toyo 45a vs wista vx ?? which is better?

[great]

hi

i'm considering between 45a and vx.

they are similar price

which is better camera?

[DG 3313]

I can't speak for the Wista but, it depends on what you want to do with the system. Do you pack in or shoot from the car? Is the beauty of natural wood more important than rock solid construction of a metal field camera?

I have the Toyo 45a and am very happy with it (as a field camera). I test drove two wood 4x5 cameras and they seemed to be too flimsy for me. I'll leave the technical stuff for the technical folks.......

Don

[BradS]

its like asking "chocolate or strawberry...which flavor of ice cream is better?"

They're both excellent at what they do. Pick one and be happy! :)

[Alan Gales]

The answer may lie in which lenses you plan on using.

The VX is more versatile. It supports a bag bellows for wide lenses and a front extension rail and long bellows for long lenses. If you like wide or long lenses you will probably prefer the VX. You are forced to use a bag bellows with the VX for even moderate wide angle lenses so if you plan on using 90mm to 210mm lenses you may prefer the Toyo.

Both cameras have strong followings so it really depends upon you. I like Chevy trucks. You may like Ford.

[cyrus]

Wood is prettier, that's for sure!

[Alan Gales]

Toyo 45A and Wista VX are both metal cameras.

[great]

can vx's standard bellow equip 90mm to 210mm lenses?

[cyrus]

Toyo 45A and Wista VX are both metal cameras.

Oops my mistake. I confused the VX for the DX

[Alan Gales]

can vx's standard bellow equip 90mm to 210mm lenses?

I have read that for 90mm and shorter lenses you need the bag bellows. The bellows draw with the standard bellows is similar to the Toyo's at around 12" so a 210mm lens is no problem. You can probably use a 300mm at infinity but you can't close focus it.



Ok, I just looked up an old post by Bob Salomon. Bob is an expert on Linhof and Wista. He says per the Wista SP instructions, Wista recommends using a bag bellows for lenses 125mm and shorter. The SP and the VX are the same camera except the SP has a rear microswing feature.

[Alan Gales]

Oops my mistake. I confused the VX for the DX

No problem, Cyrus. I get confused sometimes myself with all the designations on different brands of cameras and lenses. :)

[cyrus]

No problem, Cyrus. I get confused sometimes myself with all the designations on different brands of cameras and lenses. :)

You haven't seen anything until you try to figure out the bits and pieces of a Durst enlarger. Apparently at some point they switched from entirely arbitrary names given to parts, to numbers. Because it wasn't confusing enough.

[great]

is it hard to get used and cheap vx bag bellow on the internet?

because i cant find in ebay.
b&h has lot of wista bellow but it's very expensive to me.

or is it possible to install another brand's wide bellow?

[Alan Gales]

You haven't seen anything until you try to figure out the bits and pieces of a Durst enlarger. Apparently at some point they switched from entirely arbitrary names given to parts, to numbers. Because it wasn't confusing enough.

Sounds like one big headache! ;)

[Richard Johnson]

With the Wista you can fold it with a small 120-135-150 lens attached on a flat lensboard (ones with 52mm or smaller threads in Copal 0 shutters). The Toyo can not. They are about the same build quality overall, but different. The Toyo might be better with gloves on since it has larger controls.

[Alan Gales]

is it hard to get used and cheap vx bag bellow on the internet?

because i cant find in ebay.
b&h has lot of wista bellow but it's very expensive to me.

or is it possible to install another brand's wide bellow?

I did a quick Ebay search. I found a couple extension rails and a long bellows but no bag bellows right now. They do show up used on Ebay from time to time. I don't know of any other brand that would work.

The VX, SP and RF all take the same bellows so if you see one advertised for one model it will fit the rest.

[great]

thanks guys. and thanks alan.

[meerkat]

You really don't need the bag bellows with a 90mm on the Wista VX. The bellows will be a little bit scrunched but it still works perfectly fine with the camera's movements. And even though it's a drop bed design, you won't need to drop the bed with a 90mm either (no bed showing in the view.) I use a 90mm Grandagon (6.8) on a flat board plus a 120mm AM (macro) Nikkor both with the standard bellows, but with the Wista top hat extension set for macro work with the Nikkor since the VX's standard bellows draw isn't super long.

The Wista VX (and the SP with micro rear swings) is the 'poor man's Linhof.' It's robust, very well made and very similar in use to a Linhof Technika (which I also have) and uses the more compact Linhof size boards. You can get them at decent prices and in mint condition from the reputable Japanese sellers on eBay (and most all used photo equipment from Japan seems to be super well cared for and very clean.) I rented the Toyo many years ago and found it to feel kind of 'bulky' overall. But it's going to be personal more than anything else; both will hold a lens and a film holder and make images. In the end you won't go wrong with either. There is a Toyo 45AIIL for sale right now on eBay from a Japanese seller I've bought from before. The 45AIIL is a special version that uses smaller Linhof boards. It appears to be in mint condition.

[mike rosenlof]

I think that both of these have survived long enough that we can assume "they're both pretty good".

I have a Wista SP. It's good. Kind of beat up, but does everything it needs to. I use lenses up to 210 with the standard bellows. I run out of rail before I run out of bellows. I have the 5x7 adapter back for the thing. That's kind of fun and kind of kludgy, but a cheap way into 5x7 when I already had the SP.

Haven't touch the Toyo, so I can't really compare. I expect it to be a fine camera also.