Contest.... Lightest LF Carry

[Tin Can]

Must include tripod 5 ft or more

4X5 of any type

2 neg capable 4X5

Any era

post a neg and/or print

made with the gear

Show and Tell

and cheer UP

[Tin Can]

Same rules but

Let's add 2 more divisions

same rules but

5X7

8X10

Divisions

[linhofbiker]

Isn't there a Norwegian who 3D prints cameras in these sizes. I have lost his web site for now. Pair with f/9 lens and maybe an old Zone VI wooden tripod with head.

[Tin Can]

Show and Tell

Here

https://www.ebay.com/itm/333894631811?hash=item4dbdabc183:g:bI0AAOSwjdFeikiM&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAAAwFr0Zzo3MbCn36khWtqDdriVMfQ%2FxMIj6H%2FZ7dJIVP4l8zGgLDhJuNNENjK90RS4NXXtZYUezdVdXT2gz2Y%2FiXh7tYKGIgDeP7c1eNZzBmYuZWYJvIObrmkoetQF7dJXPsZoZaP3oEVKNmKjpNcvTk9Vj5RuwDf7rNTUPMUimJG8j49YwVzmAsVgEiIgdg9WfNin%2BzUA7yjF7GjtlQySei%2BwZ%2BIMJKWYPa3tnghiMoCUvhABe4jBT%2Bs%2BiJSseAjNhA%3D%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR4CV2PDGYg

[jnantz]

1890s Delmar 4x5 plate camera being used to photograph things. on tripod easily extends over 5 feet, total weight (including tripod and film ) is 4lbs.
I've uploaded an image made with it, black and white print that I added tonality to myself ..

I also have camera and lens I made specifically to make retina prints, paper negatives, silver gelatin tin/ferotypes. the 22x28 one weighs less than 1/4LB, the 4x5 shown I didn't bother weighing it, my scale isn't precise enough. I don't use these cameras with a tripod. I've uploaded an image of a device and a retina print.

[Vaughan]

I just bought an Intrepid Black Mk5 4x5, it weighs 1.31kg (including a quick release plate). For comparison, my Tachihara Fiel Stand 45 weighs 1.56kg and Toyo Field 45A weighs 2.61kg (both also including quick release plates).

[Tin Can]

Please add up your complete weights

I am not doing

Pictures are proof

[Vaughn]

Camera and lens - 2.5 pounds
Tripod/head - 8.5 pounds. (metal Gitzo -- I have a 2.5 lb carbonfiber pod that extends to 5', but it is too light for optimal use)

B&W images taken with this camera, lens, and a similar pod
16x20 silver gelatin prints:
1) Tolaga Bay Wharf... during a 6mo bicycle tour in NZ.
2) Lone Ranch Beach, Oregon...taken while assisting on a workshop

[Drew Wiley]

Look into a Toho (not Toyo) 4X5 - not that I'd want anything that spindly myself.

[Joseph Kashi]

Look into a Toho (not Toyo) 4X5 - not that I'd want anything that spindly myself.

I've got a Toho that I bought from a retiring commercial photographer in CT. He apparently used it for studio product photography for years and it was still in excellent condition when I got it. They're uncommon but the Toho is actually a really nice and light 4x5 that's rigid and non-spindly for its size and weight. The monorail includes base movements on both front and back while the detachable bellows-lens carrier-GG back is a single piece unit. Overall, it's a good design and adequately stout and rigid for what it is.

[Alan9940]

Here's my Toho FC-45X and a photo taken with that camera. I wouldn't use this outfit in strong winds but I wouldn't call it flimsy, either. It's actually pretty sturdy for what it is. Regarding the photo, given the treacherous climb down to this location I doubt I'd have been able to get there with any other outfit.

242010242011

Oops...forgot the stats:

Camera w/lens: 3 lbs 4 ozs
Tripod: 3 lbs 11.5 ozs

[Vaughn]

Alan, that looks like my camera (PocketView) with several ounces of steroids added. Sweet!

[ic-racer]

If I want light weight, I'll use a smaller format, rather than compromising the 4x5 format with imprecise or lack of focusing and/or flimsy construction.

[Drew Wiley]

Well, I sure don't have the very lightest camera; but at only 3-1/2 lbs for a stiff, superbly built mahogany Ebony folder that will handle up to a 360 non-tele lens, I'd call that an excellent compromise. When used with my original Gitzo Reporter CF tripod (no head needed, column permanently removed), that's only 7 lbs overall (plus whatever lens). So that at least makes me a contender. It's held up well on long treks. But for day hikes I generally prefer the Sinar Norma with Ries tripod (more in the middle weight division).

