Gran View Camera Company

[J Maxwell]

Does anyone know if the Gran View Camera company which at one point manufactured an ABS plastic 4x5 version of a point-and-shoot camera still exists? There is a website for them through the mindspring server with information about prices, construction, etc., but the contact number is inoperable and there seems to be no response to emails. They were located in Palm Springs, California. I personally would very much like to have one of their cameras to use exclusively with ultra-wide lenses. Thanks!

[Oren Grad]

They are out of business.

Quality Camera in Atlanta had a 4x5 Gran View with 135mm lens and matching cone listed on eBay for a good while, but checking now I see that the listing is finally gone. You might ask them if they actually sold it or if they still have it. It's the only one I've seen for sale in a very long time.

[J Maxwell]

Thanks for the update, Oren. I've actually seen threads with details of people trying to build their own P&S 4x5, so I may have to go that route as well. An acquaintance of mine here in LA had one built for himself by a factory in China after he sent the the drawings and specifics of the design. For the price of the Cambo Wide, you could just as easily get yourself a 5-series BMW; for the price of the Alpa, a beachside house in Laguna Niguel. Ridiculous. I've seen the Dayi versions of wide angle P&S cameras, but they offer few specifics, other than saying that the various models can be equipped with different lens cones to accommodate corresponding focal lengths. I for one am skeptical about the degree of focusing accuracy that could be achieved with these lens cones. Too bad about Gran View, because the construction principles behind their camera looked very promising. Thanks again for the update!

[Mark Sawyer]

Bostick and Sullivan still make thye Hobo II:

http://www.bostick-sullivan.com/cart...&cat=237&page=

[Oren Grad]

I for one am skeptical about the degree of focusing accuracy that could be achieved with these lens cones.

The cone isn't the problem - you just shim the lens mounting for the actual FFD. The helicoid is more problematic. The bargain-priced cameras use a single generic distance scale marking for lenses of a given nominal focal length, when in practice the true focal lengths vary.

What is your intended use - types of subject, focal length, typical focus distance and working aperture? That will determine how much you need to worry about it.

[John Kasaian]

Peter Gowland made an aerial model with a helicoid focus, IIRC.

[EdWorkman]

A year or so ago there was a thread started by an new owner/user of a 4x5 Gran, including at least one photo taken with it-sorry I can't give you a better hint

[J Maxwell]

Many thanks for all your replies and help. It's unfortunate that such a handy device just isn't out there at the moment. Ideally something like the former Sinar Handy / Linhof Technar, without the exorbitant price tag for each.
My only purpose with the SA 47mm XL is to capture twilight and night images of large vistas - cityscapes (primarily LA and San Francisco), the southern California desert cities in twilight, and the beaches / coastal regions of SoCal, again all at twilight. Focusing with the 47mm SA is demanding enough as it is on the Linhof TK, but in dwindling light, it's almost impossible, and that's even with a Maxwell screen. I never shoot at larger apertures than f22, and always at infinity. For everything else, I use either the 75mm or 90mm SA. I've also used the Mamiya 7 43mm, but of course I then don't have the tonality of the 4x5 image.
I suppose I'll just have to wait for a good deal on a Cambo Wide 470! But I refuse to pay these horrendous prices demanded by all European camera makers. This is probably just the result of our ever-weakening currency (read "junk paper"), but still. I don't care how much "precision" has gone into the construction of the Alpa or the Cambo wide, it shouldn't cost what it does! No wonder everything that can be sold in the States today is made in China.

[Oren Grad]

I never shoot at larger apertures than f22, and always at infinity.

Then all you need is a way to fix your focus setting accurately at infinity. Ideally, you don't even want to mess with a focusing helicoid, which just introduces the possibility of setting something wrong.

Why not just have someone build you a fixed-focus ultrawide box camera?

[J Maxwell]

Yes, that's exactly what I'm looking for. Any ideas who could accomplish such a feat?
Many thanks!