TOYO 45 ARII specs and info needed?

[chiphoto]

I've been looking all over the place for some info on a camera that I'm being told is called a toyo 45 ARII field camera. But of all the toyo field cameras, I've never heard of it. All I can think of is I was told the wrong model and its suppose to be an AII. Am I wrong? Also, it has a rotating back, which is what makes me believe it's the A2.

[roteague]

It's an AII.

[Ted Harris]

Actually it is an A. You must be referring to the ad on eBay. I saw it and sent a note to the seller but he hasn't changed the title or the description. Note that it says "A" on the bottom name plate and it has the plastic rather than the rubber coated knobs. I'd be very leary of this machine based on the seller's lack of interest in making clear what he is selling now that he knows ... he did acknowledge receipt of my email.

[roteague]

Actually it is an A. You must be referring to the ad on eBay. I saw it and sent a note to the seller but he hasn't changed the title or the description. Note that it says "A" on the bottom name plate and it has the plastic rather than the rubber coated knobs. I'd be very leary of this machine based on the seller's lack of interest in making clear what he is selling now that he knows ... he did acknowledge receipt of my email.

Haven't we heard about this one on LF before? It seems to be a combination of a 45A and a 45AII. The rotating back is from the AII.

[Gary Smith]

Haven't we heard about this one on LF before? It seems to be a combination of a 45A and a 45AII. The rotating back is from the AII.


Actually, while this is usually true, I have seen a quite a few 45As with a rotating back. I am not sure if it was an optional item or Toyo just installed them for a while as a normal accessory.

Hope it helps.

Gary

[roteague]

Actually, while this is usually true, I have seen a quite a few 45As with a rotating back. I am not sure if it was an optional item or Toyo just installed them for a while as a normal accessory.

Hope it helps.

Gary

Perhaps, it was a Japan only model. The main difference between the 45A and the 45AII is the rotating back.

[roteague]

I found the eBay ad, if this is the same camera we are talking about. It is a 45A, not a 45AII. This does not have the revolving back, it has the reversible back. The revolving back has a little push button on the upper top left hand corner; you press this button and turn the back. The seller's writeup doesn't match with the picture.

[chiphoto]

Well how hard is it to take the back off to rotate 45a? Any harder then a linhof Technikardan? Thanks for all the help.

[roteague]

Well how hard is it to take the back off to rotate 45a? Any harder then a linhof Technikardan? Thanks for all the help.

It isn't very hard, with the standard Graflox back. I can't tell you how to do it, since I have the 45AII model. Also, the one you are looking could be an early model, or a Japan only model, it is hard to tell from the pictures. Both cameras, at least in their current form are supposed to be identical, with the exception of the revolving back. See these two links:

http://www.toyoview.com/Products/45AX/45AX.html

http://www.toyoview.com/Products/45AII/45AII.html

[Per Madsen]

Actually, while this is usually true, I have seen a quite a few 45As with a rotating back. I am not sure if it was an optional item or Toyo just installed them for a while as a normal accessory.

Hope it helps.

Gary

The late model Toyo 45A's had the rotating back. I think it was produced with the rotating back from the mid eighties.

[Per Madsen]

In my Toyo catalogue from 1981 the Toyo 45A is equiped with a reversible back.

In my Toyo catalogues from 1987 and 1990 the Toyo 45A is equiped with a rotating back.

[toyoman]

From what I have seen/read/used, the 45A goes way back to the 70's and represented a new generation of modern designs for the toyo line. The older 'Grapic' models had rotatable backs, where the newer style 45 did not. The other camera styles were very oldish in their design which included the graphics style. When the rotatable back for the 45A was added in the early '80s (maybe '79), the designation was added as an 'R' for the model with the rotatable back. You could still get the non rotatable back at that same time with no 'R' designation and then buy the rotatable back as an accesory. In the early '90s the 'A' became AII and AIIR respectively ('92ish?). At this point you could still buy the rotatable back as an accessory. Then the knobs went from plastic to metal with textured rubber in the mid '90s ('95ish?) and the 45A became the 45AX, and the rotatable back one became the 45AII (no 'R'). This can be confusing with the earlier and newer models being sold at the same time. The Toyo catalogue that I have posted online from the mid '90s ('95 was when I got it) has both earlier and newer knob styles on the page for the AII!? Guess that the earlier style had not been phased out yet.

The non rotatable back is very easy to take off with side-slip 'graphic' clamps on top and bottom. As a side note, the sleeper of the 45 series is the Graphic 45 with almost 14 inches of bellows. I have seen one and measured it - same weight as the 45A stuff. It also could be adapted to an 8x10 extension back made by Toyo! The extension used two back extension rods with a special mounting plate to attach to the camera back. Now if Toyo made a 5x7 or 8x10 extension for the AX today...hmmmm.

[dbriannelson]

The 45A I'll be picking up today has a rotating back that was retrofitted by the current owner. If I can find an original non-rotating back I'll probably take it off to save weight and volume.

-Don

[roteague]

From what I have seen/read/used, the 45A goes way back to the 70's and represented a new generation of modern designs for the toyo line.

Thanks for the history on this. I have a 45AII, which I bought new 6 years ago, and I'm getting ready to buy another new one.

[Per Madsen]

I bought my Toyo 45 AII in march 1994. The danish agent for Toyo was Foto/C, which does not import and sell Toyo anymore.

At that time both the 45 A and the 45 AII was on their pricelist.

Today, if you want to buy brand-new Toyo gear you have to buy it from Robert White in the U.K or from U.S.A.