But back when I exclusively shot Sinar, I was offered the opportunity to set the world high altitude record for a large format camera. Remarkably, my wife just came back from a rummage shopping run a couple days ago with a climbing book with a picture of Dhaulagiri in Nepal in it, showing that exact proposed location. I'll have to show her that page tonite, because I gave up my dream photo expedition to pursue my dream girlfriend. I made the right choice. Wonder if I would have even gotten a off a shot there, however. The icy winds are reputed to be incredible at times. It's right across one of the world's deepest canyons from Annapurna, and slightly higher. Lately, my afternoon "expeditions" have only gotten me as far as the local beach overlook, approximately 1 meter above sea level, not 8000 meters.

[Alan9940]

If I want light weight, I'll use a smaller format, rather than compromising the 4x5 format with imprecise or lack of focusing and/or flimsy construction.

I have several MF cameras and only the Fuji GA645Zi and the folders are lighter than the Toho. The Toho certainly isn't as rigid and precise as my Arca-Swiss, but I can carry the Toho a WHOLE lot farther and I've never been disappointed with the results.

[rfesk]

If I want light weight, I'll use a smaller format, rather than compromising the 4x5 format with imprecise or lack of focusing and/or flimsy construction.

I keep a 2 1/4X 3 1/4 Crown Graphic outfit ready to go - it is light with excellent lenses. Lighter still, I have a Agfa Record III ready also.
However, I personally prefer 4x5 if the compromises aren't too great.

[Mal Paso]

If I want light weight, I'll use a smaller format, rather than compromising the 4x5 format with imprecise or lack of focusing and/or flimsy construction.

Ya! My current favorite is a Cambo SF that can go from a few inches to over 40. What isn't on the camera stows in a backpack but it isn't light.

[Vaidotas]

Firstly, I have no intentions to advocate or promote such "extremities".
But sharing this setup I'd would say at right conditions and some experience it works to me.

Anba Ikeda 4x5 - 1250g
Wollensak Raptar Extreme W.A. (series IIIa) 108/12,5 with lensboard – 208g
Two Toyo 4x5 sheet film holders - 380g
Gitzo GT0541 tripod (5 ft with risen central column!) - 780g

That sums up to 2,63 kg (5,80 lbs).

Extras:
Tripod ball head Leofoto LH-30 with Arca Swiss style QR plate which I use from time to time with this camera setup - 370g
Voss filter holder with 67mm yellow-green and orange filters, cases - 160g
Loupe x6, light meter, cable release - 360g
Some IKEA zip locks
Fleece jacket as dark cloth
Osprey Cyber backpack (tripod fits inside if needed but I have habit to use extended tripod as walking stick) - 900g
1,80kg (~ 4lbs)

243622

243623

This shot was made in Møre and Romsdal, Norway a month ago, here (https://maps.app.goo.gl/G9nf4PbdGLNGQyrs6).

Kodak Trix320
HC-110 E

[rfesk]

Firstly, I have no intentions to advocate or promote such "extremities".
But sharing this setup I'd would say at right conditions and some experience it works to me.

Anba Ikeda 4x5 - 1250g
Wollensak Raptar Extreme W.A. (series IIIa) 108/12,5 with lensboard – 208g
Two Toyo 4x5 sheet film holders - 380g
Gitzo GT0541 tripod (5 ft with risen central column!) - 780g

That sums up to 2,63 kg (5,80 lbs).

Extras:
Tripod ball head Leofoto LH-30 with Arca Swiss style QR plate which I use from time to time with this camera setup - 370g
Voss filter holder with 67mm yellow-green and orange filters, cases - 160g
Loupe x6, light meter, cable release - 360g
Some IKEA zip locks
Fleece jacket as dark cloth
Osprey Cyber backpack (tripod fits inside if needed but I have habit to use extended tripod as walking stick) - 900g
1,80kg (~ 4lbs)

243622

243623

This shot was made in Møre and Romsdal, Norway a month ago, here (https://maps.app.goo.gl/G9nf4PbdGLNGQyrs6).

Kodak Trix320
HC-110 E

Great set up! Going lightweight has a lot of advantages provided wind isn't a problem. I like my lightweight outfit but haven't had time to develop anything yet.

[Drew Wiley]

Well, center columns and ball heads are hardly the ticket for stability. And a linty jacket for a darkcloth?? All that sounds counterproductive to me.

[Vaidotas]

Well, center columns and ball heads are hardly the ticket for stability. And a linty jacket for a darkcloth?? All that sounds counterproductive to me.

And it is.
But when you have time and will to hike for 20 miles with 1 km elevation gain LF affairs gets a bit complicated.
It was real fun.
To tell more the camera was on my hands for a few weeks and untested. I was so concerned about light leaks (there were none) that overlooked Voss filter holder barn doors vignetting in some shots.

