Ebony Counterpoint

[Henry Ambrose]

I just bought an Ebony and am in the process of selling my Arca Swiss monorail on ebay. I completely agree that the Ebony does not function like the Arca - but then I didn't really expect it to. As Eugene wrote, there is no perfect camera - he surely did nail that one!

One thing that I've noticed is that many folks want the camera they are buying to do everything - easy to use with wide angles, roll film backs, long lenses, table top macro, lots of movements, light weight, solid and rigid, inexpensive. Of course you know you can't get all this in one camera. But even though you know this, "feature lust" creeps up on you when you're buying a camera and I think causes way too much worry and teeth gnashing. If you read specs and compare cameras you might find that a particular model has 4 inches of rise, another 3.25, another only 2 inches. Its real easy to get it in your mind that the 4 inch rise model is better - but you might be wrong - it will only be better if you need and use those movements.

I'm pretty sure at this point that buying a camera that does what -I actually do - is more important than that it be capable of doing anything I can dream up or read about. So I've replaced the Arca with an Ebony SW45 and I'm doing so without much regret because I am liberated from about 4 pounds of extra weight, a lot of bulk and unneccessary features. That is not a condemnation of the Arca Swiss - it is an incredible camera and I may own one again if I find I need it as the tool suited to the task at hand.

Now on the price issue, the funny thing is that I'm not spending any additional money in re-tooling. By the time I sell the AS and its bag bellows and tech lens board adaptor (stuff I added to make the camera do what I wanted) I'm about breaking even on the Ebony. Which is important 'cause I'm a long way from rich or retired. But I do want a good tool that fits the work with no extra frills while lacking nothing that I need.

[Kerry L. Thalmann]

The only thing this entire discussion proves is that there is no such thing as a perfect camera.

Bingo! I've often said it myself - there is no perfect camera for all users or all uses. And there never will be. It's just not possible. One photographer's dream camera may be sombody else's nightmare. The beauty of a large format camera is that it's an incredibly versatile tool. A large format camera can be the ideal tool for photographing everything from portraits to architecture to landscapes to products, etc. With so many different applications, each with its own special needs, it just isn't feasible to have one camera that is "best" for all situations. Throw personal preference on top of that and it becomes clear why there are some many different "great" large format cameras on the market today - at a time when we are being told that film is a soon-to-be obsolete, rapidly dying medium.

Last summer I wrote an article on current model 5x7 cameras. That article included 24 different models from 14 different manufacurers made in seven countries on three continents - and that's just the currently available new models for the supposedly neglected 5x7 format. If you go down to 4x5, the number of choices skyrockets.

I've been fortunate (some would say - it's both a blessing and a curse) to have personally owned and used a huge varity of large format cameras. I've also had the opportunity to test and review many more that I haven't personally owned. I've used every brand of camera mentioned in this thread, and many, many more. My conclusion is that they all have their strengths and weaknesses - even the highly regarded brands like Ebony, ARCA-SWISS and Linhof. I have yet to find a single camera that is ideally suited to my own personal needs, let alone one that would satisfy "everybody".

These days I do most of my shooting with an ARCA-SWISS F-Line that I have custom configured to better meet my personal needs - and it's still not what I would call perfect. For starters, I wish it was about 5 lbs. lighter, but if it was it wouldn't be nearly as rigid, silky smooth or versatile. My other camera is a Toho FC-45X for when I want to go light. And it is indeed light, but in terms of convenience, versatility and precision, it's not in the same league as the ARCA (or an Ebony or a Linhof, etc.). Unfortunately, it's just not physically possible to have the best of both in a single camera.

Just so I don't drift too far off topic, I'll give my general impresions of some of the cameras being discussed.

Ebony (somewhat dependent on model) - Beautifully made wooden field camera. Very expensive. They tend to be heavier (sometimes substantially) than advertised. Although smooth and rigid for a wooden camera, top quality metal cameras like the Linhof and the ARCA-SWISS are smoother and more rigid. The non-folding Ebony cameras are fast to set-up and convenient to use with wide angle lenses, but lack the extension of triple extension folding field camera models or less expensive, but more versatile compact monorails (like the ARCA-SWISS F-Line and the Linhof TK45S - when was the last time your heard ARCA and Linhof referred to as less expensive alternatives?). The triple extension folding Ebony models take longer to set-up and are not as wide angle friendly, but can handle longer lenses.

Linhof Master Technika - Well built modern technical camera that folds up into a very compact, nearly indestrucible self-contained package. Fast to set-up if extensive movements are not required. Back movements limited and tedious to use. Capable of handling very wide lenses with the bed dropped, but movements severely limited by the fact that the lens resides in the body cavity. Maximum extension more than a double extension field camera, but less than the triple extension models and portable monorails. Rotating back vignettes with lenses 300mm and longer. Expensive.

