Budget 5x7/8x10 cameras with front tilt

[msbarnes]

What are some?

Budget is relative...I want to gauge my options and decide from there. I thought about a Kodak 2D but I read that they don't have front tilt, unless modified? Deardorffs seem to be fairly expensive but maybe there aren't many other options?

I'd prefer a field camera because I think monorails are probably too heavy or too expensive if light.

[Matt Miller]

My 5x7 Ansco field camera has front tilt and definitely qualifies as budget. It's pretty heavy though

[Tin Can]

Not to criticize Matt, but why does everybody say this or that LF camera is heavy? Of course they are heavy, they are big cameras.





My 5x7 Ansco field camera has front tilt and definitely qualifies as budget. It's pretty heavy though

[BarryS]

The Burke and James 8x10 Commercial View is a field camera with full movements. Comparable in price with a 2D, but more solid.

[msbarnes]

I was looking more into this and it seems that some cameras had front movements depending on age. Like Deardorffs, Agfas, and I guess Burke and James. (I think WWII was the rough cutoff date). It also seems that the 5x7 and 8x10 cameras from the classics were more or less the same in regards to movements/features.

Is this generally true? And are there unmodified 2Ds with movements?

If so, then I'd probably get any camera within my budget if it has full movements.

[Tin Can]

A lot of people do not like ebay, but it is a good research source. Everything passes their way.

This is what I mean.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/370830173489?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

Put an advanced search into eBay and everyday they tell about new deals, if you only shop here or APUG you will not see 90% of the market.

[Jim Noel]

It's easy enough to simulate front tilts with a flatbed camera.

Level the camera, then tilt the bed forward 10 to 15°. Next rotate the back to vertical as indicated by the plumb level on the side of most of these flatbed cameras.

In the field that's all you need. When I take my large-format cameras in the field which don't have front tilts I immediately set it up like this and leave the tilt the same all day unless something unusual appears when I make necessary adjustments to the tilt of the camera and/or the tilt of the back.

[Tin Can]

Just sold for $33 and $19 shipping.


http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Conley-Safety-5x7-Wooden-Field-Camera-8-f8-Lens-Extension-Rail-gk-/290914820947?_trksid=p2047675.l2557&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEWAX%3AIT&nma=true&si=Holvhiq5sGiKcq5JYkeNWVD66rA%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc

[Bill_1856]

Front tilt on a view camera is grossly overrated.

[msbarnes]

Just sold for $33 and $19 shipping.


http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Conley-Safety-5x7-Wooden-Field-Camera-8-f8-Lens-Extension-Rail-gk-/290914820947?_trksid=p2047675.l2557&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEWAX%3AIT&nma=true&si=Holvhiq5sGiKcq5JYkeNWVD66rA%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc

Deals come and go.

I'm in no rush....I'd like to figure out my options first so that I can get a camera that is right for me.

[Tin Can]

No rush it's your money, but you seemed unaware of common prices.

I will cease and desist.






Deals come and go.

I'm in no rush....I'd like to figure out my options first so that I can get a camera that is right for me.

[John Kasaian]

Agfa Anscos are neat. A lot of them have front tilt and everything else thrown in---it depends on the model----they're well made and sturdy too.
Ansel used one!

[Brian Ellis]

I was looking more into this and it seems that some cameras had front movements depending on age. Like Deardorffs, Agfas, and I guess Burke and James. (I think WWII was the rough cutoff date). It also seems that the 5x7 and 8x10 cameras from the classics were more or less the same in regards to movements/features.

Is this generally true? And are there unmodified 2Ds with movements?

If so, then I'd probably get any camera within my budget if it has full movements.

The 8x10 2D has movements - front rise and fall, back tilt and swing IIRC, it just doesn't have front tilt unless modified by someone like Richard Ritter (who did a great job adding front tilt to mine).

It's true that as someone above said, you can gain the same effect as front forward tilt by aiming the camera down and straightening the back. The problem is that it's less convenient to do that than to use front forward tilt. With front tilt you can focus on the near (or far) and tilt for the far (or near) while you watch what's happening to the near and far as you tilt. At some point you'll get both in focus or as close as possible to in focus. With the "same effect" method if the camera angle is wrong when you first aim the camera down you have to re-aim the camera without being able to see what's happening as you do it (because the back won't then be straight), then re-straighten the back again. And maybe again and again, until you eventually more or less stumble on the right combination of camera angle and straight back. To me that would be a huge PITA since front forward tilt is my most common movement

In the old days many LF cameras were used exclusively by portrait studios and cameras sold for that purpose didn't require much in the way of movements. I've always assumed that was one of the reasons (cost perhaps being another) why so many of those old LF cameras didn't have front tilt.

When people here talk about prices, you have to remember that some of those prices are for 5x7s, which isn't a very popular format any more and the prices reflect that.

[Jim Jones]

Burke & James isn't elegant, but can do what almost any other view camera can. I still occasionally use one that has served me well for almost 40 years. They have the advantage of being plentiful and relatively inexpensive. Some parts are interchangeable between flat bed and monorail models, which can help one build a battery of cameras for varied purposes. As for front movements, they are useful only if the lens has adequate covering power. Many view cameras are sold with lenses from press cameras. These lenses are sharp enough over their intended coverage, but not when significant rise or front tilt is used.