[Drew Wiley]

Glad to hear you are giving your camera and yourself a good workout. It can sure be fun. I've carried 90 lb packs for many days on end in steep high altitude terrain, including a Sinar monorail system, hundreds of such trips, in fact. Wish I were still young again. But I'm 74 now, so take much shorter hikes. The Sinar still gets taken on day walks; but anything too far, and its my little Ebony wooden folder instead, or else my Fuji 6X9 RF. Lots of fun either way. Drymounting some more prints from that kind of activity this afternoon. A few old scenes deep into backcountry, a few new ones closer to the road.

And yeah, your barndoor shade system is a good idea, but ya gotta be careful to keep them outside the scene. Often I've had my shade properly adjusted, but then a bit of wind would blow it into part of the scene without me noticing it had moved, and that cost me the shot.

[neil poulsen]

I suppose one can have a go lighter, go further attitude on equipment, but it's not one to which I subscribe. My perspective is slightly different: go cart, further.

I "carry" a mid-weight, Arca Swiss camera, accessories, and quite a number of lenses. But it's all rather easily pulled along behind me. But then, I most enjoy photographing architecture. So, streets are common with my subject matter.

That said, since it's carried separately, I have a light-weight tripod head and tripod. Long ago, I purchased a beefy, CF Feisol tripod and later mounted it with an Arca D4 head, the two of which when combined, weighs less than 5 lbs.

I've taken two workshops from John Sexton, and I noticed that he could trim his kit down to a convenient size. (A few holders, his Linhof Master, a couple of lenses, a CF tripod, and off he could go.) I'm sure that this was very convenient for the types of landscapes that he photographed.

[Vaidotas]

As long range and ultra light bacpaking / hiking afficionado I’m wondering how to merge it with LF.
Hardly possible, too much effort with a lot of compromises.
3D printed fixed focus camera probably is a better choice but for the longer day hikes Anba Ikeda 4x5 is good.
I’m a monorail guy and field camera is new thing to me.
Recently just by accident I stumbled on Mr Hugo Zhang Chamonix presentations on youtube.
He got my atention.

[darr]

Must include tripod 5 ft or more

4X5 of any type

2 neg capable 4X5

Any era

post a neg and/or print

made with the gear

Show and Tell

and cheer UP

Randy,

Please post the winning camera setup when you have reached the goal.
Curious minds are eager to find out! ;)

Much appreciated!!

[Tin Can]

Randy,

Recently I am working on Cycle Camera

I have 2, one better

I touch up the leather clean the lens

Waiting on Zebra Plates and holder
thx

Please post the winning camera setup when you have reached the goal.
Curious minds are eager to find out! ;)

Much appreciated!!

[Drew Wiley]

Vaidotas - I gave up on ultralight anything a long time ago - too easy to either freeze to death or else have your camera outright blow away. So I figured out how to have a mule carry a much more serious load, yet without the inconvenience of an ordinary mule. So I just became the pack mule myself. It's a good way to keep in shape.

[Tin Can]

btw

this entire thread was meant for FUN

[AuditorOne]

Now I have to find my postal scale...

[rfesk]

And I have to develop my negatives....

[Drew Wiley]

It's a pity that there weren't enough investors to get my helium-filled bellows patent into mass production. The bigger the camera is, the lighter it is.

[Vaughn]

Being box-kites is bad enough!

The weight of one's backpacking gear is often expressed as a percentage of one's body weight. My 8x10 set-up is about 25% of my body-weight on the move (60 lbs/225 lbs). My 4x5 set up is (assuming 15 lbs) is about 7%. My Rolleicord goes almost unnoticed!

[Tin Can]

Rebels

[Greg]

In the 1980s I hiked up many a gorge here in New England with an 11x14 Improved Empire State, Dagor lens, exposure meter, and two wooden holders in a very light (and flimsy) backpack. I swear that it all weighed less than just my 4x5 Sinar X camera alone. Tripod was a wooden Miller. Always carried a plastic grocery bag that I would fill with rocks and hang from the top of the tripod. The 11x14 Improved Empire State was super light for its format.

[Drew Wiley]

The lightest packs per se aren't likely to be the most comfortable to carry. I stick with true external frame ones. And as percent of body weight? I might need to factor in some post-Einsteinian physics, ever since it was discovered that the tug of gravity increases over time, and that it's not time-space that gets warped, but one's belt line. Anyway, I've known a number of people capable of carrying more than 100% of their body weight. But personally, much of my adult life I was carrying around 60%, often long distances in the high country. Not so much now that post-Einsteinian physics has kicked in. Maybe 30% tomorrow if I stick with the 8x10 agenda. I always put a lot more in a pack than just camera gear, attempting to stay in shape. Less % if I go MF instead. Depends on what the lighting is doing the next few days. A few days ago it was still too damn hot inland to carry much, so I did go with my little ultralight Ebony 4x5 folder, but not with its light companion CF tripod - I reserve that for real long-haul backpacking, and took my smaller wooden Ries instead.

