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Thread: Ebony advice

  1. #1

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    Ebony advice

    Hi , After trying digital stitching (35mm) 8x10 and a few others to try and get the quality i am looking for i have come to the conclusion that the format i get the most satisfaction from is 5x4 personally i think the ease of use and practicality and indeed versatility of this format is what appeals to me , i just enjoy using it so much more than 8x10 .and in miniture format i hate taking 12 images of a scene to later stitch them together in a computer fun ?not!! So this leads me to my question when i first started in LF i fell in love with a camera it was a Ebony but at the time i thought i might not enjoy shooting 5x4 so i currently own a Shen hao which is O.K , don't get me wrong. But i am now looking to buy my last 5x4 and my attention has switched back to the Ebony the model i have settled on is the SV45ti or te same camera different finish.
    The reason i settled on this model is i needed a camera that is portable for landscapes but also could double as a studio camera when required i have decided that i would like to keep my 450 nikkor(bought for 8x10) can't use on the Shen hao no problem on the Ebony. So any advice would be great as cannot touch and feel this camera in Perth so would have to buy sight unseen . Cheers Gary

  2. #2
    Octogenarian
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    Re: Ebony advice

    I owned an Ebony SV45te for a few months. Same design as the SV45ti.

    Beautiful camera with excellent build quality. However, I found it annoying when it came to choosing between the three focusing knobs on the same side of the camera.

    Eventually sold the Ebony and purchased an 8x10 camera with a 4x5 reducing back.

    My Nikkor 450M was more suited to the 8x10 camera. Larger Sinar lens boards and more bellows to work with.

  3. #3
    Daniel Stone's Avatar
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    Re: Ebony advice

    have you given any thought to getting a 5x7 camera with a 4x5 reducing back as an accessory?

    if you're shooting b/w only, there's a lot of emulsions still available for that format(5x7), if you're working in color, no-go my friend, unless you cut 8x10 down. 5x7 is almost double the size of 4x5, allowing more "resolution" to work with. Its also a wider perspective, so there's less stitching involved that I can see.

    Secondly, the 450 Nikkor would have some more working room bellows-wise with a 5x7 camera than with most 4x5 field cameras.

    also, chamonix makes some damn fine cameras, and they cost a good bit less than an ebony. If you have someone around you who has an ebony to play around with and cuddle for an hour or so, try it out, even if it takes you a few hours worth of time in driving. Sure beats buying the wrong camera and trying to re-sell it for a loss, generally a big one, even with Ebony's.

    don't get me wrong, just cause they're expensive doesn't mean they aren't great cameras. Design-wise, they're terrific! However, there's less-expensive options out there that might deliver better results and a smoother workflow for you, at a drastically reduced cost, allowing you more $$$ for film .

    but I'm not going to tell you how to spend your money

    cheers,

    -Dan

  4. #4

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    Re: Ebony advice

    "But i am now looking to buy my last..."

    That's what we all say

  5. #5
    mandoman7's Avatar
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    Re: Ebony advice

    It seems like the minute I get an outfit configured, guided by certain assumptions about what I'll be shooting, then some new ideas come along that seem to be best accomplished with a different system.
    John Youngblood
    www.jyoungblood.com

  6. #6

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    Oct 2010
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    Re: Ebony advice

    Are you buying the Ebony new?

    I'm not going to try to talk you out of it. But I would suggest that for that price, you should not buy sight-unseen. Find someone near you who has one and road test it first.

    And there is no such thing as a last LF camera. Really. I thought I'd buy one camera and be done with it. I'm on #3 in about 5 months. All used, thank goodness. I can say that the fancy wooden one (very expensive when it was sold new) that I thought would be my life partner camera will be for sale very shortly.

  7. #7

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    Re: Ebony advice

    Quote Originally Posted by DanielStone View Post
    have you given any thought to getting a 5x7 camera with a 4x5 reducing back as an accessory?

    if you're shooting b/w only, there's a lot of emulsions still available for that format(5x7), if you're working in color, no-go my friend, unless you cut 8x10 down. 5x7 is almost double the size of 4x5, allowing more "resolution" to work with. Its also a wider perspective, so there's less stitching involved that I can see.

    Secondly, the 450 Nikkor would have some more working room bellows-wise with a 5x7 camera than with most 4x5 field cameras.

    also, chamonix makes some damn fine cameras, and they cost a good bit less than an ebony. If you have someone around you who has an ebony to play around with and cuddle for an hour or so, try it out, even if it takes you a few hours worth of time in driving. Sure beats buying the wrong camera and trying to re-sell it for a loss, generally a big one, even with Ebony's.

    don't get me wrong, just cause they're expensive doesn't mean they aren't great cameras. Design-wise, they're terrific! However, there's less-expensive options out there that might deliver better results and a smoother workflow for you, at a drastically reduced cost, allowing you more $$$ for film .

    but I'm not going to tell you how to spend your money

    cheers,

    -Dan
    Hi Dan , I shoot a lot of color Velvia 100 when i can get it! so this might cause a problem but how awkward are reducing backs to work with? Cutting film sounds tricky .Cheers Gary

  8. #8

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    Re: Ebony advice

    Quote Originally Posted by Ken Lee View Post
    "But i am now looking to buy my last..."

    That's what we all say
    Hi Ken, That's what i'm telling my wife anyway Cheers Gary

  9. #9

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    Aug 2004
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    Re: Ebony advice

    Gary,

    I purchased Gem Singer's Ebony SV45te years ago. I too desired to use a 450mm lens, but found that it would focus the lens, but with not much bellows draw easily available. I sold the SV45te and purchased the SV45U2 to solve that issue, and to avail myself of the assymmetrical movements. Heavier camera, more expensive, but ultimately the camera for me.

    Rick Russell
    richardrussell-1@ca.rr.com

  10. #10

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    Re: Ebony advice

    Quote Originally Posted by Bob Kerner View Post
    Are you buying the Ebony new?

    I'm not going to try to talk you out of it. But I would suggest that for that price, you should not buy sight-unseen. Find someone near you who has one and road test it first.

    And there is no such thing as a last LF camera. Really. I thought I'd buy one camera and be done with it. I'm on #3 in about 5 months. All used, thank goodness. I can say that the fancy wooden one (very expensive when it was sold new) that I thought would be my life partner camera will be for sale very shortly.
    Hey Bob, I hope you like the Sinar F2 that I helped encourage you to purchase. If you don't it's quite all right. I went through the same deal with medium format before I got into 4x5. I have owned Bronica 645 and 6x6,

    Hasselblad 6x6, Mamiya 6x7, and Pentax 645. With 4x5 I have owned Cambo, Sinar, and Tachihara. I have recently purchased a used 8x10 Wehman. Fortunately buying used you can try out cameras and lenses and resell

    them if they don't quite suit you and not get burned. Frank's not alone. A bunch of us are camera whores!

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