The largest and/or heaviest 4x5" camera ever?

[xkaes]

Just asking. Anyone know anything about this "puppy"?

https://www.carousell.sg/p/seagull-chinese-studio-camera-286249724/

[Tin Can]

Hard to say

I have 2 similar without the stand

Kumar gave them to me, I paid shipping from Japan

The 2 front folding cloth hood caught my eye

and the nice woodwork

I seek backs

[domaz]

Is this actually a 4x5 camera? Seems like it's at least a whole plate camera that happens to have a 4x5 back. The largest and heaviest mainstream 4x5 cameras are probably the older monorails like the Graphic View, B&J etc. Monorails are just a heavy design- unless they happen to be a Gowland Monorail that is.

[xkaes]

Is this actually a 4x5 camera? Seems like it's at least a whole plate camera that happens to have a 4x5 back.

For all I know that is an 8x10" reducing back. All the seller says is it's pre WWII. Your guess is as good as mine.

[djdister]

Well, clearly its not a 4x5 camera. Appears to have a 4x5 reducing back though...

[Bob Salomon]

Is this actually a 4x5 camera? Seems like it's at least a whole plate camera that happens to have a 4x5 back. The largest and heaviest mainstream 4x5 cameras are probably the older monorails like the Graphic View, B&J etc. Monorails are just a heavy design- unless they happen to be a Gowland Monorail that is.
If you are talking heavy 45 monorail cameras then one would be the Linhof 45 Master GTL AMS. The ones you name are lightweights!

[Tin Can]

I think a 4X5 Horseman Rail camera is heaviest

especially if you add all options

it can be very heavy

Japan is dumping them, they need $

HORSEMAN LX-C LXC FOCUS COMPUTER 4X5 LARGE FORMAT FILM VIEW CAMERA

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2334524.m570.l1313&_nkw=Horseman+view+camera+4x5&_sacat=0&LH_TitleDesc=0&loc=9022764&mktype=&sitelnk=&poi=&cmpgn=6625180013&rlsatarget=aud-622524043118%3Akwd-298034528863&geo_id=10232&network=g&gclid=CjwKCAjw9LSSBhBsEiwAKtf0nyclp2SpP9v35WKhrMqKsDITVeV2hIh5B-rODQ-dyjKOLMG5TQMPQxoChdAQAvD_BwE&mkcid=2&_odkw=View+Camera+-4x5&norover=1&MT_ID=585496&adpos=&adgroupid=78911519277&matchtype=b&abcId=1141726&keyword=view+camera+-4x5&mkrid=711-156598-750899-1&crlp=435085675633_&device=c

[jnantz]

There was a guy, whose name escapes me .. he custom built these behemoth cameras and even lenses to go with it. I'm not sure if it was only 8x10 +. or if he made them smaller but these things were heavy monsters. They are kind of rare I want to say Busche or something like that I think there were 2 names. I think Frank Petronio ( or was it Jim Galli? ) had a big lens made this guy at one point. Kind of makes most other things look puny. This would have been in the early/mid 2000s that Frank or Jim had one, the guy who made these things was kind of well known, didn't hang around websites, but was interviewed and written about. I read about him years before I ever heard someone whose name I recognized bought his "stuff". I think whoever bought it commented about how big and heavy the lens was.

[Dan Fromm]

Just asking. Anyone know anything about this "puppy"?

https://www.carousell.sg/p/seagull-chinese-studio-camera-286249724/

Joe, don't shout!

[Bob Salomon]

I think a 4X5 Horseman Rail camera is heaviest

especially if you add all options

it can be very heavy

Japan is dumping them, they need $

HORSEMAN LX-C LXC FOCUS COMPUTER 4X5 LARGE FORMAT FILM VIEW CAMERA

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2334524.m570.l1313&_nkw=Horseman+view+camera+4x5&_sacat=0&LH_TitleDesc=0&loc=9022764&mktype=&sitelnk=&poi=&cmpgn=6625180013&rlsatarget=aud-622524043118%3Akwd-298034528863&geo_id=10232&network=g&gclid=CjwKCAjw9LSSBhBsEiwAKtf0nyclp2SpP9v35WKhrMqKsDITVeV2hIh5B-rODQ-dyjKOLMG5TQMPQxoChdAQAvD_BwE&mkcid=2&_odkw=View+Camera+-4x5&norover=1&MT_ID=585496&adpos=&adgroupid=78911519277&matchtype=b&abcId=1141726&keyword=view+camera+-4x5&mkrid=711-156598-750899-1&crlp=435085675633_&device=c

The GTL should still be heavier. Without accessories it is 18.25 pounds out of the box!

[Tin Can]

When I get around to it, I will assemble a Horseman and weigh it

They are now selling for way less than I paid, eBay Japan


The GTL should still be heavier. Without accessories it is 18.25 pounds out of the box!

[Mark Sampson]

John, you are thinking about Doug Busch. His 'de Golden Busch" cameras were, I think, the first of the modern boutique ULF cameras. He had Rodenstock make lenses for those cameras under his own name; there was a feature on him and his 40"x60" field camera in 'View Camera' magazine, c.1990. He did not make a 4x5 camera, though, so off-topic for this thread.

Tin Can, a friend recently acquired a Horseman L-bracket 4x5. It looks pretty heavy and very capable; it might give that monster Linhof a run for its money.

Also off-topic, the heaviest camera I've ever used was a 16mm Hycam high-speed movie camera; that was in the mid-80s when I worked for Kodak. It was almost too much for its Majestic tripod and sidearm.

