What Kind of Camera? (Finding Camera Manufacturers)

[cblurton]

When I first decided to purchase a large format camera I had no idea how many companies made them or who they were. So, I did some homework and read through hundreds of posts on this and the “other” LFP forum. It turns out there there may be nearly 40 such companies.

As I did this background research, I was struck by how frequently one fundamental question was being asked - which camera should I buy? This might very well be the most frequently asked question in these forums although the basic question is rephrased in a variety of ways:

What Large Format cameras do you recommend?
http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00GjlH&tag=

Toyo 45CX for a starter kit?
http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00GmYg&tag

Help finding a 4x5 system for a 4x5 newbie....
http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00GjlH&tag=

tachihara vs ebony
http://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?t=17706

Any 4X5 field camera to recommend?
http://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?t=17495

As I read through the forums trying to decide which camera was right for me, I collected a list of the names of the camera manufacturers. Sometimes a URL was included which I also noted. For those messages that mentioned a company name but that didn’t list a URL, I tried Google and Yahoo to see if I could find a URL for a specific company. I did this because I wanted to have a look at the Web sites and figure out what my options were in terms of manufacturer, price, features, and the less tangible aspects of LF camera ownership like aesthetics and “fit.”

As you can imagine, this took me quite a while. I finally decided on a Shen-Hao since I could get a new one very inexpensively (I live in Hong Kong and bought directly from Seagull Trading Company in Shanghai) and the Shen-Hao seemed to have more to learn about in terms of movements than other low-cost cameras.

Now that I’ve bought my camera, I hate to waste the research I did on camera companies so I am posting it below for others to use. I did the same thing with a list of manufacturers of focusing screens:

http://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?t=18137

and of bags and backpacks

http://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?t=18043

The camera manufacturers are alphabetized below into one of three categories:

A. LF Camera manufacturers: active URL
B. LF Camera manufacturers: inactive URL
C. LF Camera manufacturers: no URL

If you know one of the missing URLs or have other contact information like an alternative URL, email address, or phone number, please leave it in your comments.

Best wishes,

Craig

LF CAMERA MANUFACTURERS: ACTIVE URL

Artworks View Cameras
www.fineartphotosupply.com/workscamera.htm

Bender (camera kits)
www.benderphoto.com

Bulldog (self assembly camera)
www.camerabellows.com/Bulldog.html

Cameramaker.com (camera plans and kits)
www.cameramaker.com

Calumet (also sells Zone VI camera)
www.calumetphoto.com

Cambo
www.cambo.com

Deardorff Cameras (Ken Hough Photographic Repair Service)
www.deardorffcameras.0catch.com
Specializing in the Complete restoration of Deardorff View Cameras
“My cameras are mechanically new.”
(219) 462-0281

K.B. Canham
www.canhamcameras.com

Ebony
www.ebonycamera.com

Fotoman
http://www.fotomancamera.com/

Gandolfi
www.gandolficameras.com

Gowland
www.petergowland.com/camera

Horseman (also markets Woodman cameras)
www.horsemanusa.com

Kozik Camera Kit (Aluminum camera kits)
home.luna.nl/~kozik/index.htm

Layton
www.laytoncamera.com

Lotus
www.lotusviewcamera.at

Linhof
www.linhof.de/english/index.html

Rayment Kirby
www.raymentkirbycameras.co.uk/home/index.htm

Shen-Hao
www.shen-hao.com

Silvestri
www.silvestricamera.it/eng/home_eng.htm

Sinar
www.sinar.ch
www.sinarbron.com/sinar/conventional/cameras.php

Toho
www.toho-machine.co.jp

Toyo
www.toyoview.com

Walker
www.walkercameras.com

Wehman Field Camera
www.wehmancamera.com/camera.html

Wisner
www.wisner.com

Wista
www.wista.co.jp/e_wista/english.htm


LF CAMERA MANUFACTURERS: INACTIVE URL

Granview (USA)
www.GranView.com
More information - www.camerareview.com/templates/camera_details.cfm?camera_id=361

Tachihara (Japan)
www.binder.co.jp/handyview/index.htm
More information - www.kenrockwell.com/tech/4x5.htm

LF CAMERA MANUFACTURERS: NO URL

Arca Swiss Phototechnik (Switzerland)
No company URL available, email customer Service arca-swiss@swissonline.ch
Or see http://www.precisioncameraworks.com/Pages/arca_core.html

