cblurton
19-Jun-2006, 22:57
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
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