Dear georgl,
I own a RW810E, and I would not leave home without it. This instrument serves me well...
I would try to contact Don Hutton within this forum, since he may have access to, or information about used instruments, such as this.
jim k
Dear georgl,
I own a RW810E, and I would not leave home without it. This instrument serves me well...
I would try to contact Don Hutton within this forum, since he may have access to, or information about used instruments, such as this.
jim k
Why don't look at Lotus cameras? They are well build cameras like Ebony.
http://www.lotusviewcamera.at/camera...ca_8x10_e.html
They are hard to find outside EU but I think you can find a demo unit in Germany or arrange demo in Austria.
Don't throw away 5x7(13x18) from your considerations. This format rocks for hand-held contact prints. An 5x7 camera and gear are much lighter than 8x10, close to 4x5 in size and weigth.
Last edited by AndyA; 24-Jan-2011 at 15:40.
Got a response from Mr. Sakanashi, visiting Tokyo seems to be an option, but prices are high because of a strengthened yen!? But still no prices!
@engl
Thanks for the advice, but the prices are very strange, higher than in Germany - while prices in the US are 30% lower....
Thoughts when choosing the format
5x7 has become an exotic film-format - 8x10" is more than twice as large - both systems are heavy and difficult to handle - no additional speed or interesting lens choices, IMHO. So 5x7" is too small for the expense, IMHO.
11x14" on the other side hits the limit, the camera alone weights as much as a whole 8x10" setup, you rarely get film and you cannot use many modern lenses.
8x10" (or x10" as the panoramic alternative) is the gold standard, IMHO.
Lotus
I nearly got a used Lotus, they are claimed to be the only wooden cameras matching the build-quality of Ebony!? I don't like the look of the simple anodized aluminium and bright cherry wood - stupid reason to decide against a system, I know - but 8x10" wooden field cameras are not purely rational, anyway. I have to fall in love for it!
Later I found out that Lotus uses Delrin for tracks and drive gears. I know, the whole world loves plastic - I don't, it behaves odd when machining or under long-term conditions. Sinar switched to "high-tech-plastics" as well, and after working great for a few years, they fall apart...
Lotus uses brass tracks and gears for the US cameras apparently because us Americans don't like plastic. Jeff at Quality Camera in Atlanta said he believed it made no difference unless you tried to move the focus tracks by force with the lock tightened, then the plastic could strip. I'm like you, I don't like the black metal.
I actually just obtained a mahogany 5x7 Ebony and 4x5 reducing back. The camera is 1 pound more than my 4x5 so you'd have an argument saying that it's too heavy or difficult to handle. I chose 5x7 over whole plate because after using a WP Eastman #2, I felt like the camera was too close to 8x10 in bulk and size, and of course holders would be a big expense. The Ebony 5x7 will also take a Canham 617 roll back standard as the 5x7 has grafloks, so there's your panoramic format.
I find that 5x7 is a nice size for intimate contact prints. They don't have the presence that 8x10 and larger does, but they are not too small, and they work well in smaller spaces. 5x7 enlargers are readily available and not anywhere near as big as an 8x10 enlarger.
Can't use modern lenses on 11x14? Bull. How about the 210 SS XL, 355 G-Claron, and almost everything 420mm or longer? If you don't mind single coated lenses like the G-Claron, the opportunities are almost endless. The added contrast of multicoated lenses is not always your friend.
Cheers, Steve
That's a wondeful camera, Steve!
There are currently 4 or 5 modern designs (not counting XXL FineArt) from Schneider/Rodenstock which cover 11x14" at infinity - I think that's a serious difference to all the lenses able to cover 8x10".
No, I'm not a fan of single-coated lenses (by the way, the actual dynamic range measured in visible detail isn't increased by using low-contrast lenses), in fact, it would be great to maintain most of the detail and microcontrast of Leica Asph-lenses in large-format-slides, although that might not be possible.
I don't plan to optically enlarge the negatives, I've aquired a Howtek D4000 recently, which hopefully works one day...
Metal vs. Plastic
It's really difficult to judge practial long-term-quality without knowing the exact kind and amount of stress caused in the mechanical setup and it's geometric design.
But to give people a basic idea besides the average "metal is stronger than plastic"-belief:
Titanium has an E-modulus ("stiffness" or deformation caused by force) of 110GPa, Delrin has 3GPa - when titanium deforms 0.03mm, Delrin would deform ~1mm!
Regular titanium-alloys (like Ti6Al4V) have a tensile strength (force before breakdown) which is thirteen times (!!!) as high as Delrin.
These are serious, substantial differences. Delrin is a very popular construction material: it's cheap, lightweight, easy to machine and doesn't need lubrication - that's it. Even 100M$ jet fighters use mainly metal mechanics...
Fuji and Nikon also have lenses suitable for 11x14. The big four have between them a nice diverse set of options, but of course, the smaller formats always have more. And weighs lessOriginally Posted by georgl
My recollection from owning an Ebony in the past is that while the titanium is very tough it is not exactly "smooth" in operation if that is a concern (compared to brass or delrin). Every material is a compromise.
The Ebony's are fine except for the rear swing on the asymmetric versions of the larger cameras. The symmetric versions swing smoothly. The only thing I can think of is that the "dovetail" in the "arc" machined into the swing plates are trying to bind on the asymmetric models and the effect is worse as the rear standard gets heavier (format gets larger), and is worse with ebony wood than mahogany.
This little arc puzzled me for a while but I finally figured it out. It's there so that the swing point is actually right on the ground glass line for the swing, even though the physical swing point - the stud and nut - are a quite a bit in front of the ground glass.
Anything besides the rear swing will wear in to the point it's silky smooth. So if anything besides the rear swing on an asymmetric version is a little rough, you just need to get off the couch and take more pictures!
Cheers, Steve
A small update on my side:
I've postponed my acquisition for the RW810E for some months and took the chance to test my 8x10 workflow with a 500€-Sinar F. What an ugly camera and horrible to work with. And I replaced my Howtek with an Eversmart Pro II - works great, at least with slides. Negatives turn out horrible...
But until I make the actual order, I won't now if I get the camera in NYC or directly from Ebony. But the Yen seem to increase value no matter what... How is that possible?
Currently I'm looking for a Rucksack and I have to get one BEFORE I get the acutal camera (I know, that's tricky)... I've found some nice ones, but most of them seem 30cm wide while the RW810E is 31.5cm wide... 1.5cm still possible or simply too small? Has somebody measured the actual width of his RW810 (like takes it the leather handle into account)?
> Currently I'm looking for a Rucksack ...
I saw another thread that had nice looking gear, including 8x10 setups: http://photobackpacker.com/home.php
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