Linhof bi-Kardan a field camera?

**Gallinazorey** · 9-Sep-2012, 10:21

Hello everyone,

I am looking to get into LF for the first time so your feedback is very much appreciated. I am at the moment looking at a Arca Swiss F line Classic model with MF back ups (as well as 4x5) and a Linhof bi-Kardan with 4x5 and 5x7 possibilities. The Linhof bi-Kardan comes with the original tripod. I have never seen any of the 2 as they are in diffrent parts of the country and I would go there to pick them up if I close the dea.

The Arca Swiss looks like a nice package monorail to take into the field, but what about the Linhof bi-Kardan? It seems quite big. Any advantages in the Linhof tripod? I have read 5x7 is very hard to get now days and the enlarger I am planning on getting does not even have this mask so that does not make the camera extra appealing.

What are youyr thoughts? a Linhof bi-Kardan a field camera?

Thanks for your input!

**Frank Petronio** · 9-Sep-2012, 10:26

A 5x7 Linhof Bi is probably the furthest away from being a portable field camera as any 5x7 ever made. It is beautifully made and very solid, precise, but it is also very heavy.

The Arcas are excellent cameras and much lighter than the Linhof Bi.

**Gallinazorey** · 9-Sep-2012, 10:44

that is what I thought....thanks!

**Jim Edmond** · 9-Sep-2012, 11:09

I have a 4x5 Kardan Bi, and it's about the last thing I'd want to take into the field. The Color 45S isn't too bad for that, and the standards will fold parallel with the rail (the bellows can be removed quickly) so it would fit into a backpack. It's just as rigid as the Bi and can be had at bargain prices.

**Bob Salomon** · 9-Sep-2012, 11:31

Originally Posted by Jim Edmond

I have a 4x5 Kardan Bi, and it's about the last thing I'd want to take into the field. The Color 45S isn't too bad for that, and the standards will fold parallel with the rail (the bellows can be removed quickly) so it would fit into a backpack. It's just as rigid as the Bi and can be had at bargain prices.

Most Kardan monorails made from the B up are designed so the front and rear standards will swing parallel to the rails (after relesing the bellows from one of the standards, for transport. Kardan cameras made after the B with a non-removable bellows can not do that. An example of one of these would be the Kardan Standard.

For maximum monorail versatility and portability the Linhof TechniKardan is a collapsin and folding monorail view camera.

**David R Munson** · 10-Sep-2012, 06:57

I took my Kardan Bi everywhere for a long time, packed it into an F64 backpack and wandered all over with it, but it certainly was heavy and bulky, as others have noted. It was also a joy to use in every other way, though, which made it worth it. It was also my only 4x5 camera. Now I have a Chamonix and love using it, but miss having a monorail. The Bi standards come off the rail very easily, so it packs down surprisingly well, but obviously nowhere near as light or compact as a field camera.

**Jim Andrada** · 10-Sep-2012, 13:04

I've carried my 5 x 7 Bi just about everywhere. Not light but as was said above it is such a joy to use that I put up with the couple of extra pounds. My 8 x 10 Bi on the other hand really is too heavy to want to carry it more than a couple of hundred yards, if even that much. My old Seneca is so nice and light that it's what I use if I have any kind of distance between car and photo.