Thoughts on the “tailboard” design for 8x10?

[lenicolas]

Looking for a new 8x10 camera I stumbled upon this :
208950
https://www.stenopeika.com/prodotto/stenopeika-tailboard-camera-configuration/

I’m interested/intrigued by the design ; easier to deploy than a folding field camera, easier to store than a monorail, don’t need to get a bunch of movements that I wouldn’t use...

But I’m wondering about a couple of things :
- The focus seems to be simply by pushing/pulling the rear standard on the rail. Is that precise enough? Is the tolerance that big with 8x10 than geared focus isn’t necessary?
- The tripod socket is almost under the front standard rather than at the point of balance. Is this a sturdy design? Or is wobbling of the rear standard to be expected?

I’d be using an 8x10 for portraits only, 90% of the time in my home-studio, probably with a 250-300mm lens as a only lens and on film only. (I already have a 4x5 for field work)

[otto.f]

http://argentumcamera.com/eng/pages/other/home.htm

This Hungarian producer has the same option of moving the back standard just by hand for 8x10 in the excursor line, so it shouldn’t be that odd. If the standards move smoothly it has little bearing on precise focusing, I’d say. At Argentum however, the explanation is that it is not a problem for landscape photography. But for portraits specifically I think would prefer geared focus. I take it you would like to play with selective focus in your portraits too, whereas in landscape you mostly want everything equally sharp.
I guess the tripod mount under the front standard might come from the idea that an 8x10 lens is mostly quite heavy, so the balance would be more to the front.

[Tin Can]

Tailboard cameras are very good at supporting heavy portrait lenses

They are best on a dedicated flat board studio stand, which evolved to 2 fixed front wheels and a rear swivel

The one I had, the camera was bolted to the stand, which could be easily moved in a studio and adjusted from the rear to capture people on floor to standing

I recently bought a 1951 B&J Rembrandt Home Portrait Camera 5X7 with 2 OE lenses and 3 backs, 2 with sliders

I need to adapt it to my tripod with wheels

My next lens for it is very heavy and long, a custom lens board is in the works

Historic tailboard cameras also use push pull focus with a lock

Lastly I think the portrait camera must be always set up and ready for action

I am sadly not letting anybody in my studio for at least the next 6 months

https://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?11924-Rembrandt-Portrait-Lens

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50368549207_31dde74cfc_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2jJTYSc)Xenar f4.5 240mm (https://flic.kr/p/2jJTYSc) by TIN CAN COLLEGE (https://www.flickr.com/photos/tincancollege/), on Flickr

[Drew Bedo]

The tailboard cameras that I have seen do not fold up in any way. With the front and rear standards collapsed together, the camera seems to be as storage unfriendly as it is open. Admittedly this is from my limited experience with just a few cameras.

When I could move up from a beat-up Speed Graphic, I picked up an 8x10 Kodak 2D. It is about as clunky as a tailboard camera, but the focus rail folds over the front to make a storable , though still massive, package and it protects a still mounted lens. Mine lives in a LowePro backpack in the closet. Only rise-fall on the front, but full moveents on the rear. When wiped dowen with furnature polish it looks like a piece of room decor.

[Tin Can]

stenopeika tailboard 8x10 build your camera FULL HD Video (https://youtu.be/pw5q1cLhmwg)

[lenicolas]

The tailboard cameras that I have seen do not fold up in any way. With the front and rear standards collapsed together, the camera seems to be as storage unfriendly as it is open. Admittedly this is from my limited experience with just a few cameras.

Just to be clear, the camera I’ve seen does fold :
208960
You push the rear standard all the way against the front standard, and then the rail/bed folds up.
That’s the part of the design that makes me fear the back standard might not be very stable.
On the other hand on the video shared by Tin Can the camera looks sturdy enough.

[Tin Can]

My B&J Rembrandt 5X7 is the non folding model 1, then they made a Model 2 that folds

More history here

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reisekamera

[Jim Jones]

My 2D came with the sliding tripod block that could be positioned anywhere along the bottom of the camera.