Deardorff Cameras

Deardorff Photographic Products International (USA)
58 West Lincolnway, Valpariso, Indiana, 46383, (219) 464-9748

Hoffman Master View (USA)
631/694-4470 Phone number does not work, no URL
More information - shutterbug.com/equipmentreviews/ medium_large_format /0600sb_wetried

Ikeda Anba (Japan)
More information - www.thalmann.com/largeformat/anba.htm

Iston (Japan?)
More information - www.rarecamerainc.com/info/CamId173.htm

Kwok (China)

Lupa (Italy)

Nagaoka Seisakusho (Japan)
More information - www.clickondavid.com/nagaoka.jpg

Osaka (Japan)
More information - www.bromwellmarketing.com/osaka.htm

Rajah (India)
More information - www.cameraeccentric.com/html/sale/rajah45g.html

[Ron Marshall]

Comprehensive research. I did the same over a year ago for my first camera, but you have found quite a bit more than I came across.

How do like LF? What lenses have you aquired so far?

[Frank Petronio]

Fatif...

[cblurton]

Hi Frank:

I looked them up and found the following in Italian. The English version doesn't seem to work:

http://www.fatif.com/fotografia_professionale/ds2.php

Craig

[cblurton]

Here's more contributed by Peter Yee:

R.H. Phillips and Sons
No URL
http://www.largeformatphotography.info/phillips.html

R.H. Phillips & Sons
2283 Old Pine Trail
Midland, MI 48642
T 517-835-7897
F 517-839-9745
Email rhphill@concentric.net

Star Camera Company- makes "antique" type large format cameras and adapters for wet plate photograpy
http://www.geocities.com/starcameracompany/

Richard Ritter- He is better known for repairing view cameras and is planning to build ultra-large format cameras.
http://www.lg4mat.net/

[cblurton]

The Hobo - The Camera that goes where you go

http://www.bostick-sullivan.com/Hobo/welcome.htm

"No rosewood here. No gold plate, no hand rubbed finish. No attitude. Its bloodline is more Jeep than Rolls Royce. We wanted a large format 8x10 camera that could ride in the trunk with the spare tire and jack and feel comfortable. We wanted an 8x10 that could be hand held. We wanted a lot. This is it."

[Oren Grad]

Updated phone/fax/email info for Dick Phillips:

tel 989-835-7897
fax 989-839-9745
rhphill@sbcglobal.net

Best way to reach Dick is by phone.

[Oren Grad]

Tachihara (Japanese only):

http://www.netlaputa.ne.jp/~tachi-ss/

Gaoersi:

http://www.focus-dayi.com/main.php

[Oren Grad]

Plaubel view cameras - German only:

http://www.plaubel.com/

Plaubel view cameras - Japanese only, includes more pictures:

http://members.aol.com/anamikaigaikk/pages/6_plaub.html

YSCreate - Japanese only:

http://www.yscreate.co.jp/info/origin.html

Fotox - 6x9cm wooden cameras (Japanese, no website)

[cblurton]

How do like LF? What lenses have you aquired so far?

Hi Ron:

I am embarrassed by your question because I have yet to shoot my first LF photo!

Originally, I bought a complete setup (camera, lenses, dark cloth, shutter release, film backs, etc.) from a seller on eBay which I would have had in hand more than a month ago and I would have some experiences to share. That deal fell through, however, because the seller didn't disclose some damage to the camera until after the auction.

After that experience, and more research, I decided to buy a new Shen-Hao rather than trying to find another complete kit on eBay. The Shen-Hao was available for US$495 just up the road from me in Shanghai. It seemed to me - after reading many of the comments about camera choices here - that this was as good a deal for a new or used camera for a LF beginner as I was likely to find on eBay in terms of price and features.

From that decision on, I purchased the rest of my kit from here, there, and everywhere - eBay, Seagull Trading Company, Badger, Maxwell, and local Hong Kong shops. However, all of the bits and pieces still haven't arrived. For instance, I am waiting on my Berlebach tripod and Polaroid and Regal film backs, but I hope to have all of the really necessary pieces in hand by next week so that I can get started. Meanwhile, I continue to set my camera up and practice focusing upside down and reversed with my two lenses.

