Horseman FA45 specifications

[Kevin Thomas]

As a very happy user of the FA45 I thought I would collect all the specs I could find - please post any additional information, corrections and comments.

The Horseman FA45 is a robust lightweight versatile large and medium format flat bed camera. The FA stands for “Fine Art” and the 45 for the 4 x 5 inch film it was primary designed to use.

Horseman also manufactures three medium format backs (RFH = Roll Film Holder) – using 120 roll film that can be used on the camera. The 6x7cm RFH gives 10 exposures, the 6x9cm 8 exposures and the 6x12cm 6 exposures.

The main attraction of the camera is it’s all metal construction that provides strength and the use of small 80x80mm lens boards to further reduce weight. The use of a smaller lens board does prevent the use of lenses with the larger Copal 3 shutter or lenses with rear elements larger than 65mm. That said it doesn’t prevent you from using lenses from 65mm to 400mm.

The minimum extension is 60mm and the maximum extension of 272mm for the camera is achieved by using the 249mm of front extension with the 23mm extension of the back. The extension can also be increased by using top hat (extended) lens boards. There is also a Horseman rear extension bellows attachment allowing the use of lenses up to 720mm.

View the Lens list here http://www.komamura.co.jp/e/lens_list.pdf

The camera has both front and rear movements.

The front panel offers up to 10º forward tilt with the option to drop the bed for an additional 15º. It also offers 28mm of rise (geared) and 30mm of shift to the right or left. It also offers 15º of rear tilt and up to 15º of left or right swing and up to 30mm of lateral shift left or right.

For rear movements the FA45 uses four rods that allows the back to float offering up to 11º of tilt and shift or a combination of both.

The longest lens that can be attached and be folded inside the camera is the Grandagon/Sinaron 135mm F5.6

Horseman also offers a viewfinder that fits into the hotshoe on the camera and for 4x5 offers framing for 90mm, 105mm, 120mm, 135mm, 150mm, 180mm, 210mm, 240mm, 270mm, 300mm, 360mm and 400mm focal lengths.

The bed has focusing scales for 75mm, 105mm and 150mm lens and four movable focus stops - (is this the correct term?)

The camera when folded measures 173 x 164 x 97mm and weighs just 2kg.

[rfesk]

Infinity stops


As a very happy user of the FA45 I thought I would collect all the specs I could find - please post any additional information, corrections and comments.

The Horseman FA45 is a robust lightweight versatile large and medium format flat bed camera. The FA stands for “Fine Art” and the 45 for the 4 x 5 inch film it was primary designed to use.

Horseman also manufactures three medium format backs (RFH = Roll Film Holder) – using 120 roll film that can be used on the camera. The 6x7cm RFH gives 10 exposures, the 6x9cm 8 exposures and the 6x12cm 6 exposures.

The main attraction of the camera is it’s all metal construction that provides strength and the use of small 80x80mm lens boards to further reduce weight. The use of a smaller lens board does prevent the use of lenses with the larger Copal 3 shutter or lenses with rear elements larger than 65mm. That said it doesn’t prevent you from using lenses from 65mm to 400mm.

The minimum extension is 60mm and the maximum extension of 272mm for the camera is achieved by using the 249mm of front extension with the 23mm extension of the back. The extension can also be increased by using top hat (extended) lens boards. There is also a Horseman rear extension bellows attachment allowing the use of lenses up to 720mm.

View the Lens list here http://www.komamura.co.jp/e/lens_list.pdf

The camera has both front and rear movements.

The front panel offers up to 10º forward tilt with the option to drop the bed for an additional 15º. It also offers 28mm of rise (geared) and 30mm of shift to the right or left. It also offers 15º of rear tilt and up to 15º of left or right swing and up to 30mm of lateral shift left or right.

For rear movements the FA45 uses four rods that allows the back to float offering up to 11º of tilt and shift or a combination of both.

The longest lens that can be attached and be folded inside the camera is the Grandagon/Sinaron 135mm F5.6

Horseman also offers a viewfinder that fits into the hotshoe on the camera and for 4x5 offers framing for 90mm, 105mm, 120mm, 135mm, 150mm, 180mm, 210mm, 240mm, 270mm, 300mm, 360mm and 400mm focal lengths.

The bed has focusing scales for 75mm, 105mm and 150mm lens and four movable focus stops - (is this the correct term?)

The camera when folded measures 173 x 164 x 97mm and weighs just 2kg.

[Richard Wasserman]

It has a leather handstrap on the left so you can easily hand hold the camera. Has tripod mounts on the bottom and right side. You also didn't mention that it's a REALLY nice camera....

