Top New 8x10 Cameras

[don mills]

I'd be interested to see a list of the top 5 latest models, from any manufacturer. I'm thinking best all-around cameras, mono rail or whatever...

[Gem Singer]

K.B. Canham 8X10 Traditional.

K.B.Canham 8X10 Lightweight.

K.B.Canham 8X10 all metal.

Tachihara double extension 8X10.

Tachihara triple extension 8X10.

Ebony 8X10 (several styles of 8X10 cameras).

Chamonix 8X10.

Shen Hoa 8X10 (a few styles).

Check www.badgergraphic.com for prices.

[Richard M. Coda]

No Arcas?

[Bill_1856]

Deardorf
Gandolfi
Phillips
Kodak Master
Gowland
Tweeledum and tweeldee

[Joanna Carter]

Walker Cameras http://www.walkercameras.com/XL_8x10.html

[Gem Singer]

The OP asked about the latest top 5 models of 8X10 cameras.

I interpreted that question to mean the latest cameras that are still being manufactured.

I left out Goland, Gandolphi, Walker, and Lotus. Forgot about Arca Swiss, Sinar, Toyo folding 810 and monorails, and Horseman monorail cameras.

Deardorf's, Wisner's, and Zone VI's are no longer made, but are available on the used market.

Now that i made a list, I'm amazed at the number of 8X10 cameras that are still available

[Archphoto]

Linhof made some 8x10" mono-rails aswell.
Plaubel in the past
Cambo

Not shure about Wista have to check.

Peter

[Ben Syverson]

Gowland is #1 for light weight. If you want one, you need to contact him now. He's 93 and basically selling off inventory at this point.

[Blumine]

Wehman
Ritter
Also two light weights.

Blumine

[venchka]

Richard Ritter 8x10. Available extra backs: 7x11, 5x7, 4x5.

Extremely strong. Extremely stiff. Extremely lightweight. Extremely nice person. GOOGLE Richard Ritter and find him.

http://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?t=32607&highlight=richard+ritter+8x10

[Bob Salomon]

Linhof made some 8x10" mono-rails aswell.
Plaubel in the past
Cambo

Not shure about Wista have to check.

Peter

Wista has an 810 cherry wood camera. Linhof has the Kardan Master GTL and GT 810 cameras currently. The Linhofs are more for studio then field use.

[Walter Calahan]

Arca-Swiss
KB Canham
Phillips & Sons
Deardorf
Ebony
there are more
in no particular order

[neil poulsen]

Deardorff, Shen Hao, Arca, Canham are four that I would include in the top five.

I think that Shen Hao should be included for its lower cost and versatility. It has bag bellows and 4x5, 5x7, and 4x10 reduction backs available for it.

Arca should be included for its low weight and ease for backpacking.

[venchka]

Just look in the For Sale area here. Lots of 8x10 cameras.

[Frank Petronio]

Buy that nice 8x10 Kodak Master View Henry is selling, it is at least as good as any of them.

[John Powers]

Arca-Swiss
KB Canham
Phillips & Sons
Deardorf
Ebony
there are more
in no particular order

Dick Phillips is in his mid 70s, wants to retire and is phasing out of production. He only offered 4x5s this year. He will happily repair or modify any of the cameras he has built. I speak from personal experience on both repair my stupidity and modify by adding some newer features to a 1993 8x10 Advantage series. Unfortunately for us the sons have found their own careers and are not carrying on the tradition.

John

[MIke Sherck]

What on Earth could possibly be the point of asking such a question? Are there objective, meaningful criteria on which there is substantial agreement by which candidates can be measured, or are we just expressing our favorites? If there are criteria, what are they? If we're expressing our favorites, mine's the Wehman, because I like it and it does what I ask without fussing or asking that I treat it like a precious, fragile princess.

Mike

[venchka]

Based on what I saw of the Ritter 8x10 and based on picking it up and based on what I know of Richard Ritter, his camera deserves consideration.

[Brian Ellis]

Chamonix
Shen Hao
Ritter
Wehman
Canham traditional

Just from reading, I've never owned any of them in 8x10 but I've owned the Chamonix and Shen Hao in 4x5 and thoroughly investigated the Wehman and Canham before buying a Deardoff. I'm not familiar with the Ritter but I know his work from other things he's done for me and I figure anything he makes has to be very good. If you hadn't limited it to cameras still being made I would have put Deardorf at the top or right behind Chamonix.