My two lenses, which I bought on eBay, are a Schneider-Kreuznach Symmar-S 210mm f5.6 and a Fujinon-SW 90mm f8. I think I paid a little two much for the 90mm but got a pretty good deal on the 210mm.

The reason I got involved in all of this is that I'm in discussion with a publisher concerning a book deal. While outlining the ideas for the book - a study of a neighborhood in Hong Kong much of which will be shot at night - it occurred to me that one visually interesting approach would be to use 35mm for grainy B/W shots, with which I am familiar and somewhat experienced, and 4x5 for finely detailed color transparencies, with which I am a complete novice, to contrast subjects to be covered in the book. I am still in discussion with the publisher but have already outlined two more book projects with which I should be able to use the Shen-Hao.

Upon reflection, this foray into LFP has turned into a much larger and much more interesting project that I anticipated!

Best wishes,

Craig

[cblurton]

Wow, Oren, that's a lot of great new information! Did you see the 35mm with the bag bellows on the YSCreate Web site? How interesting! I wish I could read Japanese.

Best wishes,

Craig

[Oren Grad]

Did you see the 35mm with the bag bellows on the YSCreate Web site? How interesting! I wish I could read Japanese.


Believe me, the text isn't nearly so entertaining as the picture... ;)

[Oren Grad]

Markimage (Hong Kong):

http://www.markimage.com/field45_intro.php

[cblurton]

The Hobo - The Camera that goes where you go

http://www.bostick-sullivan.com/Hobo/welcome.htm

"No rosewood here. No gold plate, no hand rubbed finish. No attitude. Its bloodline is more Jeep than Rolls Royce. We wanted a large format 8x10 camera that could ride in the trunk with the spare tire and jack and feel comfortable. We wanted an 8x10 that could be hand held. We wanted a lot. This is it."

[Ole Tjugen]

LF CAMERA MANUFACTURERS: NO URL
Carbon Infinity: Out of business. Some information on the camera (in French) Here. (http://www.galerie-photo.com/carbon-infinity.html)

Don't ask the author to check anything on his camera - it's my camera now! :)

[Hening Bettermann]

Yoshimi, maker of the Jitto 67 and 21
http://www.443c.com/jitto/index.html
The owner, Naotoshi Hitotsuki, writes reasonable english, responds to e-mails and sells outside Japan. I have ordered a 21 and am awaiting the confirmation and payment details.
Special thanks to Oren Grad and Gary Smith!

[bglick]

It seems every part of photography involves the creative mind.... INCLUDING CAMERA BUILDERS!!!!

Very impressive list... the most impressive may be the site that makes wet plate cameras, replicas of the 1850's relics, very impressive indeed.... he even offers instructions on the wet plate process.

I am curious if anyone knows how sharp these wet plates can be come? I assume very inferior to film? do they have enlargement potential?

[CXC]

I got a classy wood/brass 4x5 pinhole camera from

http://www.zeroimage.com/

For first timers, even if not sold on the idea of pinhole photography, it can still be an interesting way to get started with a minimal cash outlay. And super lightweight and compact -- no excuse not to take it to the most extreme locations.

[CXC]

Hening,

Can you tell us a little more about the Jitto? It looks intriguing. Would the "21" indicate that it is a 6x21 medium format?

[Oren Grad]

Hening,

Can you tell us a little more about the Jitto? It looks intriguing. Would the "21" indicate that it is a 6x21 medium format?

No, it's just a very compact and lightweight (520g) view camera that takes standard Horseman and Mamiya RB roll holders on the back and Technika board-mounted lenses on the front. Extremely cool - I'll be very interested to hear about Hening's experience with it once he has it in hand.

[laurentvenet]

Hello Craig.

I'm suprised by the low price you paid for the Shen Hao 4x5. Did you purchase it in the shangai shop of Shen Hao. Here, in France, it's sold for 750 euro without VAT...

Did you buy the HZX45 ?

It looks like I should try to contact them directly.

Thank's anyway and good shooting,

Laurent

[Ron Marshall]

Craig, you might want to try color negative, especially if you will be dealing with a wide variation in light levels. Fuji's 160S is a wonderful film.

Perhaps your publisher prefers chromes though?

Those two lenses are a good start. All you need is a 135 in the middle.

Good luck with the project.


