8x10 cameras

By John Sparks for the Large Format Page

For new cameras, there are about 3 field cameras that make sense.

Phillips makes some really interesting cameras that are very light weight but have somewhat limited bellows extension. If you are not into long lenses, they are one of the best choices.

Canham makes a really good camera (I have one) that is also very light (slightly heavier than Phillips) but had much longer bellows extension. There are some things I don't really like about it (mostly that it's not as rigid as I would like for long bellows extensions but it's hard to have great rigidity and low weight at the same time, I also get pinched at times with the lever locks, I generally prefer knobs). It is unfortunately very expensive.

The third good choice is the Wisner Traditional L. It's about $900 less than the Canham. It weighs about 1 lb more. I don't know about it's rigidity at large extensions, but suspect it might be better because of it's construction. It wasn't available when I bought my Canham, but I'd probably buy it instead if I were doing it over now (mostly because of the lower price for a very similar camera).

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