Wista VX or Linhof Master for 72mm to 240mm architecture.

[schafphoto]

I am considering selling my Toyo CF for a Wista VX or a newer 4x5 Linhof metal field camera.
I will be using lenses between 72mm and 240mm for architectural subjects. Mostly my 90mm, 120mm and 135mm Nikkors.

185986

This will be a back up and travel camera for projects that involve flights to and from the destination. I do not want to disassemble my 5x7 Cambo monorail camera for faraway jobs.
The CF was very light but was little fiddly for the types of precise movements I need. I am willing to trade the lightness for sturdiness and geared rise.
After my last snowy project the geared front rise of the Wista/Linhof looks like a better fit for my style. I am wondering if I can use the Wista wide angle bellows (extends to 150mm) on the Wista all the time (including folded) for the 90mm and 135mm and make a +100mm cone lens board for the 240mm? (that's a long cone) I use a Fuji 240mm f9-A.
(Wista notes a max extension without rail/bellows extensions on their standard bellows of 300mm).

The Linhof does not appear to have a wide angle bellows option.

Other things to note. I won't need the rear adjustments of the Wista SP for my architecture, the fewer adjustments to go out-of-center, the better.
My main adjustment is front rise and/or front shift in 75% of my photos.
(Toyo CF has a front rise/fall of 49mm? Rise: 28.5mm Fall: 20.5mm [more fall with drop bed])
(Wista has rise/fall 56mm)[more fall with drop bed]
(Linhof has a combined rise/fall of 55mm)[more fall with drop bed]
The Wista appeals to me because it may allow for a wider lens use without reverting to dropping the bed to avoid the bed showing up in the bottom of vertical photos.

I think both the Linhof and Wista have rotating film-backs, the Toyo CF removable back was not my favorite.
I would like to use a Bossscreen ground glass but I have never seen one to fit the Wista ( I have for the Linhof).

Your experience and thoughts much appreciated.

-Schaf

[AJ Edmondson]

The Wista standard extension is indeed 300mm and for 120-240mm the camera works really well. As for the wide angle bellows, you cannot fold the camera with the bellows in place (according to Wista) and there were actually two different types made - one which places the lens board behind the front standard. There are also extension rails and "top-hat" lens boards in various lengths but these are "add-on" accessories which are not ideal (from my point of view ONLY). Boss screens were also made for the Wista VX and SP (B&H had a used one not too long ago with the spacer). The rear standard adjustments on the Wista have zero detents and lock down firmly.
Joel

[alan_b]

What about a Technikardan?

[schafphoto]

Yeah, I had a Technikardan in 1989, should never have sold it. The clamshell of the Toyo CF, Wista, Linhof technika is appealing from a travel point of view. This will only be used 10% of the time when outside California. I had a job in Guam last year and the CF worked well once I got the bellows pinholes patched. It now has a nice new bellows for the new buyer...

Am I right in thinking the Linhof Technica has geared rise on the front standard?

[Bob Salomon]

Yeah, I had a Technikardan in 1989, should never have sold it. The clamshell of the Toyo CF, Wista, Linhof technika is appealing from a travel point of view. This will only be used 10% of the time when outside California. I had a job in Guam last year and the CF worked well once I got the bellows pinholes patched. It now has a nice new bellows for the new buyer...

Am I right in thinking the Linhof Technica has geared rise on the front standard?

Yes, they do, but the V and Master have a more useful front rise with short lenses as it is done with a lever in front of the board. The lV and lll use a knob behind the front standard and have less movement.

[Daniel Casper Lohenstein]

Hello,

you sell your Toyo CF? I am looking for such a light camera ...

I decided to give the Intrepid 4x5 a second chance and ordered a 4x5 MK3, after selling a Linhof Technika V that was quite fiddly and heavy.

My experience with Linhofs (I had three of them) is not so good.

Not only that I play classical guitar and the Linhofs always destroyed my precious fingernails, bbecause the screws are sharp and every screw has another head.

They were precicion instruments, in the 1960ies, when there were not much elsewhere around, but then came Wista. Wista 4x5 metal and technical cameras are a lot simplier, sturdier, easier to repair.

