Hi there everyone...
I recently purchased a 305 G Claron lens to use on my Toyo C monorail for portraiture.
I'm thinking that I want to use it for macro work too but the rail on the camera does not allow me to extend out to 1:1. So the question is does anyone know where I might find a rail extension for this camera and I suppose I'll also need a longer bellows as well.
Any help you can give would be appreciated.
Thanks, Robb Reed in San Diego
Hi Robb,
KEH in Atlanta,Ga has a used 250mm monorail extension for the Toyo C listed on their website (www.keh.com). Used longer Toyo C bellows seem to be very scarce, and new ones are quite expensive. You are going to need approx. 610mm of total bellows extension in order to focus the 305 G-Claron at 1:1. That's a large amount of bellows extension, with a lot of light fall off, for a 4X5 camera.
Be careful when buying rails, Robb. Toyo has both short rails, and rail extensions. Make sure you get the right one. (The extension has a male thread at one end for attachment, while the regular rail doesn't.)
As Eugene noted, the long bellows (750mm) for the Toyo 4x5 are pretty expensive new. For not much more, you might find a used Toyo 810G and a reducing back. The standard 8x10 bellows will take you out to about 700mm, but also needs an extension rail.
Rather than getting a long bellows I picked up a toyo C cheaply with a damaged standard. This gives me an intermediate standard and an extra set of regular bellows when needed.
On the point about light fall-off, the bellows factor at 1:1 is 2 stops.
Is the rail on the 45C extendable? I'm thinking that you first have to replace the existing rail with a G model base rail and then buy the extensions. Am I mistaken on that? I used to own a C and was wanting to do that until I found out how seemingly complicated it would be .. and expensive ..But I could be wrong ..
Bill, you are absolutely correct. The Toyo rail for sale at KEH is the short replacement rail, that will fit the Toyo C, not the extension rail I thought it was. The standard rail for the Toyo C is a 450mm long, 39mm diameter rail, and it is not expandable. Robb needs to replace the standard rail on his Toyo C with the expandable Toyo G rail and also add the longer bellows. This combination would be quite expensive
The best solution would be to use a shorter lens, like a 180 or a 210 for 1:1 close up work.
Yes, Bill & Eugene. I recognized that yesterday when I took a look at the KEH site. But thanks to all of you anyway. This forum never steers me wrong. I was beginning to suspect that I was pursuing a pig in a polk here and you guys confirmed it for me. Now I can go spend my money on something else...yes!
Well Robb.. sorry about that .. but you could almost buy an 8x10 rig with a 4x5 reducing back (as someone else suggested)for what it would cost you to modify your C to do what you want. Better to just buy a shorter lens ..
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