Linhof Technika recommendations

[Greg]

This question I'm sure Bob S. will comment on...

If I were to buy a used 4x5 Technika, which model should I go for? Also what would be a second pick?

Over the years I've owned and used a 5x7 and a 4x5 Technika. The 5x7 was an older model that I picked up at a tag sale and sold to purchase the 4x5. 4x5 model probably dated back to the 1970s. Have come to more and more miss the "precision" factor of a Linhof Technika.

thanks in advance

Greg

[Bob Salomon]

The Master.

[Mark Sampson]

The master says "The Master". That's good enough for me. Someday I'll be good enough for a Linhof.

[Duolab123]

Buy a nice Crown Graphic and save your back and your wallet. I know it's not the same. I've tried to buy a Technika a half a dozen times, always fall back to a couple of nice top rangefinder Crown Graphics w/135mm Xenar.
The anatomical grip and the neat zoom viewfinders on the Linhof are so cool. And they are made in Germany :-)
OK get a nice new Master Technika Classic, with the fitted case and 3 or 4 lenses, cams, grips, film backs.
No just buy a nice Crown Graphic and 10000 sheets of Fujichrome.
Sorry , I'm not sure I can help.
Good luck, Mike

[ruilourosa]

Linhof is really well made. I have the IV and it´s the best LF camera i have: quality construction wise. i have a Deardorff v8, a kodak specialist, a toyo g, a arca swiss monorail discovery and a shen hao tz iib. All very good but the old linhof has a precision that is hard to miss.

Movements wise is limited but i think more than enough for most aplications... It also does not focus easely with wide lenses but then... a 90mm should be enough for most aplications... shorter you just get special fx :)

A master would be better for more flexibility but i do not have the cash for it...

A 5x7 would be great :)
Cheers

[jose angel]

Right now Bob have posted 10.000 useful answers here. I hope he will receive from the LFPF a pin, chainring or so... :D

[B.S.Kumar]

Right now Bob have posted 10.000 useful answers here. I hope he will receive from the LFPF a pin, chainring or so... :D

I'm sure Bob has dozens of Linhof pins and badges :D But yes, all of us have benefited from his contributions. So cigar or coconut, according to choice...

Kumar

[Bob Salomon]

Linhof is really well made. I have the IV and it´s the best LF camera i have: quality construction wise. i have a Deardorff v8, a kodak specialist, a toyo g, a arca swiss monorail discovery and a shen hao tz iib. All very good but the old linhof has a precision that is hard to miss.

Movements wise is limited but i think more than enough for most aplications... It also does not focus easely with wide lenses but then... a 90mm should be enough for most aplications... shorter you just get special fx :)

A master would be better for more flexibility but i do not have the cash for it...

A 5x7 would be great :)
Cheers

From 72 mm to 150mm the IV, V and Master all use the same lens board and all can be cammed and all are easily used and mounted.
From 35 mm to 65mm all require special boards. Unless you have a Technika 2000 or 3000, these models have a built in extra wide angle focus track inside the camera body in place of the rangefinder mechanism. Each different focal length does require its own board on these two cameras.

All of these cameras are very easy to focus with lenses of all short focal lengths if the proper boards are used.

[Don Dudenbostel]

I owned a Master and used it commercially for field work for thirty plus years. I used it to complement my Sinar Norma. The master was a fantastic camera but there were limitations. I used mine for commercial assignments when wides and movements with the wides weren't required. It's true you can mount a 90 and wider but when attempting to use movements the body restricted most movements. The master has a little flap that flips up on the front of the body to aid in using rise but it's not really of much help. Lateral movements with wides are impossibl. Tilts can be done ok but rise is tough to impossible. Bellows flexibility for movements is a limiting factor as well. Anything from 125/135 and longer aren't a problem when using movements.

One other issue when using wides is the bed will show in the image if it's not put in the full drop position which requires gyrations with the front standard to get the lens parallel with the filmplane. This further restricts front movements.

Rear movements are near impossible to do with any precision. Basically the back standard is just to give a couple of inches of extra bellows extension. Bob will probably disagree but it's a real pain to use rear movements. I only used the rear when forced to.

If you use mainly lenses from 125 and up it's a fantastic camera. I loved using my master and had no issues other than a cracking bellows in thirty plus years of heavy use.

I also owned a Technical 70 kit in the early 70's and a Technika V 2x3 a few years ago. Even with limited wide angle capabilities all Technikas that Ive owned were a joy to use.