Any tips for setting up a Chamonix 4x5 quickly/painlessly?

[Noah A]

...
Indeed I first considered going with a technical camera, more specifically the Wista 45VX/SP. I ended up going for the Chamonix for a number of reasons, including universal bellows, front fall and weight. I also considered the Shen Hao XPO, a camera I'd probably have looked at even closer today. ...

All good points. My problem with the Wista VX was getting enough front rise out of it without the camera body (the rear 'box' part) interfering with the bellows. Though I'm talking about extreme movements with large-coverage lenses. The lack of front fall was also annoying. My solution was a TK45S, but it's quite a bit heavier than your Chamonix.

I dislike wooden cameras but I was looking at the Chamonix for the reasons you mentioned. I was wondering if it would be possible to modify the camera to have some detents for the back swing and front shift/swing, but I never saw the camera in person so I don't know if it's possible or how complicated it would be.

[Bob McCarthy]

That's still about 8mm off from zero position which is not really close in my opinion.

If thats an issue for you, then my feeling is, your not using lenses with enough coverage. Unless your shooting your large format like a medium format. Ie. just aiming the camera at the subject.

My way is I square my camera up all nice and level. The approach is, what's on the ground glass is all that matters, what's 8mm, less than a quarter of an inch. Do you shoot Linhof offset boards, or center drilled? That will also impact your number.

Anyway, I never shoot with the GG perfectly centered, unless by accident. I always have some rise or fall dialed in, so the top alignment method is more than close enough.

Bob

[Jamie123]

If thats an issue for you, then my feeling is, your not using lenses with enough coverage. Unless your shooting your large format like a medium format. Ie. just aiming the camera at the subject.

My way is I square my camera up all nice and level. The approach is, what's on the ground glass is all that matters, what's 8mm, less than a quarter of an inch. Do you shoot Linhof offset boards, or center drilled? That will also impact your number.

Anyway, I never shoot with the GG perfectly centered, unless by accident. I always have some rise or fall dialed in, so the top alignment method is more than close enough.

Bob

Who said I'm having any issues? My lenses have plenty of coverage and I'm using center drilled boards. The point is that when I want to zero out the camera then obviously I don't want 8mm fall. I will decide what movements I want once I've looked at the ground glass with everything zeroed out. Adding some lines with a pencil is simple enough and I can now quickly get the front standard in zero position within a 0.5mm margin.