I wrote in another post:

"1. The Wista focusing bed is mounted via 2 giant srews at the side of the camera. This gives more stabilty. The Linhof focusing bed is mounted with hinges that can twist. Then you will have to readjust it, an this is costly. Without this you will have parallelism problems.

2. The Linhof bellows is known to be outworn rapidly. Buying a new bellows costs about 200 $. Of course, you can install a new bellows from China. They cost 100 $. But the Real Donald is increasing import taxes, and he certainly had these crooked Linhof bellows from Shenzen in mind ... You will have to cut a little bit from the smaller end of the China bellows (before installing) to get the camera closed.

3. The camera leather of the Linhof is outworn rapidly, too.

4. The Linhof is heavier (than a Wista N)

5. Accessories for Linhof are expensive.

6. Rangefinder adjustment is complicated, needs servicing by the factory, works only for adjusted lenses. It's better to forget range finder focusing in large format. Get a Fujifilm 690 / Linhof 220 to obtain sharp an grainless pictures or a Graflex that you can adjust yourself. The Technika is too heavy, too, for range findering. This is what Linhof told us so often in the 1960s, in their books and journals about large format photography, when they introduced the Linhof Technika Press, the Linhof 70, the Linhof 220. The Nikolaus Karpf universum (Bortsch, Hans: Schule der modernen Fotografie, Edited by Nikolaus Karpf, 1978, Vol. II, p. 8) even underlined the obsolescence of 4x5: 4x5 would have no advantage anymore except adjustability of the standards.

7. Linhof ground glass back is mounted with two giant Graflock springs. These springs tighten themselves (on my camera). The result is that the spring mechanism on my Linhof does not work anymore. The spring mechanism blocks, when the groundglass has to turn back after pulling the film holder out. To avoid misfocus I have to free manually the tightened screw to make the groundglass snapping back into its natural position.

8. Although the Linhof is made of heavy metal the front standard holder isn't cut out of metal but made of die cast material. That couses stability issues. It tends to brake when pulling the front standard out of the box onto its focusing rails. To avoid this you will have to move the focusing rails back in direction of the camera body, onto the as well adjustable and after years of use loose transport reception in the camera box. When broken you can forget about using your Linhof with 90mm lenses ... The front standard will not be tight anymore. Here in Germany we tend to over-engineer things instead of keeping it simple. We use too many different materials to solve any problem differently instead of looking at construction problems in their entirety.

9. Tight front standard: you will have to readjust tightness of the front standard mounting on its focusing rails. If you don't ware to do this, this will cost extra altough it is quite simple.

10. Linhofs have got these hinges on the Linhof focusing bed, so they need an additional set of spring-loaded holders on both sides - but these holders have to be adjusted, too, to regain parallelism after 40 years."


So, after all, I would take the Wista SP 4x5 with micro swing, geared movements, changeable bellows, revolving back, 6x9 sliding back (Graflok) to mount a digital back.

Regards

[schafphoto]

Hello,

you sell your Toyo CF? I am looking for such a light camera ...

So, after all, I would take the Wista SP 4x5 with micro swing, geared movements, changeable bellows, revolving back, 6x9 sliding back (Graflok) to mount a digital back.

Regards

I will be selling the CF. New Toyo OEM bellows from MAC group, body is well used, Bossscreen GG, 4 lensboards, original box, bought used from B&H 15 months ago.

Can someone with a Wista SP or VX tell decisively if the camera will close with the wide bellows? (Not the special wide bellows and rear mounted board).

-Schaf

[linhofbiker]

I agree with you about the Linhof 220. They were not totally reliable although always a pleasure to use (I am on my 3rd example), and viewing the projected 6x7 slides is/was amazing. I have had no problems with my Technika IV 4x5. As for accessories being expensive that is offset by the ability to interchange some things between and among the Technika and Kardan series of cameras.

[schafphoto]

I agree with you about the Linhof 220. They were not totally reliable although always a pleasure to use (I am on my 3rd example), and viewing the projected 6x7 slides is/was amazing. I have had no problems with my Technika IV 4x5. As for accessories being expensive that is offset by the ability to interchange some things between and among the Technika and Kardan series of cameras.

