used linhof Master Technika VS Toyo top end 4x5

[David E. Rose]

How about a Wista SP? Very similar to the Linhoff, but it takes a bag bellows and costs a lot less.

[Brian Ellis]

I owned a Technika V for five or six years, I recently replaced it with an Ebony SVTe. If you appreciate finely engineered precision machinery then I don't think there is any substitute for a Technika. No other camera I've owned or played around with has come close in terms of engineering precision and sheer tactile pleasure. However, you have to understand the camera's limitations and decide whether the pleasure of using one is worth more than the limitations.

The two limitations that caused me to reluctantly sell mine were: (1)inconvenient to impossible to use with wide angle lenses, and (2) limited and pain-in-the-neck to use back movements.

The widest lens that can be used in a completely straight forward way is a 100 mm lens. A 90mm lens is fine in horizontal mode but in vertical mode you have to drop the bed and then restore the front and back to vertical parallel position or else the front end of the camera bed appears in the photograph. A 75mm lens can be used but only with a recessed lens board and then movements are still limited and it's still a pain because accessing the controls on the board is difficult. To even use a 65mm lens at all I believe you need the wide angle focusing device which you seldom see used and which costs about $1,200 new. So the camera is definitely not wide angle friendly. But if you're sure that a 90mm lens is the widest you'll use (which was the case with me for many years) then this doesn't really matter.

The back is controlled by four knobs at the corners of the camera and it kind of "floats." Using back movements, such as they are, involves sturning knobs sixteen times and multiple entrances and exits from underneath the dark cloth (at least if you use the BTZS dark cloth as I did).

The camera also doesn't have front fall, as others have noted. While that can be cured by pointing the camera down and then bringing the front and back parallel to each other that is easier said than done because the lensboard is in a housing that makes it difficult to see when the board is parallel to the back.

Of course for landscape work you don't need extensive back movements and maybe you don't plan on using anything wider than a 90mm lens. If that's the case then I'd get the Technika, it's a beautiful camera and a real pleasure to use except as noted above. It sets up faster than any camera I know of, much faster than my Ebony, it is absolutely rock solid, things that are supposed to lock in place actually lock in place with no movement whatsoever, etc. etc. But if these limitations bother you then I'd look elsewhere.

[Bill_1856]

I have a Super Graphic and a Technika, and except for the back movements I'm not sure that you would gain much from the switch. To use very wide lenses on the MT you'll still need to drop the bed and use an auxillary focusing device which is not really satisfactory, and the back movements are quite limited as well as APITA to use. I have no experience with the Toyo, but wonder if you might not be better served by something like a Tachihara or Wista. The cost of replacing a Linhof bellows is about $400, and mine has needed two in 30 years.

[Frank Petronio]

I love my old Technika 4 and can use my 75 with it just fine. I simply raising the front in anticipation of sliding it back into the body - the nature of the wide angle is that I either take a 15mm rise or none at all - when you go that wide, a couple of mm isn't going to matter.

I used to have a Wista SP, and frankly, it is every bit as well made as the Linhof, and in some ways better. The Linhof (Mercedes) feels slightly more solid, but in use the Wista is just as strong. I was prejudiced towards German cameras but am rapidly changing my mind having played with Ebonies and other nice Japanese gear that is to die for - it is simply two different approaches.

For the money, I'd get a Wista SP - $900 to $1200 on the bay. (Like a Lexus)

The Toyo is fine - but an old Super Speed Graphic is essentially the same thing, except for the fancy knobs, for about $500 for a nice one - Toyo bought the design and tools when Graflex folded in 1970s. They are great, but no where near the same fit and finish as either the Wista or Linhof. (Like a Chevy)

[Michael Kadillak]

Donal:

As per your question about the effective front drop on a 75mm lens with the Master, I have not used the Master for this application so I would have to look at the specs to give you a number. If can be done, but I found another option for this lens. A couple of years ago I found a screaming deal on a Technikardan 45S with a bag bellows and it is the easiest way to utilize my Rodenstock 75mm wide angle lens on a recessed lens board. I have three lenses cammed for my Master - 90mm f8 Nikon, 150mm F5.6 Nikon and a 200mm f9 M Nikon and the rangefinder is so damn accurate that many times I use it even when I am going to the ground glass for final composition and am contemplating movements. Brians previous comments are dead on and well spoken.

As per Bills comments about replacing a bellows at $400, that figure is $150 more than what I paid from Camera Bellows for the same product.

Cheers!

[Jean-Louis Llech]

I currently use a Super-Angulon 72 XL on the Master-Technika and have no problems. The lens is on the rail and not inside the camera housing.
The flap on the top of the camera is of course very useful for rise, mainly for architecture.
About the comparison between a Linhof Master Technika and a "Toyo top-end 4x5" you don't say which Toyo you intend to buy.
For landscapes, you'll use few movements, but tilt or swing for the DOF.
I consider that the Linhof MT is totally adequate for landscapes but the weight.

If you think that landscape photography will always be your main interest, consider non-folding Ebony cameras like the RW 45, SW 45 or 45 S. These cameras are more particularly intended for wide angle lenses, and are very light. (you don't absolutely need a rangefinder for landscape)

But if you intend later to use your camera for other kinds of photography (street photography, - and then the Master is # 1 - or architecture), the Linhof is IMO the best choice.
Last but not least, the Linhof is an amazing piece of art and one of the best manufactured camera, I think the best one ever produced.
You buy a Master technika for a lifetime.
Keep in mind that I am "perhaps" not "totally" impartial ;>)

[Christopher Condit]

Don't forget that the rangefinder can be removed fairly easily, if you never use it and want to spare yourself the extra weight.

[Paul Schilliger]

I love the Technika and have used it for many years. It is rugged, folds compact, is quick to set and has all the conveniences for "straight" photography. The Technika is fine for a landscape photographer who uses mostly mid range lenses (110 to 360 or 500T). Shorter lenses are not easy to use and there is little room for movements, although very limited movement is always possible, mostly indirect. Using a long lens with a stretched bellows can produce flare. I retired the Super-Technika when I started using a Toyo VX-125. The camera is fabulous. I was also looking for a way to use longer lenses and the VX can be extended. It is compact and light. I have used it for more than two years now and it has never failed. It is a bit pricey though and not as widely available on the used market as the folding Linhofs. Not sure you were thinking about this one as the "top end" though.