Hi Ron:

My two lenses, which I bought on eBay, are a Schneider-Kreuznach Symmar-S 210mm f5.6 and a Fujinon-SW 90mm f8. I think I paid a little two much for the 90mm but got a pretty good deal on the 210mm.

The reason I got involved in all of this is that I'm in discussion with a publisher concerning a book deal. While outlining the ideas for the book - a study of a neighborhood in Hong Kong much of which will be shot at night - it occurred to me that one visually interesting approach would be to use 35mm for grainy B/W shots, with which I am familiar and somewhat experienced, and 4x5 for finely detailed color transparencies, with which I am a complete novice, to contrast subjects to be covered in the book. I am still in discussion with the publisher but have already outlined two more book projects with which I should be able to use the Shen-Hao.

Upon reflection, this foray into LFP has turned into a much larger and much more interesting project that I anticipated!

Best wishes,

Craig

[cblurton]

Hi Laurent:

I bought the HZX45-IIA camera May 30, 2006, from:

Joyce <joyce@camerachina.com>
Shanghai Seagull Trading Inc.
2F,No.1038,Yang Shu Pu Road,
Shanghai 200082,China
T: +86-21-65085815*6606
F: +86-21-65085823

I had tried to buy it from the factory, but Mr. Zhang wanted me to deal with a retailer in Shenzhen instead. Unfortunately, the Shenzhen retailer did not speak English or have email so I located Joyce. She was terrific.

Hope this helps,

Craig

[laurentvenet]

Hello Craig

Thank you very much !!!

Kind regards,

Laurent

[false_Aesthetic]

I'm seconding Ron's suggestion. 160s rated at 100 and then doubled for reciprocity failure works perfectly. It's a hella awesome film.

A few years ago I tried transparency film for night shooting. It just didn't hold up well for the contract and color.


T

[Amund BLix Aaeng]

Hello Craig.

I'm suprised by the low price you paid for the Shen Hao 4x5. Did you purchase it in the shangai shop of Shen Hao. Here, in France, it's sold for 750 euro without VAT...

Did you buy the HZX45 ?

It looks like I should try to contact them directly.

Thank's anyway and good shooting,

Laurent

I paid $485 last year when I bought my 4x5 directly from Shen-Hao, and they haven`t raised the price yet. $125 for FedEx shipping(only alternative)

[Ole Tjugen]

Another (new) LF maker: Argentum Cameras, in Hungary: http://www.argentumcamera.com/

The cameras look interesting, as does the pricing!

[Jimi]

Re: Argentum cameras,

I have now rattled off an email to get some more information. From the looks of it, it seems to be a one-man operation. For residents in EU, you need to be aware of the prices, they are excluding VAT and the back (two different types) comes as an extra. As you may know, things sold within the EU should be priced including VAT. Unless you own a company...

[Ole Tjugen]

According to the information on the website, it's a two-man operation: Istv&#225;n Solt&#233;sz and Janos Beregszaszi. :p

[Jimi]

Damn it, Ole - nothing of note escapes your hawkeyes, eh? ;)

Well, I got a "I got your mail" reply back today from István. I'll report back in a few days time when get more information from him.

[Hkgmatt]

Craig,

Have you found any shops in Hong Kong that sell and develop LF film, or do you intend to purchase from Japan or the US? I know that ColorSix used to do develop LF film, but they've apparently stopped. I'm thinking of getting into large format myself but am holding off for fear that there's not enough support infrastructure in Hong Kong.

Matt

[Linhof]

Matt,

Colorsix in HK accepts orders of processing E6 up to the size of 8x10. I paid this service on weekly basis. But the problem may be that it is difficult to get 8x10 film in HK. I buy my film in Japan or call Fujifilm in HK.

[cblurton]

Craig,

Have you found any shops in Hong Kong that sell and develop LF film, or do you intend to purchase from Japan or the US? I know that ColorSix used to do develop LF film, but they've apparently stopped. I'm thinking of getting into large format myself but am holding off for fear that there's not enough support infrastructure in Hong Kong.

Matt

Hi Matt:

I am in Copenhagen and don't have access to my files but I do know that there is a shop on Stanley Street that still develops color transparency and BW 4x5. Several shops including Scientific Photo sell the film. I've not found color negative LF film.

Hope that helps.

Craig