As always, since I can't just rent a Linhoff Technika 2000 non-rangefinder (which is the model I'm partial to)
And I can't rent a late model Wista LX either, I need to base a lot of things that would be obvious in use on the perception of the posters here.
Unless someone wants to rent their baby.
The fluidity of the spring back is a factor, but I am only using Fidelity II plastic holders, no roll film backs.
I do like the fact that the Linhof has a tripod thread on the bottom of the body, instead of the bottom of the bed like Wista/Toyo. With my tendency for shorter lenses I would probably only use the bottom-of-body mount.

So my questions continue... I would be using the 72mm very infrequently, so let's just assume I want a system for a Nikkor 90mm f8. and that will be the lens I use most, probably on a flat lens board, but a recessed is always an option.

On these two Cameras Linhoff 2000 or Wista LX, would the front standard be running on the focusing track inside the body or would the front standard be at the back of the focusing track on the bed? With the Toyo CF, the front standard is about one inch away from the carbon fiber body when the 90mm (flat board) is focused at infinity. Plenty of room to get your fingers onto the front standard knobs... but there are two knobs for rise and two knobs for tilt and they run independently side to side so there is potential for parallelism problems. The maximum possible front rise from center/zero on the CF is 35mm normally but at 90mm (infinity) its limited to 20mm rise by the bellows contacting the CF body. (I'll add this to the Toyo CF thread too) [I just measured these]

And are the front standards center/zeroed at the bottom of their potential 50+ front rise so all front fall is in the form of drop-bed and front tilt-back?

You see where I'm going here... if the wide angle lens isn't on the front focus bed, then a 90mm or 72mm or 55mm wouldn't have any potential to do front fall.

Or am I all wet? I can only deduce so much from the specifications in the old 1999 B&H sourcebook, online manuals and enlarged Ebay photos, so any detail is helpful.

-Schaf

[Bob Salomon]

As always, since I can't just rent a Linhoff Technika 2000 non-rangefinder (which is the model I'm partial to)
And I can't rent a late model Wista LX either, I need to base a lot of things that would be obvious in use on the perception of the posters here.
Unless someone wants to rent their baby.
The fluidity of the spring back is a factor, but I am only using Fidelity II plastic holders, no roll film backs.
I do like the fact that the Linhof has a tripod thread on the bottom of the body, instead of the bottom of the bed like Wista/Toyo. With my tendency for shorter lenses I would probably only use the bottom-of-body mount.

So my questions continue... I would be using the 72mm very infrequently, so let's just assume I want a system for a Nikkor 90mm f8. and that will be the lens I use most, probably on a flat lens board, but a recessed is always an option.

On these two Cameras Linhoff 2000 or Wista LX, would the front standard be running on the focusing track inside the body or would the front standard be at the back of the focusing track on the bed? With the Toyo CF, the front standard is about one inch away from the carbon fiber body when the 90mm (flat board) is focused at infinity. Plenty of room to get your fingers onto the front standard knobs... but there are two knobs for rise and two knobs for tilt and they run independently side to side so there is potential for parallelism problems. The maximum possible front rise from center/zero on the CF is 35mm normally but at 90mm (infinity) its limited to 20mm rise by the bellows contacting the CF body. (I'll add this to the Toyo CF thread too) [I just measured these]

And are the front standards center/zeroed at the bottom of their potential 50+ front rise so all front fall is in the form of drop-bed and front tilt-back?

You see where I'm going here... if the wide angle lens isn't on the front focus bed, then a 90mm or 72mm or 55mm wouldn't have any potential to do front fall.

Or am I all wet? I can only deduce so much from the specifications in the old 1999 B&H sourcebook, online manuals and enlarged Ebay photos, so any detail is helpful.

-Schaf

With a Linhof IV thru the 3000 the 72mm, and longer lenses, are on the focus rails. On the 2000 and 3000 35 to 65mm lenses are focused on the rail on the earlier cameras it does not drop as far may be clip part of vertical images with 75 and wider lenses.

Their is no Wista LX.

Having been the Linhof and Wista USA distributor for decades, until 2015, the Linhof is far more versatile and reliable then the Wista.

[JimL]

As always, since I can't just rent a Linhoff Technika 2000 non-rangefinder (which is the model I'm partial to)
And I can't rent a late model Wista LX either, I need to base a lot of things that would be obvious in use on the perception of the posters here.
Unless someone wants to rent their baby.
The fluidity of the spring back is a factor, but I am only using Fidelity II plastic holders, no roll film backs.
I do like the fact that the Linhof has a tripod thread on the bottom of the body, instead of the bottom of the bed like Wista/Toyo. With my tendency for shorter lenses I would probably only use the bottom-of-body mount.