ARCA-SWISS F-Line - Like the others, extremely well built. The cameras are actually quite resonably priced compared to other brands of comparable quality and features. By far the most versatile system camera that is compact enough and light enough to carry in the field. That said, it is still bulkier and heavier a wooden field camera or technical camera. With optional bellows and rails, this camera can easily be re-configured to handle everything from ultrawide to ultralong lenses. However, these optional accessories add to both the cost and weight of the standard cameras. Can even be easily converted to other formats (6x9, 5x7, 8x10), but again at added cost and weight. Very rigid, smooth and precise. With the telecoping monorail, the F-Line is very fast to set-up and use, yet packs down quite small for a full-feature monorail.

I'll stop there, but would just like to make one additional point. In addition to all the truly fine, well built cameras I've used (far more than I've mentioned here), I've also used many cameras that are far less elegant and a LOT less expensive. Two of the cheapest, most limited large format cameras I've ever used are a 50 year old Speed Graphic and a little Anba Ikeda Wood Field. Turns out, I've made several of my all time favorite (and best selling) images with these two cameras. While I agree that it can be very satifying to use a finely crafted, intelligently designed, smooth and rigid state-of-the-art large format camera, it's hardly required. Great imges can be made with anything that holds a lens at one end and a film holder at the other. Of course, there's nothing wrong with owning a camera that itself is a work of art. If it gives you pleasure, helps you make great images, and makes your life easier, why not? If I want to be picky, I can find fault with every make and model of camera made. Just as easily, I can also find something I like about every camera I've ever used. None of them are perfect, but in a sense, they're all good enough.

Kerry

[Kerry L. Thalmann]

Good points Henry. It's funny (and really drives home the point), that you've settled on the Ebony and I on the ARCA-SWISS. Judging by the time stamps, we were typing our threads at the same time, agree on all points, yet still chose entirely different cameras. Goes to show how much personal preference comes into selecting an "ideal" camera.

Kerry

[Brian Ellis]

Last summer I replaced my Linhof Technika V with an Ebony SV 45Te (same camera as yours without the asymetrical back, which wasn't worth $1000 to me since I rarely used back movements). Initially I shared many of your thoughts about the Ebony and I posted several messages here somewhat critical of it - you probably saw my messages if you searched the archives. After reading the raves about the Ebony here I was, like you, disappointed in the relative lack of smoothness, precision, and "sturdiness" of it when compared to my Technika (I emphasize "relative," the Ebony is better in these respects than any other wood camera I've used but it isn't a Technika). Many times in the first few months of usage I came very close to doing exactly what you did, trading it in for a Master Technika or a Technika 2000.

But now that I've used the Ebony for about eight months I've changed my mind. No, it still isn't as precise, smooth, or sturdy feeling as a Technika (or probably any other well made metal camera). But it is a much better camera for me than the Technika in almost all photograph-making respects and it's more than adequately smooth, precise, and sturdy. Back movements are actually easy to use and so I find that I now use back movements much more than I used to. The Technika back is a PITA to use - you have to loosen and tighten the back knobs 16 times to use any back movements and then the movements are very limited. Plus the back just kind of "floats" in space so that it's difficult to keep things parallel unless the back is fully moved to one side or to the top or bottom of the back standard. The bubble level on the Technika might as well not be there. Since it's recesed into the top of the back you can't see it with the camera mounted on a tripod at eye level. The Ebony mirror system makes it easy to actually use the levels and now that I can see them I use them a lot. The strap is a little in the way when you open the mirror but it doesn't present any usage problems for me.

The Technika doesn't have front fall. I never thought that was a big deal until I got the Ebony and started actually using front fall - what a convenience compared with having to lower the entire tripod and stay bent over at the waist to compose and focus or get down on my knees as I used to do with the Technika. And of course the ability to use short focal length lenses on the Ebony without a recessed lens board and without having to fool around with dropping the bed and then bringing the front and rear standards back to vertical position while also keeping them parallel is a pleasure. I understand the 2000 is more wide angle friendly than the Master and earlier Technikas so perhaps this aspect of the 2000 is as good as the Ebony.

The longer bellows on the Ebony is very nice. Lenses longer than 300mm on the Technika pretty much have to be telephotos. I had a Fuji 400T for that reason but didn't care a whole lot for the lens so the ability to use a non-telephoto lens that long on the Ebony is a nice advantage. Finally, the Technika folding focusing hood is virtually useless for composing and focusing, it won't stay fully open unless you hold it open with one hand and that leaves only one hand to focus and compose which isn't enough. It's a very nice ground glass protector but for $500 it should do more than that. I don't use a folding focusing hood with the Ebony so I don't know how it would compare but I can't imagine it's any worse than the one on the Technika.

As we all know, there isn't a perfect camera. I still miss the feel of the Technika, that wonderful feeling of precision and smoothness, the way everything clicks into place and stays there without the slightest movement. But those intangibles, plus the extreme simplicity of opening and closing the Technika, are all I miss - thinking of the camera as an instrument for making photographs rather than an object of affection, the Ebony is a considerably better camera for me.

[David A. Goldfarb]

I use front fall all the time on my Tech V by taking off the accessory shoe, rotating the back 180 degrees, and mounting the camera upside down. It's quicker to be able to drop the lensboard in the normal way on my other cameras, of course, but this is one Technika quirk I've gotten used to.

