Help please: Cambo 8x10 Schneider Sinar 360mm f/5.6 lens in very good condition

[Nicole BM]

Hi everyone

Here's my first official post - nothing like jumping in the deep end!! :)

My first question on LFP is about LF gear. I've never photographed with an (8x10) LF camera or owned one before, let alone seen one in real person.

I've found locally (very rare) a Cambo 8x10, old but in very good condition, monorail, Schneider Sinar 360mm f/5.6 compound shutter lens and 3x 8x10 dark slides : all for $800 AUD

If you have first hand experience with the above mentioned camera, may I ask what your opinions and experiences were/are?

Thank you and kind regards,
Nicole

[Renee Galang]

Hello Nicole,
Thats a good buy! I bought the same camera but it has 11x14 back plus 11x14 film holders for twice that price for what you paid for. You will need some 8x10 films and I have some if you are interested. I live in Melbourne. Cambos are great camera, I used to have 4x5 then a cambowide.

[Frank Petronio]

The only issue with a Cambo is that is rarer than a Sinar or Toyo, thus making spare parts or switching between formats that much harder. Also you get what you pay for in terms of smoother movements and ease of operation (Cambos are fine but not as fine as some others) -- although 8x10 monorails of any make sell for bargain prices these days.

The 360 Schneider/Sinar lens in a Compound shutter sounds old, but it may have a nice look for portraits used wide open. But frankly you could probably find a nice 8x10 Sinar P and a modern (>1980) 360 in a Copal shutter for under $1500 US if you are patient with eBay. It may be a more "usable" system.

[Nick_3536]

How old is the Cambo? My old Cambo 8x10 including a large packard shutter was something like $225US. Describe the rail and lensboard and I bet somebody can give an idea of age.

I've no idea what the current exchange rate is for you but I guess the main problem is what you can find in the local market.

What are you going to use this for? I'd be hard pressed to consider my Cambo for hiking-)

[Ole Tjugen]

What are you going to use this for? I'd be hard pressed to consider my Cambo for hiking-)

I'd be hard pressed to consider a 360mm Schneider Sinar - I guess it might be a Symmar f:5.6 convertible in a #5 Compound shutter - for hiking :)

It's a fine lens, but big and heavy. Once you've looked at the ground glass with a 360mm f:5.6 Symmar, a 355mm f:9 G-Claron seems pitifully dim!

[Nick_3536]

It's not so much the 15lb weight with my Cambo. It's the 40" [or is it longer ] rail. I actually decided the best way would be to use the rail for a walking stick -))

[Nicole BM]

I haven't bought it yet, haven't seen it yet either. But the person selling it is one I have a lot of respect for. He's offered to give me a crash course on how to use it.

I plan on using an 8x10 for project work only. Being a child photographer and most times shooting in low light and hand held with nothing bigger than a 6x6 - the 8x10 is a challenge I'm really looking forward to. I expect the work to still be in low light but hand held - that would be a slight hiccup :D I'm guessing the camera will be bigger than me.

My tripod is a solid Gitzo.

[Richard Kelham]

I expect the work to still be in low light but hand held - that would be a slight hiccup :D I'm guessing the camera will be bigger than me.



Sounds like a reasonable price – there were a couple on UK fleabay recently for GBP 400 each without lens or darkslides. These were reasonably current models however.

As for hand holding don't even think about it! Not even Arnold Schwarzennegger could successfully hand hold a 10x8 monorail. I hope your concept allows for the camera being firmly anchored.

Welcome to LF.


Richard

[erie patsellis]

Nicole,
Solid is relative, my gitzo 320 is rock sold with any 35, MF or 4x5 camera on it, I wouldn't even think of putting my black monster (orbit 8x10) on it. I have found that a 5 series Gitzo, ideally with a 1570M head to be best, though any decent head should work well. I love the 360 Componon I use with a front mounted packard, though perhaps you should look at the lens first, as they're far from little. If you are intending to do portaiture in your usual style (which I like, btw) then you may want something a little longer, though I also use a 12" Turner Reich convertible, often converted to 20" for portraits, not quite as nice as those lovely pics Jim Galli keeps teasing us with, but very usable. In summary anything smaller than a 5 series gitzo is asking for trouble, stability wise; and the 360 Symmar is a wonderful lens, but I think you should look for another lens or two to complement it out of the studio.


erie

[Jorge Gasteazoro]

Nicole, you can get better deals on E bay US but shipping would probably kill the deal, so $800 sound reasonable. My concern would be the weight, even just for portraits this is a really heavy camera which will need a very heavy tripod. Just trying to move the camera to acheive a very composition will be an ordeal.

If you were asking my advice....which I know you are not.. :) but here goes. I would wait for a cheaper camera, a single lens multicoated and would use more of my money on a lighting set up. You are certainly not going to be able to do candids with an 8x10, so lighting is more important than the box.

Here is a pic I just made, it was on on the margin for lighting and I was only able to use f/16.

[erie patsellis]

A workable solution to the tripod issue would be either; a good rigid tripod with a dolly or a studio stand.

erie

[Nick_3536]

If it's like mine then it has two tripod mounts. With longer lenses just use a front and back tripod. With shorter lenses just one tripod is fine.

[Paul Ewins]

Hi Nicole,
I'm about two weeks ahead of you on the research, having also bought a Cambo 8x10. Mine is a Cambo SC (Super Cambo) which can be distinguished from the newer models by the fact that it has a square rail, while the newer ones (Legend, Ultima) have a rail that has a cross section like a maltese cross. There is a fair amount of info at their website (www.cambo.com) if you dig for it.