So my questions continue... I would be using the 72mm very infrequently, so let's just assume I want a system for a Nikkor 90mm f8. and that will be the lens I use most, probably on a flat lens board, but a recessed is always an option.

On these two Cameras Linhoff 2000 or Wista LX, would the front standard be running on the focusing track inside the body or would the front standard be at the back of the focusing track on the bed? With the Toyo CF, the front standard is about one inch away from the carbon fiber body when the 90mm (flat board) is focused at infinity. Plenty of room to get your fingers onto the front standard knobs... but there are two knobs for rise and two knobs for tilt and they run independently side to side so there is potential for parallelism problems. The maximum possible front rise from center/zero on the CF is 35mm normally but at 90mm (infinity) its limited to 20mm rise by the bellows contacting the CF body. (I'll add this to the Toyo CF thread too) [I just measured these]

And are the front standards center/zeroed at the bottom of their potential 50+ front rise so all front fall is in the form of drop-bed and front tilt-back?

You see where I'm going here... if the wide angle lens isn't on the front focus bed, then a 90mm or 72mm or 55mm wouldn't have any potential to do front fall.

Or am I all wet? I can only deduce so much from the specifications in the old 1999 B&H sourcebook, online manuals and enlarged Ebay photos, so any detail is helpful.

-Schaf

- On a Wista VX, you always use the track on the bed - the body track is fixed and only used for folding the camera. For short lenses, the bed extension slides back until it butts against the body track - that's as short as you can go and I've been able to focus a 55mm Apo-Grandagon on a recessed board (the bed does intrude into the image area with the 55 though).

- When using a centered-hole board, with the front standard at its lowest, the lens is centered on the ground glass, so the standared off-center Linhof board will give you a little fall.

- When I want to use fall, I have an Arca style tripod plate mounted on the side of the body, and I flip the body on its side and use the front standard shift (and swing if I need tilt). There was some kind of accessory block thing on the left side (looking from the front) which I removed, and under the leatherette there is a hole in the body casting which I used to mount the plate. I find this fast and easy and it works well with 90mm and 75mm lenses; with a 65mm I can only shift about 6-7mm as the knobs will hit some metal brackets on the body.

- I removed the standard round tripod mount from the bed and bolted on a 4" Arca style rail (this involved some disassembly and drilling through the bed). This allows me to shift the camera front to back for better balance with the lens I'm using.

- As to your question about a 90/8 Nikkor on a flat board on the Wista, the knobs are in front of the body box. I can get about 18mm rise with this (standard bellows). You could probably get more with the bag bellows.

[Daniel Casper Lohenstein]

Hello,

perhaps you need a simple and reliable Cambo?

Regards

[rdeloe]

- On a Wista VX, you always use the track on the bed - the body track is fixed and only used for folding the camera. For short lenses, the bed extension slides back until it butts against the body track - that's as short as you can go and I've been able to focus a 55mm Apo-Grandagon on a recessed board (the bed does intrude into the image area with the 55 though).


Apparently there's a short supplemental rail for even wider angle lenses. Is anyone familiar with this part? https://www.wista.co.jp/e_wista/e_show/e_acces/e_acces2/e_acces2.htm

Wide Angle Rail
Product No. 4553
An auxiliary extension rail which enables focusing of 47mm super wide angle lens by track focusing knob on wista 45 camera.




- When using a centered-hole board, with the front standard at its lowest, the lens is centered on the ground glass, so the standared off-center Linhof board will give you a little fall.


So presumably with the off-center Linhof boards on the Wista VX/SP/RF, if you actually want to use the centre of the image circle you're always going to set up with the needed amount of rise? (I could answer this myself in a week when my VX arrives... but in the meantime I'm curious!)

[schafphoto]

Their is no Wista LX.



Bob - no wonder I can't figur it out. ;-) I don't believe there is a Porsche or Ferrari LX either

[schafphoto]

Hello,

perhaps you need a simple and reliable Cambo?

