After much research, I have decided to purchase an Arca-Swiss 4x5 F-Line Compact. I had the opportunity to try one out extensively at a used camera dealer, and came away very impressed.
There was one thing that bothered me: the Compact model has a collapsible monoral. On this particular camera, when it was placed on the extension bracket, there was a very, very small (much less than 1-degree -- we're talking about approx. 1 or 2mm total) lateral movement. In other words, the rail would "wiggle" ever so slightly on the bracket when I was testing the swing and shift movements. When locked down, everything else was extremely rigid, so this particular movement was stood out.
I don't want to get hung up on finding the ultimate in rigidity, but I was wondering if this sort of "give" was normal on a camera like this. Perhaps other owners of this camera could comment. Thanks.
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