[KenM]

Gee Brian, thanks a lot. Now I'm gonna have to sell the MT to pay for an Ebony :-) The Ebony must be the magic bullet for me, since I don't have one. Ha!

One of the major changes in my life is that I'm trying to simplify, simplify, simplify. I'm reducing the amount of equipment I have, as well as moving to a simpler camera. My Gandolfi has 17 knobs, and four levers. That ain't simple. When you're trying to capture the fading light, the last thing I want to be worrying about is tightening down this camera. A friend (who has a 'V') got off two photographs of fading light on a mountain top before I even had my camera setup. That single event convinced me that I needed something simpler, and easier to use. So, the choice of a simpler camera meshed with some lifestyle changes as well. Convenient.

I've seen an Ebony, and they are most defintely a fine camera - however, *I think* they suffer from the same problems that all the flexibility of the Gandolfi gives you - they take more time to lock down, and are 'fiddly'. I may be wrong as well, as I'm not all that familiar with Ebony cameras - perhaps it's only a few particular models that have a large amount of flexibility.

Regarding wide angle lenses, I'll certainly agree that wide angle lenses are a pain to use with the Technikas. However, the widest lens I have, and the widest lens I think I'll ever have (oh really?, he says) is a 75mm. I'm a mid/long-lens person, with my longest lens being the Fujinon T-400 (that you don't care for), so the MT will work just fine for me in that respect.

Regardless of what you use, the only thing that matters is that the camera is right for you, as everyone above as pointed out.

Cheers!

[Brian Ellis]

Hi Ken - You're right, the Technika is very fast to set up. I said that was one of the things I missed about the camera, the Ebony takes longer for sure though I don't think the time is excessive and it certainly isn't difficult to do.However, I put infinity stops on my Linhof and that really made it particularly fast to set up. I also know what you mean about lots of movements but I don't think I'd call the Ebony "fiddly." Two of the movements, four of the knobs, are base tilt front and rear and I ignore them so that cuts down somewhat on the "fiddliness" (we're coining new words right and left here). I used my Technika pretty happily for about five years. However, over the years I've changed the way I see and photograph, going from mostly close-up, tightly composed photographs to broader views, more "scenes" and fewer "objects." That led to wider angle lenses which in turn led to some unhappiness with the Linhof. I certainly didn't mean to dump on Technika cameras, I used mine happily for about five years, I just think the Ebony suits what I now do better. But the Technika is a great camera and there certainly are things about it I miss.

[paul owen]

When you try and compare cameras of different types, made from different materials you are bound to come to differing conclusions depending on the variables that you are comparing. Metal cameras have a more "metal" feel and for this reason they appear to be better machined, more stable, more precise - they may well be! Wooden cameras are often lighter, quicker to use (non-folding types) and more pleasing to the eye! What I think most people fail to realise is that unless you are shooting extreme studio-type shots that rely totally on 100% precision you simplt don't need the degree of precision that most cameras offer for 99% of general purpose shots. In the same vein how many of us have actually found that we have run out of a particular movement? My camera offers 30 degrees of front tilt - the most I have ever used is about 10 degrees! Same with shift and swing - my camera offers far greater movement than I will ever likely need. Same with "precision" - if my camera is not lined up 100% accurate I will never know! My shots will not reflect it! If I use a calculator and extrapolate that I need 3.5 degrees of front tilt how do I transfer this degree of accuarcy to my standard - the answer - I can't and anyway it doesn't matter! I don't need to be that accurate! It is a pointless exercise to compare a metal camera like the A-S with a wooden Ebony. They are different beasts and will appeal to different people for different reasons. I don't want to be fussing around with scales and tables when I am taking photographs. All I want to do is look at the miraculous image on the ground glass, apply movements that I see working on the screen and then exposing the film. Ebony cameras are not miracles - they only do what they say on the tin! They are stable, offer great movements and make the picture taking process a joy (for me anyway). I suppose its like comparing cars - some have much smoother controls but does that make them better/more enjoyable cars to drive? IMHO there will never be a perfect camera because we are all too different, but the Ebony comes pretty darn close!!!!!!!!! :-)

[Frank Petronio]

It's funny to observe that many non-professional landscape photographers seem to more expensive cameras (Ebonies and Linhofs) and lenses ($1500 Schneider 110XLs, etc.) than most full-time professional studio photographers!

[Donald Hutton]

I think Doug's comments reflect more about unrealistic expectations from a wooden field camera than they do about any quality or functionality issues with an Ebony. Personally, I'm a big Ebony fan (on my second) - it not only completely covers the functional demands I have, it also gives me a very enchanting sense of satisfaction everytime I use it, which I just don't get from any other photographic tool I own. The assymetric tilt on my camera seems very smooth on my camera and the simple zero detent seems to make far more sense than a complicated 'geared' system which would undoubtedly add a lot more in terms of cost to machine (out of titanium....). I personally find the camera to be very easy to focus (I often don't bother with the focussing bellows or a dark cloth), fast to set-up, plenty rigid (especially when I consider that I use a 58mm and a 450mm on it frequently) and a joy to use... But then again, I'm just another happy Ebony user!