Regards

Yes I have about 6 Cambos (wanna buy one?) and this year I shot 1614 sheets of 4x5 and 5x7 film, only about 150 sheets were exposed on my Toyo CF in exotic places like Guam and Idaho. I like to take my camera and lenses in carry-on luggage on the plane instead of checked luggage and the Cambo just takes up too much room, even disassembled. This makes a folding camera ideal if it has enough movement. For HABS/HAER work, the front rise and how it operates is a feature I'd like to get right for this purchase.

-Schaf

[Bob Salomon]

Yes I have about 6 Cambos (wanna buy one?) and this year I shot 1614 sheets of 4x5 and 5x7 film, only about 150 sheets were exposed on my Toyo CF in exotic places like Guam and Idaho. I like to take my camera and lenses in carry-on luggage on the plane instead of checked luggage and the Cambo just takes up too much room, even disassembled. This makes a folding camera ideal if it has enough movement. For HABS/HAER work, the front rise and how it operates is a feature I'd like to get right for this purchase.

-Schaf

Too bad you weren’t able to talk to Jack Boucher, much of his work was on a Technika 57.

On the V and later Technika 45 Cameras with a 90 you drop the bed, release the top flap locks on the Masters, drop the bed and, if you want rise, pump the rise lever on the left front of the front standard.
Remove the cam first before dropping the bed, replace it after dropping it.

You can download the instructions on the Linhof web site under the service tab.

The Technika bellows allows for any lens from extreme wide up to use full movements, permitted by the camera, without the need for a w/a bellows.

[schafphoto]

Too bad you weren’t able to talk to Jack Boucher, much of his work was on a Technika 57.


Bob- Indeed, Boucher and Jet Lowe are two of my heroes, along with Julius, Ezra, Marvin, and Bernt und Hilla. I know Jet and keep in contact on Facebook. I wish I could have met Boucher, but he lives on in the stories that the staff at Heritage Documentation Programs tell (more like cautionary tales), whenever they aren't furloughed.

This morning I read the Technika 2000 instruction manual (http://linhof.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/MasterTechnika_classic_2000_e.pdf (http://linhof.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/MasterTechnika_classic_2000_e.pdf)) . It appears that it may just be easier to mount 2 tripod quick release plates on the bottom of the body and on the side of the body and if I need front fall then just flip the camera sideways, drop the shift 40mm (plus the option of pointing the body downward, + swinging the rear standard out 30º and get another 10+mm). I guess this is just personal preference.

Side-flip operation just seems more intuitive than upside down operation... removing the top shoe, mounting the camera upside down, and then crouching down and fiddling with the lens under the "roof" of the bed, although it would be nice to have the image right side up in the ground glass ;-)

Removing the top shoe isn't something I'm going to do between frames on a suspension bridge somewhere, so it's a pre-planned commitment. Besides I have the Linhof multi focus optical finder now and my Cambo doesn't have a shoe big enough for it. (and I would also use the top shoe for my Flare Dinkum).

-Schaf

[Bob Salomon]

Bob- Indeed, Boucher and Jet Lowe are two of my heroes, along with Julius, Ezra, Marvin, and Bernt und Hilla. I know Jet and keep in contact on Facebook. I wish I could have met Boucher, but he lives on in the stories that the staff at Heritage Documentation Programs tell (more like cautionary tales), whenever they aren't furloughed.

This morning I read the Technika 2000 instruction manual (http://linhof.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/MasterTechnika_classic_2000_e.pdf (http://linhof.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/MasterTechnika_classic_2000_e.pdf)) . It appears that it may just be easier to mount 2 tripod quick release plates on the bottom of the body and on the side of the body and if I need front fall then just flip the camera sideways, drop the shift 40mm (plus the option of pointing the body downward, + swinging the rear standard out 30º and get another 10+mm). I guess this is just personal preference.

Side-flip operation just seems more intuitive than upside down operation... removing the top shoe, mounting the camera upside down, and then crouching down and fiddling with the lens under the "roof" of the bed, although it would be nice to have the image right side up in the ground glass ;-)

Removing the top shoe isn't something I'm going to do between frames on a suspension bridge somewhere, so it's a pre-planned commitment. Besides I have the Linhof multi focus optical finder now and my Cambo doesn't have a shoe big enough for it. (and I would also use the top shoe for my Flare Dinkum).