[jnantz]

John, you are thinking about Doug Busch. His 'de Golden Busch" cameras were, I think, the first of the modern boutique ULF cameras. He had Rodenstock make lenses for those cameras under his own name; there was a feature on him and his 40"x60" field camera in 'View Camera' magazine, c.1990. He did not make a 4x5 camera, though, so off-topic for this thread.

Tin Can, a friend recently acquired a Horseman L-bracket 4x5. It looks pretty heavy and very capable; it might give that monster Linhof a run for its money.

Also off-topic, the heaviest camera I've ever used was a 16mm Hycam high-speed movie camera; that was in the mid-80s when I worked for Kodak. It was almost too much for its Majestic tripod and sidearm.

YES! that was him, it's a shame he didn't make a 4x5 camera it would have been a beast but sadly it's off topic ;)
Sounds like you had to eat both your Wheaties AND your Spinach to use that thing !

[reddesert]

Here are a couple of photos of other large Chinese studio stand cameras (click to enlarge). There are some similarities, look at the shape of the top of the stand columns for example. I may have posted these before, not sure. I took these photos at the Shanghai Camera History Museum in 2019. They have a very wide collection of Chinese-made film cameras, and some of the old tooling from the Seagull TLR factory. Most of their collection is 120 and 35mm cameras, but there are a few large format cameras. The first of these cameras has a Seagull name plate, and the second one has a plate specifying model "NM8-I" and some Chinese characters that aren't very clear in my photo. Like others said, I imagine that these could have taken film larger than 4x5 with an appropriate back.

226295

226296

[David Lindquist]

John, you are thinking about Doug Busch. His 'de Golden Busch" cameras were, I think, the first of the modern boutique ULF cameras. He had Rodenstock make lenses for those cameras under his own name; there was a feature on him and his 40"x60" field camera in 'View Camera' magazine, c.1990. He did not make a 4x5 camera, though, so off-topic for this thread.

Tin Can, a friend recently acquired a Horseman L-bracket 4x5. It looks pretty heavy and very capable; it might give that monster Linhof a run for its money.

Also off-topic, the heaviest camera I've ever used was a 16mm Hycam high-speed movie camera; that was in the mid-80s when I worked for Kodak. It was almost too much for its Majestic tripod and sidearm.

I'm thinking it was Melles Griot that made the ULF lenses for Doug Busch but my memory is not to be trusted. Maybe they made the shutters? Maybe both Rodenstock and Melles Griot made the lenses?

David

[Tin Can]

very easy to put a 4X5 back on any larger camera

I only have 5X7 for my Deardorf, I will convert to 4X5, maybe

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50792670886_d7f2b16fc3_z.jpg (https://www.flickr.com/gp/tincancollege/z3041x)Deardorff S11 New Bellows (https://www.flickr.com/gp/tincancollege/z3041x) by TIN CAN COLLEGE (https://www.flickr.com/photos/tincancollege/), on Flickr

[cjbecker]

And here i thought my Toyo ROBOS was big and heavy.

[gary mulder]

A camera obscura with a sheet of 4x5" against the wall.

[domaz]

A camera obscura with a sheet of 4x5" against the wall.

There have been quite a few "van cameras" made so I think your line of thinking here is right. A camera obscura is the heaviest, a van/trailer camera is the heaviest "mobile" camera.

[Mark Sampson]

David, the best information about Douglas Busch and the de Golden Busch lenses will be found in that old "View Camera" article. But whoever was involved, I believe that very few of those lenses were made.

[Bernice Loui]

Melles Griot produced/sold Ilex shutters years ago. As an adder service Melles Griot would mount barrel lenses into their Ilex shutters per customer request. These were done up with silk screened Ilex shutter front plates resulting in a OEM as produced appearance. Melles Griot also did optical testing to assure proper lens function if requested.


Bernice



I'm thinking it was Melles Griot that made the ULF lenses for Doug Busch but my memory is not to be trusted. Maybe they made the shutters? Maybe both Rodenstock and Melles Griot made the lenses?

David

[Daniel Unkefer]

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51488428782_a1eb1d0827_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2mrRE3J)520mm 20 inch Apo Ronar Pair XTRA long 5x7 new bellows 1 (https://flic.kr/p/2mrRE3J) by Nokton48 (https://www.flickr.com/photos/18134483@N04/), on Flickr

5x7 TLR Sinar Norma reduced to 4x5/9x12. With the FOBA C40 it is a beast to move around! Shown with 520mm Apo Ronar matched pair.

Bell Wire from my Father in Laws stash from Bell Labs. :)

[Peter Lewin]

Daniel, your twin lens Sinars are always fun to read about and look at, but presumably you assembled it (them?) to solve a problem. What was the problem?

[Daniel Unkefer]

No problem really, but to precisely frame quickly and view the subject during the actual exposure, (to see the "pop" of the strobes on the glass for a microsecond) is a distinct advantage in some situations. If I preset the camera controls using a stand-in, then bring the subject in, I am viewing through the camera the entire time, not peeking around from the back from an angle, I can see if the subject is in focus. When I ask for corrections I see them on the glass, then just that fast, I can capture it. It's just a different way of seeing through the camera without blackening everything out. Takes some getting used to, I'm getting better at it. And it's different and fun

[Rod Klukas]

The wood camera is a copy of the Deardorff studio portrait camera which was made all the way up to 16x20. This one appears to be an 8x10 with a 4x5 stepdown back.
They were named:

Deardorff Portrait Series 8x10, or whatever largest format was, Camera. One sold at auction last June, I believe. We had one in a store I worked in during the 1990's. Look at metal work very similar to the Deardorff.

Rod

[Drew Wiley]

I was given the top portion (minus the stand) of a very large even older mahogany version as part of a building salvage leftover. More of a battered conversation piece, and not really worthy of trying to functionally recondition. But they were once routine in portrait studios.