[Bruce Barlow]

I love Alice, my Ruchard Ritter 8x10. 6 and a half pounds, rigid as the wind is strong. 32" of bellows. Friendly.

[venchka]

Just look in the For Sale area here. Lots of 8x10 cameras.

Overnight a Canham and a Sinar P2 were listed.

[John Bowen]

My Zone VI and Wisner 8x10s collect dust. My Ritter 8x10 is the one that sees all the action these days.

[Mark Sampson]

I don't think that there are any *bad* 8x10 cameras, discounting the used-up, worn-out, abused & neglected old ones. Like most view cameras, the choice comes down to size/weight, choice of movements/bellows, and cost.

[venchka]

Here! Here!

Just as there are no bad lenses or film or developers.

Bad photographers. Sure. Guilty your Honor. I can't blame the hardware.

[RichardRitter]

They all pretty mush do the same thing. Hold a lens and a film holder at the popper focusing distance with a light tight tube between the two part. It just some have controls in different spots then other.

If you ready want to see which is the best all round. Line then all up and push then over with an big heavy lens on then. Then see which ones work. Having worked on a lot of crashed cameras some listed will hold up better then others. Some will destroy then selves. Some you will be able to pick up the pieces and put then back together with some glue and duct tape.

[BradS]

I don't know about "Best" but it is interesting to think for a moment about all the Craftsmen currently making 8x10 cameras.....

Just off the top of my head and in no particular order I can think of:

Keith Canham
Bruce Wehman
Mike Walker
Richard Ritter
Ebony (IDK whether this is a craftsman or a company???).
Dick Phillips (retired)
Peter Gowland (retired)

WHo else?
Does Patrick Alt still make & sell cameras?




Also, I was under the impression that Deardorff had ceased operations - Is that not the case?

[Robert Fisher]

Guys, here is the world's best 810 camera (IMHO) - it makes Canhams, Chamonix, etc look and feel like toys - this SW810 has a 810 & 45 back

http://forum.getdpi.com/gallery/files/1/4/7/sw-1.jpg

[imagedowser]

Eddies friend , Pete has a 12x20 Ritter, that I had my head behind. Now I can't get it out of my head. Havn't seen Ritters 8x10s but they must be right up with the best contemporary designs.The 12x20 was light, quick to set up, very strong and stable. He had a Miller tripod, I believe, a simple thing to just pick up the whole rig and move it to the next location. Amazing. I'm saving.

[Bruce Barlow]

Remember, $15 gets you the "Richard Ritter Ultra-Large Format Camera Owner's Manual" DVD that shows his ULF system. The 8x10 is similar enough to get you the idea. An inexpensive way to kick tires.

We also recently had a workshop student whose objective for the workshop was to make 8x10 negs for platinum printing. He used Alice and, I think, had a good time. Come to a workshop and use a Ritter 8x10 to really kick the tires.

Sorry for the promotion, but if folks are interested there are ways to sample Richard's camera.

[Armin Seeholzer]

Sinar F or P are the best System Kameras, but only to use from the car!

Cheers Armin

[RK_LFteacher]

If you take an Arca Swiss 8x10 and set it up with a 6"(15cm) rail and a 16"(40cm) rail,
You get a quite light, really versatile 8x10 camera with extreme precision.(under 10lbs).
I've carried this setup from Arizona to Canada and it is very easy to use and get succesful images.
RK_LF teacher

[Emmanuel BIGLER]

Images of the 8x10" Arca Swiss Misura
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_0RoVOkkeSxo/SB9aj403p2I/AAAAAAAAADI/tsNZChnXOSY/s1600-h/misura_810_sm.jpg

[venchka]

Eddies friend , Pete has a 12x20 Ritter, that I had my head behind. Now I can't get it out of my head. Havn't seen Ritters 8x10s but they must be right up with the best contemporary designs.The 12x20 was light, quick to set up, very strong and stable. He had a Miller tripod, I believe, a simple thing to just pick up the whole rig and move it to the next location. Amazing. I'm saving.