-Schaf

There are a couple of books about HABS that detail Jack’s equipment and how he used them Jet should know the names, they were always around Jack’s office. You might find them useful. Although he did use the 57.
John Sexton uses the 2000 and you might look at some of his stuff. Especially his power plant stuff.

[JimL]

Apparently there's a short supplemental rail for even wider angle lenses. Is anyone familiar with this part? https://www.wista.co.jp/e_wista/e_show/e_acces/e_acces2/e_acces2.htm

Wide Angle Rail
Product No. 4553
An auxiliary extension rail which enables focusing of 47mm super wide angle lens by track focusing knob on wista 45 camera.




So presumably with the off-center Linhof boards on the Wista VX/SP/RF, if you actually want to use the centre of the image circle you're always going to set up with the needed amount of rise? (I could answer this myself in a week when my VX arrives... but in the meantime I'm curious!)

Yes, although most of the time I don't think about it as it's the image composition that's dictating rise/fall/neutral. With a lens of restricted image circle or a situation where you need maximum rise, it would be more of a concern...

[Daniel Casper Lohenstein]

Yes I have about 6 Cambos (wanna buy one?) and this year I shot 1614 sheets of 4x5 and 5x7 film, only about 150 sheets were exposed on my Toyo CF in exotic places like Guam and Idaho. I like to take my camera and lenses in carry-on luggage on the plane instead of checked luggage and the Cambo just takes up too much room, even disassembled. This makes a folding camera ideal if it has enough movement. For HABS/HAER work, the front rise and how it operates is a feature I'd like to get right for this purchase.

-Schaf

The main aspect of the Cambo SC2 portability issue are - in my opinion - the huge collets that connect the standards to the giant optical bench with its huge holder.

I always wondered whether one could saw those collets off and connect the standards to a macro slider like the incredibly stabile Manfrotto 454 macro slider (180mm extension) ...

This could be quite compact and lightweight and suitable to wideangle and standard lenses.

Another possibility, even more lightweight and more compact (the China solution): connect the vertical bars of the standards to an Arca Swiss rail and mount these rails with a rotatable panorama clamp on an Arca Swiss style macro slider ... It would be quite easy to extend the camera by mounting a longer rail between the standards. You could mount the camera directly on an Arca Swiss style tripod head.

[mpirie]

There are three tripod mounts on an MT2K, body bottom, body top (under the cold shoe) and on the baseplate.

If you want to avoid cut off in a vertical shot from the baseplate while using wides, you can turn the camera on it's side, in landscape mode and use the shift movements as surrogate rise and fall.

Lenses shorter than 90mm use the body-internal focussing track when the bed is dropped out of the way. Rise in this configuration is limited as it relies on the shell top being hinged out of the way as the lens rises.

@OP, if you find yourself in North West Scotland, you can try my MT2K.

Mike

[Bob Salomon]

There are three tripod mounts on an MT2K, body bottom, body top (under the cold shoe) and on the baseplate.

If you want to avoid cut off in a vertical shot from the baseplate while using wides, you can turn the camera on it's side, in landscape mode and use the shift movements as surrogate rise and fall.

Lenses shorter than 90mm use the body-internal focussing track when the bed is dropped out of the way. Rise in this configuration is limited as it relies on the shell top being hinged out of the way as the lens rises.

@OP, if you find yourself in North West Scotland, you can try my MT2K.

Mike

72 and longer use the main rail. 65 and shorter use the internal body rail system.

[mpirie]

To get the main rail out of the way with a 90mm in a vertical shot, i use the internal rail and drop the bed.

Mike

[Bob Salomon]

To get the main rail out of the way with a 90mm in a vertical shot, i use the internal rail and drop the bed.

Mike

The instruction book tell you to put the back in landscape position and rotate the camera 90°.

[schafphoto]

There are three tripod mounts on an MT2K, body bottom, body top (under the cold shoe) and on the baseplate.

@OP, if you find yourself in North West Scotland, you can try my MT2K.

Mike

And I was just in Inverness last year. Always too early, or too late.
I could see the advantage of the top tripod thread in Scotland... the bed makes a nice roof to keep the rain off the lens. ;-)

[schafphoto]

To get the main rail out of the way with a 90mm in a vertical shot, i use the internal rail and drop the bed.

