Shen Hao Field Camera Instructions

[jimbobuk]

Hi again..

I'm making slow progress when i can through the "Using the View Camera" book... very slow in fact as I had to fix the stereo in my car this afternoon, which is when i wanted to really read through it and experiment with the camera.

I was just wondering if the Shen Hao camera brought new comes with a manual or a set of instructions... I realise that most field cameras are similar, and i'm sure the book will help explain the different movements you can have but it'd be nice if there were specific instructions to the model to read through them to be sure i know 100% how to work this particular camera.

From glancing it looks like the Shen Hao is possibly very similar to the Takihara cameras, so instructions for these may help if no one has any for the Shen Hao directly.

Anyways back to reading, if anyone has them and can possibly scan them in I'd really appreciate it, if none exist then i'll just have to get by as i can :)

Cheers

[Mark Pope]

Mine came with some photocopied "instructions". Well more of a highly amusing naming of parts really. For example: 'frontal catercorner staybar' and 'snapclose of appearance'.
In reality it doesn't take long to work out how to use the camera. It took a few goes to suss out how to fold the camera. The only thing that took some real head scratching was how to extend the bellows beyond 300mm.
FWIW I'd stick with the books. I have thought about making a couple of web pages showing how the camera works, but I'm too busy taking pictures with it to take pictures of it :)
My advice would be to get out there and take some shots or just bung it on a tripod and play with it. In reality it's much easier to work out than a digital SLR, where having to RTFM is a real necessity.

[jimbobuk]

I've googled a bit on the whole net, doesn't seem to be a lot of instructions anywhere for it..

Everything seems fairly straight forward, i'm just not sure how to make the bellows really short for the 150mm lens i have. Also the front standard seems to tilt when pushed regardless of what i tighten.. its got small nibs that fit into the frame but nothing i can see stops that movement..

Its just nice to know what tightens what, and to be sure that loosening one thing isn't going to make it come apart :)

I've took some pictures of it, just some overview ones really to show relatives what crazy camera i've brought this time :)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jimbobuk/sets/72157594252276981/

[Brian Ellis]

Your camera is a copy of one of the Ebony cameras, the 45SVTe maybe. If you go to the Ebony web site (Google for it, I don't have the URL handy) I think you'll find instructions for using that or another Ebony camera that's virtually identical to yours.

[jimbobuk]

Thanks, agreed it looks similar.. found the page for that camera

http://www.ebonycamera.com/cam/main.SV45TE.html

no instructions as such, but thanks I'll keep looking.

[Brian Ellis]

If you go to the Ebony home page and scroll down to the bottom you'll see links to several User Guides. There's one for the SV series and I believe it's the SV series that Shen Hao copied so that User Guide should be applicable to your camera.

[Mike Castles]

This link (http://www.nadir.it/ob-fot_grande/shenhao-istruzioni/default.htm) may help, it is in Italian I think, just run it through one of the translation sites to get the basic idea. It is, as mentioned, a pretty intuitive camera..except I had the required head scratching to figure how to close it.

Enjoy.

[Jacques-Mtl]

How do you change from the standard bellows to the bag bellows on the Shen-Hao?

[swmcl]

Jacques,

There are 2 screws, one top left and one top right. Just unscrew them and the bellows can be removed. In fact, as with other LF gear I would suppose, the cameras are pretty simple machines. 15 mins playing and you run out of screws to loosen!

One must have the back off the camera when fitting the bellows to make sure the screws, when tightened, are actually holding the bellows bracket in place. If you don't do this you get a thing called a light leak which results in swearing and cursing.

Any other questions don't hesitate to ask. I have 3 Shen Hao cameras that I have purchased directly from Mr Zhang Fuming.

In fact, I was going to prepare a summary of my learnings with these cameras. Any written instructions are not that helpful - being written in Chinglish (No disrespect intended).

Cheers,

[jon.oman]

Mine came with some photocopied "instructions". Well more of a highly amusing naming of parts really. For example: 'frontal catercorner staybar' and 'snapclose of appearance'.
In reality it doesn't take long to work out how to use the camera. It took a few goes to suss out how to fold the camera. The only thing that took some real head scratching was how to extend the bellows beyond 300mm.
FWIW I'd stick with the books. I have thought about making a couple of web pages showing how the camera works, but I'm too busy taking pictures with it to take pictures of it :)
My advice would be to get out there and take some shots or just bung it on a tripod and play with it. In reality it's much easier to work out than a digital SLR, where having to RTFM is a real necessity.

Yes, I had a good laugh about the manual! Use a good book instead.

Jon

[Jacques-Mtl]

Thank you all.