[ic-racer]

Here is a picture of my FA. Shown with a Symmar-S 210mm that has subsequently been replaced with a Horseman Topcor 210mm LF lens. A real sleeper of a lens with an image circle bigger than the Symmar-S.

[Kevin Thomas]

Infinity stops - thanks Bob

And yes, the FA45 is a REALLY WONDERFUL camera, it has 3 tripod mounts including one on the bottom of the bed - I am not sure I would use that one myself.

Additional Info:

Camera Back has 4-way Vertical/Horizontal Changeover.

Focusing Frame/Screen: Spring type.

Ground Glass with 10mm grid pattern, 6x7, 6x9 and 6x12cm indicators and Fresnel screen.

As Richard mentioned it has a strap on the left side - has anyone used a FA45 for hand held shots?

[john biskupski]

Kevin

Three other things worthy of mention:

-choice of lens is restricted by small lensboard opening and smallish FFD (sorry I don't have the numeric details to hand, but they are on the Komamura website for the 45FS if I remember) - see Komamura suitable lens list (basically restricting you to Copal 0 and 1 small lens/shutter combination types).

-Horseman do a 2x converter (the only one in LF) to convert a 150 lens to 300 for use on the 45FA (BTW you can also mount a Nikkor 360 tele I believe)

-the 45FA was designed with portability in mind, thus the flip out screen shade, and accessories such as the binocular viewer which some users rave about, and (as mentioned previously) the universal zoom finder.

This brings us back to the good question above as to handheld use. Having recently got used to using a Razzle hand-held, I'm certainly planning to try it with the 45FA (although it was never described as a hand-holder).

Trust that helps.

[Drew Wiley]

I always wished I had bought the FA as sort of a "point and shoot" supplementary
4x5 with infinity stops. A beautifully machined camera with helical focus gearing, and distinctly lighter and more compact than the Technika. But as a general purpose camera, the range of practical lenses is far too limited for me.

[Richard Wasserman]

The FA doesn't do everything, but what it does it does very well. I'm not sure I would want it as my only camera, because of it's limitations–I also use a Walker Titan and a Sinar Norma. The FA is by far the smallest and lightest of the bunch and that is what I bought it for. The FA, 3 lenses, some film holders, and miscellaneous stuff in a small day-pack makes for a pretty light kit. The Titan and Norma don't get as much exercise as they used to...

[Kevin Thomas]

Hi Drew,

the FA45 has bellows - are you thinking of a Horseman 6x12 or 6x17?

The only instance so far I have felt that the FA45 restricted my choice of lenses is with the 90mm focal length, when I would have ideally gone for a F4.5 Grandagon but have a F6.8 instead. That said, I love my Apo-Ronar 300mm F9 so wide F stops are not the only consideration.

[ic-racer]

Another picture of my FA, with a 150.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v670/ic-racer/FA.jpg

[emax]

Thank you all for the interesting informations.

This camera seems to be a nice build. Can anybody tell me whether it is still being produced? I didn't find a supplier, nor did I find a price for a new one.

Any ideas?

[john biskupski]

This is an old thread resurrected! Anyway, the 45FA is still a nice small camera, and I suppose it's long out of production, and it has disappeared from large retail catalogues like B&H who used to list it new only a few years ago.

Best to try the auction site, they do appear, my guess would be probably in $600-$800ish price range now, if in excellent condition. They were always a bit pricey for what you got, just for being precision made metal and in a compact package.

[Kevin Thomas]

Just to add a bit more info on the FA45 the is a pdf of the manual on the Komamura website.

http://komamura.co-site.jp/manual/HORSEMAN/HORSEMAN_45FA_Manual.pdf

[mnemosyne]

Just to add a bit more info on the FA45 the is a pdf of the manual on the Komamura website.

http://komamura.co-site.jp/manual/HORSEMAN/HORSEMAN_45FA_Manual.pdf

The link is dead, you can find the manual here now:
http://www.kenko-pi.co.jp/horseman/manual/HORSEMAN/HORSEMAN_45FA_Manual.pdf (http://http://www.kenko-pi.co.jp/horseman/manual/HORSEMAN/HORSEMAN_45FA_Manual.pdf)

[Doremus Scudder]

I'm thinking meta-information here:

This thread is very informative. There are lots of cameras out there that have only sketchy information available (even from manufacturers). And first-hand information from owners is often more objective than advertising and manufacturers' brochures/manuals.

It seems that a forum or sub-forum dedicated to just such descriptions of specifications (and limited to such) would be a worthy addition to the site. Owners could contribute information that would otherwise be difficult to find, everything would be in one category and easy to find.

What do you think? Is the "Cameras and Camera Accessories" forum adequate, or would we benefit from a "Camera Specifications" forum?

Just a thought,

Doremus