Man so glad u guys weren't around when I was selling mine... I'm glad I had sellers remorse and kept it...
What I've been looking for is a gowland 8x10... Can't find those anywhere so I'm thinking of making my own
Man so glad u guys weren't around when I was selling mine... I'm glad I had sellers remorse and kept it...
What I've been looking for is a gowland 8x10... Can't find those anywhere so I'm thinking of making my own
Maybe try to track down an Anba Ikeda or Nagaoka? They come up from time to time.
I have a 5x7 Anba Ikeda with a 4x5 back and while it is not the most rock-solid field camera it is extremely light and easy to travel with. Not fiddly at all.
I've played with all three (AFAIK) lightweight monorails, and I found the Toho and the Galvin (my personal fave) to be less fiddly than the Gowland.
Since I aleady have a 4x5 Gowland, I converted my Toho to 5x7 (since there won't be any more made). So I imagine a Gowland conversion to 8x10 would be straightforward; I'd just be concerned with flex in that skinny rail.
They are ill discoverers that think there is no land, when they can see nothing but sea.
-Francis Bacon
I currently have the original Gowland Pocket View (marked Calumet), Toho, and Chamonix 45N-1. The Pocket view is the most fiddly to set up of the three. The Toho is the least, and quite fast after a bit of practice. Standards that need extensive attention to align in the field in fast fading low light are slow to setup, and the Pocket View requires the most adjustment. But it is the most compact of the three to pack; I've taken it to India in the front pocket of a small backpack, with a TLR, 90 & 120mm angulons, and readyloads inside. Where the Gowland and Toho excel are as compliments to another camera system since they pack so small. I've taken some of my best images with the Gowland, but today I think the Toho or Chamonix are much better options.
John, It would be great to see a picture of that Toho 5x7!
Last edited by VishalMathur; 27-Jun-2011 at 00:08. Reason: Fixed sentence.
..mm, maybe my review was too negative.. After replacing the Allen screws with good thumbscrews, and after practising A Pocket View is reasonably quick to set up, and perhaps important, can stay on top of the tripod, it is verry easy to carry around in that set up!
For me the price (I payed roughly in total around 230 euro) is an big plus versus a Chamonix (I live in Holland so the supply of relative cheap LF stuff is low, shaping and customs are high). After all I use said camera at a leisure speed at holidays, not as my main camera..
Best,
Cor
Oh and I should add; I marked the lens and film standard to zero them, and my ground glass has nice grid lines, I use these to align the composition. A 90mm Angulon barely covers 4*5, so the lens should be in the dead centre, but stopping down to f32 helps a lot, and there is some leeway with that lens anyway, it's imge circle is relative hughe, its critical sharp circle is not, so there is so some room for movement at the expense of soft corners..but I disgress
Last edited by Cor; 27-Jun-2011 at 00:29. Reason: some stuff added
Ummm...how about a handheld 4x5 camera, which does not require tripods etc?
I've seen quite a bit of high country work from a Gowland printed up to about 16X20.
Definitely sensitive to wind vibrations, as one would expect from the tiny master rail.
I'd expect nearly as bad an issue with the Toho. Hard to get really crisp exposures.
I'd rather have something just a little heavier but more rigid (hence I use an Ebony
folder).
He wants movements.Originally Posted by cyrus
That's right, plus I no longer believe in handheld 4x5 cameras.
Folks, looks like I'll live with my rough-and-tough Wista RF; it's not perfect, but no camera can do everything.
It does have very extensive movements, though, and is pretty solid.
Thanks again to all.
That's an impressive pocket: A 45, two Canon flashes and a graphmatic holder? What sort of trench coat is that?
Robert
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