Question: About R H Phillips

[jdurr]

Question: Did R H Phillips make a 4x5 or a 5x7 field camera?

This is the Phillips 8x10 Compact - What a beauty!

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[Oren Grad]

4x5 yes, 5x7 no. I wrote a review of the 4x5 for Photo Techniques magazine way back when. The design is different from that of his 8x10 and ULF cameras - same floating front standard, but the rear standard works a bit differently.

[jdurr]

Thanks....if you find a copy of your review, I would love to read it. And/or any photos of the 4x5.
J

[Drew Wiley]

That's the first version 8X10, the one I have, in fact, serial number 9. I made a few hardware modifications myself and discussed them with Dick Phillips; but by then he was already thinking of a revised model. I personally prefer this earlier one for its sheer simplicity. In addition to 8X10 and later a 4x5 model, he also made a few 11X14's, but no 5x7.

[Sal Santamaura]

...5x7 no...

Maybe. I can't find the email right now, but recall Dick once wrote (after having earlier refused my request for a 5x7 "Compact II"), that he had previously made a single 5x7 for a female photographer in Europe. He didn't want to do it, so quoted an outrageous price. When the photographer agreed, he felt bound to honor his quote, but it was a one-off (no CNC files made), so no additional copies.


...I wrote a review of the 4x5 for Photo Techniques magazine way back when. The design is different from that of his 8x10 and ULF cameras - same floating front standard, but the rear standard works a bit differently.


Thanks....if you find a copy of your review, I would love to read it. And/or any photos of the 4x5.
J

Here you go:


https://web.archive.org/web/20001201224200/http://www.phototechmag.com/previous-articles/nov99-grad/grad1.htm

Click "next" at the end of the text to read the following pages. There are three pages total.

[Oren Grad]

Thanks, Sal.

Re 5x7, long ago the now-defunct dealer "The F Stops Here" listed for sale second-hand a one-off "5x7 Compact II clone", described as follows: "This is a custom built 5x7 Field using the Phillips Compact II design and much hardware from Phillips." Although I remember the camera and the listing from back then, no, I didn't actually remember the wording - amazingly, I was able to dig up the listing in the Wayback Machine:

https://web.archive.org/web/20000531150900/http://www.thefstop.com/equipment/used/phillipsused.html

I vaguely remember asking Jon Simich about it at the time - pretty sure it wasn't Chuck Farmer that I talked to - and being told that Dick had supplied some parts but did not build the camera himself. Although the picture is gone, I remember it as having a natural wood finish rather than the black of the 8x10 Compact II's that Dick made.

I wonder what if any is the relationship between this camera and the 5x7 that you mention.

And a PS, since we've opened this "can": one-off 5x7 aside, to my knowledge Dick built and offered for general sale at least the following models:

4x5
8x10 Advantage
8x10 Compact
8x10 Compact II
8x10 Explorer (last production run was a version accepting Technika boards rather than the usual Sinar)
11x14 Compact
11x14 Explorer
7x17 Explorer
8x16
12x20

All of these were built and sold in batches - he did not maintain an ongoing inventory of completed cameras. For those models like the Compact II that had multiple production runs, there were often minor differences between the batches in hardware components such as knobs.

[Sal Santamaura]

...he did not maintain an ongoing inventory of completed cameras...

He couldn't. Once his (and his cameras') reputation was established, they sold out almost immediately after a production run was announced. :)

[jdurr]

Maybe. I can't find the email right now, but recall Dick once wrote (after having earlier refused my request for a 5x7 "Compact II"), that he had previously made a single 5x7 for a female photographer in Europe. He didn't want to do it, so quoted an outrageous price. When the photographer agreed, he felt bound to honor his quote, but it was a one-off (no CNC files made), so no additional copies.





Here you go:


https://web.archive.org/web/20001201224200/http://www.phototechmag.com/previous-articles/nov99-grad/grad1.htm

Click "next" at the end of the text to read the following pages. There are three pages total.

Thanks Sal and Oren!

[jdurr]

Thanks, Sal.

Re 5x7, long ago the now-defunct dealer "The F Stops Here" listed for sale second-hand a one-off "5x7 Compact II clone", described as follows: "This is a custom built 5x7 Field using the Phillips Compact II design and much hardware from Phillips." Although I remember the camera and the listing from back then, no, I didn't actually remember the wording - amazingly, I was able to dig up the listing in the Wayback Machine:

https://web.archive.org/web/20000531150900/http://www.thefstop.com/equipment/used/phillipsused.html

I vaguely remember asking Jon Simich about it at the time - pretty sure it wasn't Chuck Farmer that I talked to - and being told that Dick had supplied some parts but did not build the camera himself. Although the picture is gone, I remember it as having a natural wood finish rather than the black of the 8x10 Compact II's that Dick made.

I wonder what if any is the relationship between this camera and the 5x7 that you mention.

And a PS, since we've opened this "can": one-off 5x7 aside, to my knowledge Dick built and offered for general sale at least the following models:

4x5
8x10 Advantage
8x10 Compact
8x10 Compact II
8x10 Explorer (last production run was a version accepting Technika boards rather than the usual Sinar)
11x14 Compact
11x14 Explorer
7x17 Explorer
8x16
12x20

All of these were built and sold in batches - he did not maintain an ongoing inventory of completed cameras. For those models like the Compact II that had multiple production runs, there were often minor differences between the batches in hardware components such as knobs.

Thanks Oren!

[jdurr]

Great information! Thank you all!

[Drew Wiley]

I once spoke to him about 5X7, since that was the biggest enlarger I had when I first purchased his 8x10 camera; and and he suggested adapting a Cambo 5x7 back, which would in fact be fairly easy to do in any reasonably equipped shop like mine. But so was an 8x10 conversion to one of my enlargers. So I never took the 5x7 format route.

Incidentally, my early Phillips 8x10 is still functioning superbly after all these years of hard outdoor use. The penetrating epoxy which seals the originally blonde custom plywood has yellowed a lot; but that's not an issue as long as the camera is kept out of sunlight when not in actual use. Those kinds of epoxy sealants do crack and fail within a few years under constant daily sunlight, like on a front door or boat deck for example, unless painted over. It's a category of coating I have decades worth of experience with.

[jdurr]

That's interesting. Thanks

[alexanderlaurent]

I don't know if Phillips ever made one, but I know that Chamonix are based on the Phillips design and they make both a 5x7 and 4x5 camera.

[Monty McCutchen]

I own one of the 7 x 17’s. It is an amazing camera and I absolutely love working with it. Happy for Dick that he moved in to his own pursuits but it was quite a loss to our community when he stopped producing all of his wonderful cameras.

Monty

[Drew Wiley]

As noted earlier, I've owned and used a Phillips 8x10 from nearly as long as they've existed; but have also had opportunity to handle a Chamonix 8x10. The latter is a worthy substitute. I wouldn't hesitate to buy their 5x7, though if price were no object, I'd try to land an Ebony instead.

[Greg]

if price were no object, I'd try to land an Ebony instead.

It's interesting to read other forum member's opinions of the different brands of (similar?) field views. I've had and used an Ebony, Phillips, and presently a Chamonix 8x10. The Ebony I liked a little bit over the Phillips. The Ebony reminded me of an 8x10 Deardorff that I once owned but had to sell, but I can't give you an exact reason to support that. Presently use a Chamonix and I would rate it just the tiniest bit over the Ebony. Truth is that I would be more than happy if I had to use just anyone of the aforementioned 8x10s.