12x20 will do that to you. I had the good or bad fortune to spend some time behind Matt Magruder's 12x20. I can't get the experience out of my mind either.

ps: A good jogging stroller will get you a lot farther from the vehicle.

[don mills]

Will this 8x10 arca swiss work with the z1 ballhead?

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/469926-REG/Arca_Swiss_801113_Monoball_Z1_dp_with.html

Thanks.


If you take an Arca Swiss 8x10 and set it up with a 6"(15cm) rail and a 16"(40cm) rail,
You get a quite light, really versatile 8x10 camera with extreme precision.(under 10lbs).
I've carried this setup from Arizona to Canada and it is very easy to use and get succesful images.
RK_LF teacher

[Emmanuel BIGLER]

Will this 8x10 arca swiss work with the z1 ballhead?

All Arca Swiss monorail cameras share the same rail system.
All recent models share the same Type-II rail profiles.
On the new Z1 ball head, the quick-release clamp has a double dovetail profile, the narrower of the two dovetails directly clamps the folding rail (the one in use in the misura) without need of any intermediate part.
The larger dovetail width is for classical quick-release plates, or for those who prefer to continue to use the short 8.5cm intermediate connecting "bracket", or for use with the long "brackets" of the A/S telescopic rail system.

One might prefer the Z2 ball head with separate tilting movements (like in a 3-way head) but the Z1 is as strong as the previous B1 model and can handle a 8x10" monorail. I does make sense, however, to properly balance the camera + lens on top of the ball head, the centre of mass should be located above the tripod head of course
(this is so easy to adjust with a monorail camera by simply sliding the clamp & dovetail to the proper position).

[don mills]

How come there is no 8x10 Misura in the new catalogue? I only see the 4x5.

Are you sure this isn't the F compact?




Images of the 8x10" Arca Swiss Misura
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_0RoVOkkeSxo/SB9aj403p2I/AAAAAAAAADI/tsNZChnXOSY/s1600-h/misura_810_sm.jpg

[John Bowen]

Eddies friend , Pete has a 12x20 Ritter, that I had my head behind. Now I can't get it out of my head. Havn't seen Ritters 8x10s but they must be right up with the best contemporary designs.The 12x20 was light, quick to set up, very strong and stable. He had a Miller tripod, I believe, a simple thing to just pick up the whole rig and move it to the next location. Amazing. I'm saving.

My first Ritter was a 7x17. Just an amazing camera. I followed up with a Ritter 8x10 and couldn't be happier! If you are seriously considering a Ritter camera, give Richard a call. He offered me some great advice when I was trying to make a buying decision such as..."if you think you may want to shoot a large format later, order the camera with the larger bellows and get a reducing back." I was contemplating perhaps shooting 8x20 in addition to 7x17.

I had Richard make my 8x10 so it would accept the 5x7 and 4x5 reducing backs I already had for my Zone VI 8x10.

John

[jack_hui]

Ebony and Phillips

[jeroldharter]

That Arca is a beauty. "Best" is always hard to define and everyone has contibuted interesting points. I would say that Arca wins on engineering and esthetics.

But for me now, the Wehman is best in terms of light weight, durability, versatility, and cost.

[Emmanuel BIGLER]

Images of the 8x10" Arca Swiss Misura
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_0RoVOkkeSxo/SB9aj403p2I/AAAAAAAAADI/tsNZChnXOSY/s1600-h/misura_810_sm.jpg

Are you sure this isn't the F compact?

Yes, absolutely because only the 8x10" Arca Swiss misura has:
1/ the folding rail with the rear (longer) part folding upwards like one the image (the F-classic compact has a rail that fold in two equal halves but downwards)
2/ the rear function carrier with no tilt (not very easy to see except for trained arcaphiles, I admit ;-) ) while the F-classic has tilting movements at rear.

Both features are those of the 8x10" misura that I have thouroughly manipulated here at the Arca Swiss office, in parallel with the F-classic ;-)

[Keith Tapscott.]

Sinar F or P are the best System Kameras, but only to use from the car!

Cheers ArminThat just about sums up the Sinar Norma 8x10 as well.:D