brett also modified his with something more elegant. He was not only an excellent photographer but also a pretty fair machinist.

There have been remarks about mounting the C-1 to a tripod head. Bear in mind that Brett used a clamshell Baco Hollywood head with an approximate 5"x6" surface area. I have his old Baco head and use it on my C-1.

My opening comments to this thread address my opinions about the C-1; it was designed for the serious working photographer, not the dilettante.

No, I don't carry the C-1 over the shoulder, only my old woodie Agfa/Ansco with a Luc shutter. Just a tad lighter than the C-1 with Sinar/Copal shutter.

Merg

[Marco]

I have a Sinar F2 8x10 and a Calumet C1, and recently I'm using the C1 more and more, I really like its "simplicity" and "easy" of use, I have the impression that this allows me to better concentrate on composition, maybe not as "precise" as the Sinar but I really like my green monster...

I am the author of the italian video you metioned (btw: thank you for the kind words!), if you understand italian I've covered the main things/issues in that video, plus you just had great advices here on the forum...but there's one thing I did not mention, i.e. one of the weak point of the C1 for me is that is not easy to evaluate the perfect parallelism of the front and back standards, there are a couple of "marks" but I preferred addying a bubble level on the front standard (the back has a very small one on the top, very close to the handle, but again, it is very difficult to watch the back bubble level, I use a mirror for this purpose)...in a word: not the best camera for the "zero" position of the front and back standards...

Ciao!!

Marco

[Michael Kadillak]

I own four 8x10 cameras including a black C1 and every one of them has a unique set of positive and negative components that vary based upon the personality of the person using it. My other cameras include a Linhof Color Karden, a Toyo 810 and a Canham 8x10/8x20 that take Toyo lens boards so I had the Calumet converted to accept the same lens board.

The weight is not that big a deal because the compromise is improved stability particularly with some wind in the mix. For lenses between 17 and 30 inches this is the perfect instrument since the base can be adjusted to balance it over a tripod. Short lenses can be challenging and I usually use the Toyo or the Canham but I could turn it on its side if necessary. The bellows do not sag, the ground glass has a nice snap to it and it locks down nicely. Unfortunately early on I listened to a few folks tell me that this is not a very good camera. When I found one in like new condition at a price that I could not resist I learned that this is in fact a fabulous camera and I felt fortunate to have learned this valuable lesson.

[Louis Pacilla]

All Field & view camera's have weak points as well as strong ones. At least thats my experience. You just buy it & with enough use you will find work a rounds for the weak points & you'll appreciate the strong ones.

You may want to not over thinking to much it go ahead & buy a nice C1. Buy one that looks NICE you will have to pay a bit more(If it looks beat up it is). You'll be happy enough. Just keep things in perspective. If you just don't like it. Sale the damn thing & try another 8x10 camera.

IMHO - This may be one of the best fairly inexpensive fairly modren 8x10 cameras that can be had (in nice shape ) for under $500.

Take the price point into account when judging the weak points . If you want a current 8x10 with MAYBE less weak points. your looking at $2500-up to $10.000.

[Curt]

All Field & view camera's have weak points as well as strong ones. At least thats my experience. You just buy it & with enough use you will find work a rounds for the weak points & you'll appreciate the strong ones.

You may want to not over thinking to much it go ahead & buy a nice C1. Buy one that looks NICE you will have to pay a bit more(If it looks beat up it is). You'll be happy enough. Just keep things in perspective. If you just don't like it. Sale the damn thing & try another 8x10 camera.

IMHO - This may be one of the best fairly inexpensive fairly modren 8x10 cameras that can be had (in nice shape ) for under $500.

Take the price point into account when judging the weak points . If you want a current 8x10 with MAYBE less weak points. your looking at $2500-up to $10.000.

That about sums it up, when set up it is solid and at that point you will see why you use it. For the money it's hard to beat. I have a Seneca and Kodak 2D, the C1 is the most solid of the three, it's heavy but built well. I agree, the price escalates rapidly when as you move on to more current models.

[Len Middleton]

Back to the question of the OP, the green one I owned had damaged bellows and they did sag and did vignet the image if they were not rasied up.

I did make a Technika to C1 adapter board using a C1 board with a big opening in it and part of a front standard from a Technika bolted onto it. It worked well.

I did not have it long enough to get used to the rear focus aspect. And yes the rear rail extension did get in the way.

And thanks Lyn. Those C1 boards do work nice on my Dorff V8 that I replaced it with, although sometimes I have needed to sand the corner radius to get it to fit into the opening on the Dorff. Great for use with lenses like a 600/f9 Apo-Ronar when there is not much left of that 6x6 dimension after it is hogged out to fit the mounting flange. For that situation, I much prefer metal over wood.

Certainly great value, well built, and have all the needed movements. One could easily do much worse.

Oh the weak point? Likely your back...

Hope that helps,

Len

[venchka]

9-11-2010.........

I walked in to my favorite camera store, Houston Camera Co-Op, after a pleasant morning of 4x5 and dSLR (gasp!) photography. I was greeted by the sight of large green camera on a tripod displayed prominently in front of the cash register. I knew from the front door what it was. Yep. A Calumet C-1. It even had a lens mounted on the board. All I could read on the lens was Rodenstock MC 300/1:9. A working package. Almost. The price was $629. It was tough, but I left it there for someone with the time and space and inclination for such an investment in perserverance and love.