a possible bastard ARCA 8x10?

[Gudmundur Ingolfsson]

Man kan da köbe en SINAR P for næsten ingenting og gamle Danmark er nok sikkert fyldt med SINAR NORMA som ingen bruger mer. Sinar Norrma 8x10 er dog helt ideal til hvad du tenker dig.

[jb7]

In college, I had a choice between a Sinar and an Arca C. The only feature I preferred on the Sinar was the depth of field wheel on the focusing knob, a feature the Arca lacked. Later, when I rented cameras, the only one available was Sinar. When I came to buy one, I bought an Arca, and it was a good choice for me. So much more intuitive, and a much more elegant design, in my opinion. If I had never used an Arca, I imagine I would have been satisfied by the Sinar, but having used the Arca, a Sinar for me, would have been less than ideal.

If you decide to go down the route you outlined, I doubt if you'll be disappointed.

[mortensen]

Thanks, everyone - I think I'll have to take the challenge

@ Frank, I can't find the thread you refer to - do you have a link?

@ Gudmundur, you're probably right that Denmark is flooded with Sinars, but again I would really like geared front tilt - and Arca's orbix is, AFAIK, the only system providing that.

@ Joseph: so, a model C is the 'latest' I can use in conjunction with F-line parts? Can I slide a modes C funtion carrier on to a F-line rail for instance?

[jb7]

@ Joseph: so, a model C is the 'latest' I can use in conjunction with F-line parts? Can I slide a modes C funtion carrier on to a F-line rail for instance?

As far as I know, the function carriers and rails are interchangeable between the the earlier c types and the later F-Line. The latest style of rail has a deeper section, and will be stiffer than earlier rails, and would be the most suitable for an 8x10, though I use the older type. New ones are more expensive-

[John Schneider]

The only feature I preferred on the Sinar was the depth of field wheel on the focusing knob, a feature the Arca lacked.

You can easily make a dof knob for your Arca (or any camera). The principles are universal, but the example in the article uses an Arca, where it is particularly easy to implement:
http://www.largeformatphotography.info/dofknob/

As far as I know, the function carriers and rails are interchangeable between the the earlier c types and the later F-Line.

Yes and no. There were three rail versions, the older low profile rails from the A/B/C models, a newer low profile rail (also available in folding form) from I believe the first F-Basic models, and the current high-profile model. The effective width of the new rail is about 0.030-0.050 wider than the old designs, so an older function carrier (the silver A/B/C models as well as the earlier black models with the protruding screws on the clamping unit) is very stiff to focus on a new design rail (unusably so IMO).

The solution is to shim out the nylon rail guides on the function carriers with a piece of brass shim stock; you have to play around with the amount of shimming to get it to fit right. Some older function carriers that a bit worn slide better than ones that haven't seen much use. Conversely, the current model function carriers seem to work fine on the older low profile rails. Precision Camera can modify older function carriers to work with the newer rails, but you can do it yourself and save the $$.

[Frank Petronio]

http://www.largeformatphotography.in...ight=8x10+Arca

Eric has been around the forum for a while and has a good rep but I do not know him ~ just pointing you to the obvious easy solution.

Have you ever used a geared tilt? It's nice but not that big a deal.

I do appreciate that modern F-line Arcas are better quality than Sinars. However finding parts and accessories takes longer and will be more expensive. If you are going for camera build quality then you should be looking for one of the Linhofs, they blow everything else away and some models are not ridiculously bulky, I have seen a very simple, clean 8x10 model whose model ID escapes me.

The older ABC Arcas can be a good value but build quality was never their strong suit. But I did own a $600 8x10 Arca C that was an excellent user and frankly, the best value ever in a light 8x10 field. Last year someone begged to sell theirs for under $1000 and it took them months because people don't recognize a good thing when it is right in front of their nose.

Why not just be patient and get one of those?

[Rod Klukas]

Find a 4x5 171 series camera, then get a Arca-format kit or some other 8x10 back and bellows and change to fit.
This is a great way to go for used set up.
Rod

[mortensen]

... at delayed thanks to all of you - the Bastard Arca starts to form in my mind.
I think I'll look for a Sinar format conversion set and Arca carriers and build an adapter. Lensfielders, this forum and arca-shop.de seems like sources a plenty. So I'll start slowly, part for part.