[Tin Can]

As does the Calumet C Series 8 X 10: a review (https://www.largeformatphotography.info/calumet/calumetc8x10.html) which is a tailboard design with gearless focusing that is very smooth

[Robert Opheim]

I use a Calumet C-1 8x10 now - as Tin Can said it uses a friction focusing system. Before the Calumet 8x10 I used a old wooden 8x10 Camera the was for the most part push and pull rear standard- as the knob focusing would un-thread. With 8x10 it just a matter of making the image - knowing the tolerances of 8x10. I have been using a 4x5 for many years; but the thing about 8x10 that still amazes me is how shallow the depth of field is with 8x10 format.

[Drew Bedo]

Just to be clear, the camera I’ve seen does fold :
208960
You push the rear standard all the way against the front standard, and then the rail/bed folds up.
That’s the part of the design that makes me fear the back standard might not be very stable.
On the other hand on the video shared by Tin Can the camera looks sturdy enough.

I am sorry . . .What are we talking about? What dies the term, "tailboard camera" mean in the context of this thread?

I am satisfied that my Kodak 2D is "sturdy enough" for the photography that I do. It is definitely less rigid than a geared rail camera.

[Tin Can]

https://camerapedia.fandom.com/wiki/Tailboard_camera


I am sorry . . .What are we talking about? What dies the term, "tailboard camera" mean in the context of this thread?

I am satisfied that my Kodak 2D is "sturdy enough" for the photography that I do. It is definitely less rigid than a geared rail camera.

[jp]

It's a pretty common design.

I have a B&J camera that folds up like that. the sliding tripod base makes it easy to balance depending on the lens. It's nice that it protects the groundglass quite well, but it does not fold up as compact as some purposeful cameras costing quite a bit more. https://flic.kr/p/c9vN77

If it's mostly for non-portable portrait use, look for a studio stand like would be used with an old Century studio camera.

[MIke Sherck]

My 5x7 B&J Grover wooden tailboard camera works and was cheap to buy, which accounts for its strengths. Having the rear rail stick out behind the rear standard works fine for normal and longer focal length lenses; it's a pain in the posterior for short focal lengths. It's like a giant lever sticking out the back and the shorter the focal length the more difficult it is to avoid camera shake from literally everything you do. The camera will focus a 90mm lens but you're a masochist if you want to do that regularly. Nevertheless, it was cheap and with care and by paying attention it works tolerably well.

In years past I found myself in possession of an Ansco or B&J 8x10 tailboard camera. It wasn't worth the effort for me: too heavy, too bulky, not particularly rigid and there was that damned board sticking out the back. I got rid of it fairly soon and wouldn't do that again.

[lenicolas]

Thanks for the replies.

I really wanted to hear that this design is a great idea, because turning that back focus screw on my Chamonix is a pita when setting up for a portrait on 4x5.

But today I did a quick test of focusing the Chamonix using only the rear standard, which is not geared, and though I imagine that a tailboard camera must have a much more smooth travel of the back standard, I don’t think this focusing system could be for me.

I guess I’ll go for a folding.
I find reaching for the front standard to adjust shift and rise from under the black cloth to be a bit difficult, especially at portrait extensions, so I guess the back screw design is the best compromise after all.

[Tin Can]

Consider this old thread

Focus using rear -- or front -- standard first? (https://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?28441-Focus-using-rear-or-front-standard-first&p=268923&viewfull=1#post268923)

[Drew Bedo]

I used a B&J 5x7 back in the 1990s. Used it in the field for several years. For field use, I put on a 4x5 reducing back w2ith a Grafloc set up/ The folding shade protected the GG, so I reversed the camera body on the focusing rail so that it folded up in front. That protected the mounted lens when moving around from spot to spot for shooting. The extra bellows extension was nice in 4x5.

My field kit now is built around a little Wista-built Zone VI . . . .but I wish I still had the B&J..