Mike


Is this something that required you to pull out the rear standard for enough flange distance or can you accomplish 90mm infinity focus with the rear tight to the body?

[mpirie]

IIRC, no need to pull the rear standard out for the 90mm @ infinity.

Mike

[pchaplo]

Schaf, what did you decide on for a 4x5 field camera?

[bobbotron]

Don't write off the Wista VX. I have one, and it's a really nice camera. Should work well for your purposes... except maybe for 75mm.

[schafphoto]

Schaf, what did you decide on for a 4x5 field camera?

I'm just going to build one. I'll post photos of the Frankencamera when it's done. Inspired by the Walker titan with Cambo guts and a Horseman 'L' geared front standard.
I decided I didn't care if it was lightweight, but it needed to be rigid and have a ton of front rise.

-Schaf

[Audii-Dudii]

I'm just going to build one. I'll post photos of the Frankencamera when it's done.
Please do, because inquiring minds need to know and it benefits those of us who build FrankenKameras to share! :D

Although you may not plan to use such a combination now, I would also suggest that your design accommodate the use of your Fuji GFX 50S as a digital back (or at the very least that it doesn't affirmatively prevent such usage) too!

[pchaplo]

Can’t wait to see it when your done. I work with an LE and love it. Also, with standards rotated sideways it stows nearly flat.


I'm just going to build one. I'll post photos of the Frankencamera when it's done. Inspired by the Walker titan with Cambo guts and a Horseman 'L' geared front standard.
I decided I didn't care if it was lightweight, but it needed to be rigid and have a ton of front rise.

-Schaf

[neil poulsen]

I had a Wista SP, which I gather is much the same as a VX. (The latter doesn't have a back that rotates.) In addition to being able to use a bag bellows with the Wista, there's one other advantage (for architecture) that the Wista offers over the Linhof. (So I recall reading.)

The bed is short enough that, even using a 75 mm super-wide, one doesn't need to drop the bed to avoid its being included in the lens' angle of view. This is not true for a Linhof, even for a 90mm lens. (Typically, a 90mm lens is the most used for architecture.)

I had the attachment rail for using a 47mm super-wide on my SP. But even replacing the regular rail with this attachment, the rail still adds altitude. Of course, then one must drop the bed. All in all, it was fidgety.

The VX/SP cameras are solidly built. That said, I tried using the rail extension with extension bellows for lenses longer than 300mm on my SP. (e.g. a 355mm G-Claron.) Kind of wobbly, so I returned these two accessories.

I bought the SP for a really excellent price (can't remember now), so I had fun giving it a try with some of its various accessories. I thought that it might be a good alternative for landscape photography. But, I'm enough of a rail person, I finally decided to part with the SP.

[Bob Salomon]

I had a Wista SP, which I gather is much the same as a VX. (The latter doesn't have a back that rotates.) In addition to being able to use a bag bellows with the Wista, there's one other advantage (for architecture) that the Wista offers over the Linhof. (So I recall reading.)

The bed is short enough that, even using a 75 mm super-wide, one doesn't need to drop the bed to avoid its being included in the lens' angle of view. This is not true for a Linhof, even for a 90mm lens. (Typically, a 90mm lens is the most used for architecture.)

I had the attachment rail for using a 47mm super-wide on my SP. But even replacing the regular rail with this attachment, the rail still adds altitude. Of course, then one must drop the bed. All in all, it was fidgety.

The VX/SP cameras are solidly built. That said, I tried using the rail extension with extension bellows for lenses longer than 300mm on my SP. (e.g. a 355mm G-Claron.) Kind of wobbly, so I returned these two accessories.

I bought the SP for a really excellent price (can't remember now), so I had fun giving it a try with some of its various accessories. I thought that it might be a good alternative for landscape photography. But, I'm enough of a rail person, I finally decided to part with the SP.

Dropping the bed on a Linhof is anything but finicky, with the front standard inside the body housing, extend the rails, pull out the cam,retract the rails, slide the front standard on the rails and drop the bed. Very fast and easy to do.meven simpler with the TechniKardan with no need to drop the rail, even with a 28 or 35mm lens and it has more rail and bellows then a Technika yet folds up to the size of a book!

