Zone VI camera

[martin-f5]

after buying one I'm interested in all information on it.
But it's hard to find them in the internet.
Does anyone has links or even pdfs?

Kind regards

[Louie Powell]

Which size - 4x5 or 8x10.
Which model - there were several, starting with cameras made by Wisner or Tachihara and private labeled by Zone VI, and ending with the Lightweight that was made by Calumet after they bought Zone VI.

The guru is Richard Ritter - he worked for Fred Picker and actually built many of the cameras during the period when Zone VI actually produced them.

There was an excellent history of the Zone VI camera in View Finder Magazine many years ago. There is also this Photo.net thread: https://www.photo.net/forums/topic/197623-zone-vi-camera-history-info/

[xkaes]

As mentioned, the "Zone VI camera" was really several different cameras made by different companies over time with different features. This is true for other cameras as well, such as the "Tachihara camera", the "Wista camera", and others. This unfortunately complicates things, because you can end up with a camera that is somewhat different that what you expected.

The only suggestions I can give is to be careful, figure out what features are important to you FIRST, and remember that a lot of the Zone VI cameras can be found under different labels at a lower price -- the Zone VI label has a fad following.

http://www.subclub.org/toko/4x5table.htm

[linhofbiker]

FYI - I have a complete copy of Fred Pickers Zone VI Newsletters and they have descriptions of the camera and it's many iterations. Try and find these for a good understanding of Fred's dream machine. I personally never had his camera but used to love his insights into photography, if a little opinionated.

[Peter Lewin]

Mr. Powell is dead-on. The first ZoneVI view camera was a re-branded Tachihara, and the one modification Fred Picker made was to replace the base plate with a stronger one. So you could google "Tachihara Field Camera" and see what info is out there. The second and third cameras were almost identical, first made by Ron Wisner for ZoneVI, and then sold under his own name. I just googled "Wisner View Camera" and got a bunch of hits, so that is my suggestion, since there were few if any differences between those sold under the ZoneVI or Wisner name.

[Kevin Crisp]

If it is the later model, here you go: https://cameraeccentric.com/static/img/pdfs/zonevi_2.pdf

[BrianShaw]

FYI - I have a complete copy of Fred Pickers Zone VI Newsletters and they have descriptions of the camera and it's many iterations. Try and find these for a good understanding of Fred's dream machine. I personally never had his camera but used to love his insights into photography, if a little opinionated.

https://archive.org/details/img_20170209_214736_1024

[linhofbiker]

Interesting link. I wonder if they have the complete IPT quarterly from 1955/56 on. I am missing a few. They have been a great LF/general photography resource over the years.

[martin-f5]

thanks a lot, I'll post a image later on

[Vaughn]

I have the 8x10 made by Zone VI. Bought it second-hand but looking new in 1996 (no longer looks anything like new). In New Mexico I talked with the fellow who took over the construction of the first 500 of them. (Bruce?)
Not a lightweight, but not a beast, either. Light trap where the back attaches to the camera is minimal and I sometimes get a light leak if the back is not centered well on the back of the camera body. Sometimes wish for another inch or two of extension...will not handle a 28" lens except at infinity with the gears on the last teeth (I have a 2D for that lens), tho no problem with the 24" RDA.

Bruce told me of being on the phone talking to people waiting for their cameras(pre-paid) to be finished and sent to them...while rejecting piece after piece of the wood parts for the cameras for being out of spec.

[Mark Sampson]

Vaughn, your last paragraph reminds me that when I bought my Z-VI 4x5 in 1991-92 there was a several-month wait. At the time, they attributed it to increased demand (having just held a sale). Whatever, it was worth it, the camera is still going strong.

I'm sure there was a thread on this forum, a couple of years ago, that was able to figure out the timeline and variations of the Zone VI cameras. The OP should try a search.

[martin-f5]

that's the one I got

[Louie Powell]

that's the one I got

That looks like the Zone VI Lightweight. That was a redesign of the camera Zone VI built in Vermont, and was designed and built after Zone VI was bought by Calumet. Like the Vermont cameras, the Lightweight was made of mahogany (although a few were made in cherry and walnut), but the metal components were black anodized aluminum rather than gold-plated brass. It was quite a bit lighter in weight than the mahogany/brass cameras, but otherwise had essentially the same features. I bought mine in 2001.

As I recall, Calumet itself was owned by a British company that was affiliated with a Dutch camera maker. So while the mahogany/brass cameras were built in Vermont (literally by Fred Picker, Bruce Barlow and Richard Ritter), I always suspect that the Lightweight was made by the Dutch company but I don't know that for a fact. Picker sold his company to Calumet, and was listed as a VP of that company for a while, but later focused his attention on fly fishing before he died a few years later. I never met him, but I do have several of his books and considered his photography to be very inspiring.

[Tin Can]

My second LF camera was beautiful with fancy Gold fittings

I have a deep aversion to GOLD

Sold it long ago

[RichardRitter]

The light weight was build in Vermont. Calumet just used aluminum instead of brass. It made the camera about 1 1/2 pounds lighter.

[xkaes]

My second LF camera was beautiful with fancy Gold fittings

I've got gold fillings too, but they aren't fancy.

[martin-f5]

thanks!

[martin-f5]

after some days with the new one I compared it to Chamonix N2 and a Nagaoka 5x4.
I do like the Groundglass with a kind of Fresnel, it's bright and beautiful to compose.
What I miss a little is the zero alignment of the front.
The Chamonix has levers to fix the alignment in the rise and fall rail, the nagaoka can also be set into a rail if you want.
Of course I can feel it with my fingers if the front standarte is aligned and it's easy to have minimal tilt, so it's great at all and checking focus with a loupe is essential if you want to be accurate.
But rising and falling always is added with a tilt which than has to be checked.
(sorry for my bad englisch....)