[Vaughn]

Before I caught the LF disease, my pack for a week or so in the high country was a comfortable 65 pounds. It was not until I was 25 or so that I started to add another 25 pounds of 4x5 stuff to that. But since the late 90s I've been slowly paring down on the camping equipment and unneeded 'extras' until my last trips were all those freezed dried meals and instant oatmeal breakfasts, a 3lb tent, and a lot of rest stops. I occasionally take the 5x7 rather than the 4x5 if the trip is shorter in distance and fewer number of nights (can't take as many holders with 5x7).

I had an Eastman View 11x14 - very lightweight, but my example needed work to make it enjoyable to use, so I sold it to a friend who could take care of that, and I bought myself a Chamonix 11x14. I am re-organizing my studio (otherwise known as my house) and just went through all of my 11x14 negatives today (only about a hundred I've kept so far)....using three different 11x14 cameras. Besides the obvious beginner problems, camera issues are here and there visible.

The first, and lightest, 11x14 (never weighed it, about 6 pounds) was homemade (not me) that was a little awkward in that one re-constructed every time you set it up. Once up, not too bad...full movements in front, tilt in back...and once deconstructed, it tucked into a pack easily. I have a set of Yosemite 11x14 negatives from that camera that are graced with a shadow of one of my hairs -- all in the same place as the hair was stuck in the film back of the camera...makes it easy to date those negs! That camera, which I am standing next to, was still good enough to get the image of the redwoods...

[Drew Wiley]

Looks just like one of the Ries tripods I have, my smaller one.

Them were the days ... The old man of our hikes was 22 and had a watermelon, several cantaloupes, a slab of bacon, a ham, and a bunch of zucchini in his pack, plus a cast iron frying pan, axe, fishing gear, pathetic excuse of a tent and sleeping bag. I was 16 with a miserable homemade pack and darn near worthless sleeping bag. The rain poncho had to double as a cramped tent. We'd do 12 miles and three thousand feet of grade up to timberline in two hours flat. I didn't own any kind of camera until a year later. Made a first ascent the next morning - naive country kid dangerous and stupid style. Returned in my mid-40th with a Sinar and did it right - have a 30X40 Cibachrome on my wall from that trip. The third time involved 22 miles in one day, almost all off trail needing an ice axe. Just printed and mounted a black and white interneg of that old 4x5 chrome, along with another interneg from another area - both now missing their glaciers. Can only visit those glaciers in my prints now, crevasses n all. Glad I took em. Even if they were still there, I couldn't get to those places again at my age. Need to conserve my strength for fighting off the two little mountain lion wannabees sitting beside me.

[PatrickMarq]

btw

this entire thread was meant for FUN

Well it made me think, and thanks to your thread I now have a lighter bag and can do more miles to take an image.

[Tin Can]

Wonderful!




Well it made me think, and thanks to your thread I now have a lighter bag and can do more miles to take an image.

[jimskelton]

Polaroid model 250 with 4x5 back and 3D printed double sided film holder: 861g
Voyager heavy duty #10 tripod: 1010g

Since it's a point and shoot rangefinder, a ground glass is optional. Manual shutter speeds with a dongle.

243795
243796

A little vignetting, but the photos have lots of character! This entry will likely trigger LF elitists...


Must include tripod 5 ft or more

4X5 of any type

2 neg capable 4X5

Any era

post a neg and/or print

made with the gear

Show and Tell

and cheer UP

[Axelwik]

If I want light weight, I'll use a smaller format, rather than compromising the 4x5 format with imprecise or lack of focusing and/or flimsy construction.

At around the same weight as my MF kit I get sharper photos plus movements with LF.

[rfesk]

If I want light weight, I'll use a smaller format, rather than compromising the 4x5 format with imprecise or lack of focusing and/or flimsy construction.

My lightweight 4x5 impresses me with how rigid it is. Not as rigid as my Bush Pressman but not too far off from my Sinar. I have independent rise -- and swing and tilt are about as precise as my Sinar. Focusing is no problem.

[Vaughn]

Cleaning things up around the house/studio. Disorganization use to work for me when my brain was more organized.

I found the weights of the various components of my 5x7 system I have taken backpacking.

10lbs Camera, lens, darkcloth
9lbs. 8 loaded film holders, over-the-shoulder bag with meter, cable release, notebook, etc.
8.5lbs Tripod and head
27.5 pounds or 12.5 kilograms total

No wonder my last three backpack trips were with the 4x5....;)

[DannL-USA]

The lightest 8x10 that I once owned was the E. & H.T. Anthony Champion (Variation No. 3), weighing a mere 4 lbs. 6 oz. (without the lens). I really miss that camera. :-(

http://piercevaubel.com/cam/anthony/amchampl.htm