[rdeloe]

I had a Wista SP, which I gather is much the same as a VX. (The latter doesn't have a back that rotates.) In addition to being able to use a bag bellows with the Wista, there's one other advantage (for architecture) that the Wista offers over the Linhof. (So I recall reading.)

Neil, when you say the VX doesn't have a back that rotates, are you referring to swing? It does have swing -- same as the SP. You depress the lever and you can manually swing the back. What the SP adds is a "micro-swing" mechanism. The idea seems to be that you get more precision in the movement. I actually find the basic swing setup in the VX allows for plenty fine control, but different strokes for different folks.

[Louis Pacilla]

Neil, when you say the VX doesn't have a back that rotates, are you referring to swing? It does have swing -- same as the SP. You depress the lever and you can manually swing the back. What the SP adds is a "micro-swing" mechanism. The idea seems to be that you get more precision in the movement. I actually find the basic swing setup in the VX allows for plenty fine control, but different strokes for different folks.

Could Neil be speaking of a "revolving" back that does not have to be detached from body to go from landscape to portrait mode but rather one simple pushes a tab and revolves the back from land-port. Not the swing movement that the VX has only lacking of micro swing featurebut all RF/SP/VX have full back movements but not all have the revolving back and micro swing.

[rdeloe]

Could Neil be speaking of a "revolving" back that does not have to be detached from body to go from landscape to portrait mode but rather one simple pushes a tab and revolves the back from land-port. Not the swing movement that the VX has only lacking of micro swing featurebut all RF/SP/VX have full back movements but not all have the revolving back and micro swing.

Good point. I'm sure Neil will tell us if he reads this. But as you say the VX also has the revolving back. I'm not sure about precursors to the VX/SP/RF. Some 45N Wistas definitely have the revolving back too.

[neil poulsen]

I'm not that familiar with the VX, versus the SP. I must be mistaken on that point. It was just something that I thought to be the case.

[neil poulsen]

Dropping the bed on a Linhof is anything but finicky, . . .

It's the 47mm attachment, plus dropping the bed to use it, that I found to be fidgety.

[Bob Salomon]

It's the 47mm attachment, plus dropping the bed to use it, that I found to be fidgety.

To use a 47mm on a 2000 or 3000 you mount the lens on the recommended board, drop the bed all the way and put the lens on the front standard and use the wide angle focus knob on the 3000 or lever on the 2000.

For the Master to the IV you mount the lens to the discontinued helical focusing mount using the proper 23 lens board, drop the bed all the way, mount the 23 board on the front standard and focus via the helical.

Or

Use the dedicated Linhof helical and board for the 47mm lens, mount the board to the front standard with the standard inside the body, drop the bed all the way and focus with the helical.

What is finicky about any of these methods?

Or were you one of the people who thought that the proper way was to use the back extension?

[neil poulsen]

Here's something else that I did on my Wista SP. If you're doing architecture, it may not matter. But for my purposes, I found that the tripod mount was too far back on the Wista. I "moved" it forward. I've always used the Manfrotto, hexagonal plates. So . . .

https://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?134550-Improving-Balance-on-Wista-SP-Field-Camera&highlight=wista

Worked great. The camera was much more solid on the tripod, when using heavier lenses.

For this thread, I used the 4" square, Manrotto hexagonal plate that work so well for flatbed view cameras. But while they fit perfectly on the bottom of the Wista SP, they're hard to find. Later, I changed the attached plate to a Universal, hexagonal plate that Manfrotto used to make. Much easier to find.

Or, use some other plate for a different system.

The Wistas also have a combination ground-glass Fresnel combination that's very effective, on a par with that of Arca Swiss cameras.

[B.S.Kumar]

All Wista cameras have revolving backs, meaning changing from portrait to landscape orientation.
The differences among the various models are explained here and in the posts following it:
https://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?150243-Wista-45N&p=1480246&viewfull=1#post1480246

Kumar

[Bob Salomon]

All Wista cameras have revolving backs, meaning changing from portrait to landscape orientation.
The differences among the various models are explained here and in the posts following it:
https://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?150243-Wista-45N&p=1480246&viewfull=1#post1480246

Kumar

Wood Wista cameras have backs that can be removed and then reinstalled to switch from portrait to landscape, metal Wistas have backs that revolve on the camera body.