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View Full Version : new Sinar F2 or used Horseman LE?



bulb
13-Sep-2008, 12:00
Hello there! I want to buy a monorail camera to use it with digital SLR as digital back.
I cannot decide which one to purchase.
Price is almost the same (100$ more for Sinar). I'm planning to use it for table top photography. Sometimes for short distance walk.

Please help me to choose:
Sinar: New, easy to find accessories, possibility to upgrade it till C and then till P.
Horseman: Has geared movement (tilt/shift and swing/rise)? <-- or I'm wrong about this?

Thank you very much!

Frank Petronio
13-Sep-2008, 12:09
You want precise geared movements for using a small sensor on a big camera. A movement of fraction of a millimeter makes a larger difference with smaller digital sensors versus large-format film. With 4x5 you can be a little bit sloppier.

I'd look for a good deal on a used Sinar P myself. There is a used Buy-it-Now Sinar P in German eBay for only $707 (I do not know the seller.)

Even with that, the reason Sinar and other companies came out with smaller view cameras designed for smaller digital sensors (Sinar P3, Linhof M679, etc.) is because they needed to be even more precise and use finer gears. So YMMV.

Peter De Smidt
13-Sep-2008, 12:14
See: http://www.largeformatphotography.info/mono-field.html for some info on the LE.

Note that some Horseman/Sinar elements are interchangeable, such as lensboards, bellows...

Personally, I'd probably give a slight edge to the Horseman if you don't consider upgradability. I've never been a fan of the rise and fall system on the F series Sinars.

On the other hand, the Sinar P/P2/p3 cameras are superb studio cameras, and so if you think that you will want to upgrade, the F2 might make sense.

That said, if you pay a fair price for either of the cameraa, I doubt that you'd loose much if any money if you later sell it for something else.

Peter De Smidt
13-Sep-2008, 12:17
Frank's faster than I am ;), and I agree with him. Using a digital back, which in effect is what adding a digital slr would be, is easier on a P/P2 than on a camera with slide movements, but the gearing isn't ideal, hence the P3. On more thing to consider, the lens mount area of the Dslr might siginicantly reduce the amount of movement available due to vignetting.

erie patsellis
13-Sep-2008, 13:10
Add one more to the P camp, once you use one, you'll never want to go back.

bulb
14-Sep-2008, 11:43
Thank you for your answers.
So how I understood the geared movements on Horseman LE is not so useful.
I'm an amateur photographer, and to go for P series Sinar is too expensive. So for the beginning I was thinking about F2, and if I'm getting into those "movements", to upgrade back standard to P or P2. And then to get front standard P. If not, than I think it will be not so much loss if I'm going to sell F2.

Anyway I'll try to keep an eye on prices may be there gonna be good deal for P series.