New article by Terrance Hounsell: Wisner Expedition Technical Field

A new article by Terrance Hounsell has been posted:

Wisner Expedition Technical Field

Please feel free to leave contructive comments in this thread.

Are Wisner sstill being made? They sound pretty expensive.

"The most important bit of information that he kindly passes on is that no Fresnel regardless of manufacturer should ever be installed in front of the ground glass. The Fresnel would displace the ground glass away from the lens and thus when the film holder is inserted the film will lie in front of the plane of focus."

I, too, read Wisner's article regarding this and took it as a "universal" statement that was applicable to all cameras. While his reasoning seemed sensible to me, I learned, later, that not all agree. In any event, the problem that can arise is that some cameras, my Crown Graphics, for example, are made to have the Fresnel installed closest to the lens and in front of the ground glass. While I do not have the knowledge to argue one way or another, whether Wisner's way is better does not change the fact that Graflex made its camera for the Fresnel to go in front of, and not behind, the ground glass. With the Crown Graphic, and, I assume, others as well, if you install the Fresnel as Wisner recommends, the film plane of the film holder will not be at the same point of focus as the ground glass.

I have several of the Wisner Technical Field cameras and, while I have not used an Expedition model, my experience with my cameras leads me to second the comments made concerning the Wisner Technical models in general. I think the article will give someone who is unfamiliar with them a good idea of what to expect when using the Wisner Technical Field cameras.

As to the question of their still being made; as of today, on his web site, Wisner is still stating that he is not accepting new orders and his list of what he has in stock has not been updated since 1/07/05. Whether he will ever put the camera back in production is a question. In my opinion, at the prices that the cameras have been selling on eBay, lately, they are a bargain. I was worried about continued maintenance and repair, but Mr. Richard Ritter has been helpful in that regard and seems capable of taking care of anything that might be needed.

A very useful article for anyone contemplating purchase of a field camera.

The comment about focusing rails not lining up after going to the end of movement deserves some emphasis. If not corrected immediately, the pinions will wear very quickly and will have to be replaced.