AUD$800 with a lens and three holders sounds fair by local prices. If you are buying from someone you trust and who is willing to give you some help learning to use it then it is probably a good deal.

It uses the same front standard as the 4x5 model and thus the same lensboards. The bellows just clip onto the standards in the same way as the lensboards, which makes it easy to swap from one format to another or to a bag bellows for wideangle work.

Importantly, Cambo was bought out at some stage by Calumet who used to be their US importer. The Calumet 45N uses the same accessories as my much older Cambo SC. I've just ordered some lensboards from KEH, the Calumet ones were half the price of the Cambo ones for the same board. The board size you want is 162mm x 162mm, there are smaller Calumet branded boards for their old C1 (8x10) and C400 (4x5) monorails. The going price for lensboards seems to be US$20-$25, but be very careful as one auction quoted postage to Australia via Fedex for $50 and that was the only available choice. By contrast KEH quoted me $13 to send two calumet lensboards and three Speed Graphic lensboards via airmail letter post.

Cambo parts are not as common as Toyo and Sinar on eBay, but I wouldn't call them rare. A lot of the parts I have seen were for sale in Europe which isn't surprising as Cambo was a Dutch company.

Hopefully somebody else will be able to chime in with some actual experience of using one.

[Nick_3536]

Not all square rail Cambos use a 162mm board. Mine is something like 8.5" [22cm??]

[Dirk Rösler]

It uses the same front standard as the 4x5 model and thus the same lensboards. The bellows just clip onto the standards in the same way as the lensboards, which makes it easy to swap from one format to another or to a bag bellows for wideangle work.

Does that mean that if I have a 4x5 Cambo SC I could just get a 8x10 rear standard and a bellows to start 8x10?

[Capocheny]

I haven't bought it yet, haven't seen it yet either. But the person selling it is one I have a lot of respect for. He's offered to give me a crash course on how to use it.

I plan on using an 8x10 for project work only. Being a child photographer and most times shooting in low light and hand held with nothing bigger than a 6x6 - the 8x10 is a challenge I'm really looking forward to. I expect the work to still be in low light but hand held - that would be a slight hiccup :D I'm guessing the camera will be bigger than me.

My tripod is a solid Gitzo.


Nicole,

You're a much braver soul than I am... that's for sure! :) And, if you manage to pull it off... my hat will be off to you!

Shooting with an 8x10 under the conditions you've expressed will be a HUGE challenge and certainly not one I'd even consider undertaking.

And, hand-holding it? I'm thinking not a hope in the world.

And, the Schneider 360... are you sure it's a 5.6 and not a 6.8?

May I ask why you're thinking this particular format?

Cheers

[Capocheny]

I haven't bought it yet, haven't seen it yet either. But the person selling it is one I have a lot of respect for. He's offered to give me a crash course on how to use it.

I plan on using an 8x10 for project work only. Being a child photographer and most times shooting in low light and hand held with nothing bigger than a 6x6 - the 8x10 is a challenge I'm really looking forward to. I expect the work to still be in low light but hand held - that would be a slight hiccup :D I'm guessing the camera will be bigger than me.

My tripod is a solid Gitzo.


Nicole,

You're a much braver soul than I am... that's for sure!

And, if you manage to pull it off... my hat would be off to you!

Shooting with an 8x10 under the conditions you've expressed will be a HUGE challenge and certainly not one I'd even consider undertaking.

And, hand-holding it? I'm thinking... not a hope in the world.

And, the Schneider 360... are you sure it's a 5.6 and not a 6.8?

May I ask why you're thinking this particular format? :)

Cheers

[Paul Ewins]

Nick, what model is yours? The only square rail models I have seen are the SC.

I found an online copy of the Super Cambo brochure on Seth Broder's excellent site which shows all of the various permutations and accessories, except for the 11x14 conversion. It isn't dated but has a late 60's to early 70's feel, so the 11x14 may have been a later addition.

http://www.cameraeccentric.com/html/info/supercambo/supercambo.html

[Nick_3536]

http://www.cameraeccentric.com/html/info/supercambo/p1.html

That looks like mine.

[Nick_3536]

The tripod mounts on mine look like the ones on the picture of the 5x7 not the ones on the 8x10. I'm guessing mine is older then the catalog.

[Nicole BM]

Thanks everyone for all the great info and for the link, Paul. Jorge thank you - very nice!! The female body is incredibly beautiful to look at.

I like to keep things very simple. I don't own a studio, lighting or even a little flash unit. I'm hoping I can continue this with the 8x10. I rarely use my Gitzo but it will be good enough to finally be put to use.

[eddie]

nicole,
buy the camera. 600 USD for an 8x10, a lens and a few holders is a pretty good price. i have a kodak 2D that i use and love. i took it across the US and shot some E6 of various national parks....simply stunning!

eddie

[Nicole BM]

Wow this is an old thread, I thought I'd best start all over again. I had a bit of an accident since I was last here, just as I was buying the 8x10... and then since I disappeared into hospital for a few weeks, the seller thought I was no longer interested and it was sold to someone else. :( Never mind. So.... I'm out and about again and today I bought myself a Crown View 5x4 as an intro into the LF world. Can't wait to setup and play. Studio should be built and finished by (Australian) spring - in time for some project work due to start then. That gives me 4 months to play. :)

See you around. :)
Nicole